The Mist

The Mist

Image Size 6" x 6"

Encaustic

I love how this little encaustic came together.  The ethereal feeling of this painting is much stronger in person and I'm not sure it could be achieved with any other medium.  I painted shellac on the rusty color and burned it to get the texture.  I like the soft, misty feeling of the sky next to the texture of the earth.

I really need to get back to watercolors but can't seem to turn down the heat on encaustics.

Seeing Red

Seeing Red

Image Size 8" x 8"

Encaustic

I started with a red color painted on the surface and then built the other colors on top of it.  About halfway through, I did a shellac burn.  Layering more encaustic over that created an interesting texture.  After I was happy with the overall effect, I did one more shellac burn diagonally to bring in some of that warm amber color and a bit more texture.  

I think it looks a bit like a piece of stone.

Molten Sunset

Molten Sunset

Image size 8" x 11"

Encaustic

When I started painting this, I had a rough idea of where I wanted to take it but as I progressed, it went in a completely different direction.  I started seeing a sunset so I went in that direction but in a very abstracted way.  

What do see in this painting?

Laguna Beach Encaustic

Laguna Beach Encaustic

Image Size 5" x 7"

Encaustic

Well, I completely forgot that today is Monday until 7:20 PM.  That's how crazy things have been around here.  Fortunately, I had painted this one last week so I'm not missing my self imposed Monday deadline although I'm probably posting it too late for those of you that subscribe to my e-mail delivery to get it today so it will come on Tuesday to you - but it was finished today.  : )

Not that any of you probably care about it but I would have been really mad at myself if I had the painting finished and just forgot to post it.  After all, I've been posting a painting a week since 2008 and haven't missed a week, no matter what's going on in my life, so I don't want to miss one now!

I admit, it's not much of a painting, but it's done and as with all of my paintings, it was a learning experience.  I've done this scene so many times but never in encaustic so it was fun to see how different this looks from the other mediums that I've used in the past.

Peter's Canyon Encaustic

Peter's Canyon Encaustic

Image Size 7" x 5"

Encaustic

I combined encaustic with a little oil paint for this painting.  I have a lot to learn about this medium but am enjoying my experimentation with it.  I'm not crazy about the shape of this tree so I will probably try to change that tomorrow but for now, it's finished.  

I'm having problems with getting little pin holes in the wax.  Even if I get rid of them when I fuse the first layer, they seem to appear as I add and fuse more wax.  If anyone out there knows what is causing this, I would love to learn from you.  I am using encaustic gesso to prime my boards.  Maybe that is too porous and is causing the problem.  I think I will try an encaustic with no gesso and see what happens.