A View From Above - Encaustic

This is the third encaustic that I've done since I took that one day workshop in October and they are so much fun.  This one is the largest one so far.  It is 10" x 10" and my first two were 6" x 6".  I have a few supports that are 18" x 18" so my next ones may be even bigger.

On this one, I used encaustic gesso to prime the wood.  This time, I didn't put a layer of clear wax on first and I was much happier with the result.  When I had the clear layer of wax as my first layer, it made the colors I put on top do weird things.  I had much more control this time.

For me, the fusing is the fun part of encaustics.  Trying to get the wax to level out without moving it where is shouldn't go is a challenge.  On my next one, I think I will pick a subject with more detail to see what I can accomplish.

The finished encaustics have such a wonderful finish.  They can be buffed to a beautiful sheen and have a very unique look.

A View From Above
Image Size 10" x 10"
Encaustic

Foam

I'm still playing with the sea.  It's so weird that I'm so into these seascapes.  I've never had any desire to paint them before.

I've always loved how the foam remains after a wave has swept onto shore so I thought I would try to paint that.  I'm pretty happy with this but I want to paint more versions of this so I get to know it and hopefully get better at them.

Foam
Image Size 6" x 12"
Oil

Tropics

I'm back to playing with the palette knife.  I've been having so much fun painting beach scenes that I wanted to try it with another tool.  I'm not sure how successful the palm trees are but they sure were fun to paint.

Tropics
6" x 6"
Oil

Secret Bay

Well, the waves certainly weren't very exciting on this day but I thought they looked very serene.  I was surprised to see a surfer walking out to sea across the rocks with his board (a little farther down from here....lots and lots of rocks).  The waves didn't look like they would be very much fun to surf but I guess this guy was determined.  The combination of rocks and flat surf made surfing seem like a bad idea to me.

Flat
Image Size 6" x 6"
Oil