Dehan Wax was the first wax designed
especially for Modern Encaustic Painting.
It was designed by an Encaustic Painter, for Encaustic Painters
to paint Encaustic Paintings with.
It is still the most controllable and the most versatile painting
wax I know off.
For Modern Encaustic Painting you need a flat iron, coloured painting
wax, smooth card and an electricity supply.
My
Materials
The 'paint' I use is Dehan wax, which was
the first wax developed just for Encaustic Painters. It was developed
in England and I think it is the best on the market (or I wouldn't
use it).
Your 'canvas' needs to have a very smooth, none absorbent surface.
I use a smooth card, but I have seen people use glass, plastic,
polished wood and tiles.
Why
Dehan Wax Is Best
Where
It Came From
(Surprise, Surprise) I had
a hand in the development of this encaustic painting wax, so naturally
it's brilliant.
I had already used various types of wax and knew some of the limitations
they had.
I wanted a wax that would get round as many of these limitations
as possible.
So I worked with a company that specialized in developing different
types of waxes, for many different purposes.
I told them what I wanted this painting wax to do.
They made one.
I tried it and sent it back, saying what I wanted altering.
They made some more.
I tried it and sent it back........you get the idea.
This went on for quite a while.
Eventually, between us we came up with Dehan wax.
Basically it is a very hard wax with an almost plastic feel to
it, that does what I want it to do (most of the time anyway).
Colours
The pigments used to produce
it's 25 colours
are extremely stable, so the colours are as light fast as any
art medium can be. The colours are all very bright and vivid.
This is because you can always tone a colour down by mixing it
with it's opposite number, but if you have a subdued colour to
start with, you can't brighten it up.
Besides, I like bright colours.
Properties
When dry, Dehan encaustic
painting wax has a hard, non-sticky surface which feels more like
plastic than wax. So it doesn't show finger prints, pick up dust
or get scratched accidentally.
It is translucent, with a high surface tension, so it does tend
to look watery when it's on the iron.
The high surface tension means that the wax itself doesn't sink
into your painting card. Something which does happen with some
other waxes. The pigment in those waxes, stain your card. Once
the card isn't a bright white any more (ie stained), the colours
start to look muddy.
Dehan wax will not stain your painting card, it will always give
you clean colours, even if they have all mixed together to produce
a 'orrible brown or grey, at least it will be a clean 'orrible
brown or grey.
Scrape a portion of the wax away and the card underneath will
be white not tinted.
That's a very effective way of highlighting things.
Type
of Iron Needed
As this encaustic wax has
such a high surface tension, you can use any iron with either
a Teflon coated base or smooth metal one. Just as long as it has
a flat base, ie one with no holes or indentations in it and a
thermostat.
I use a travel iron
because it is small and light. You can use a full sized iron if
you want to, but it does get heavy after you have used it for
a while.
Steam irons are NOT recommended.
Temperature
When you are painting with
Dehan encaustic wax, you can play with the temperature of your
iron and get different effects.
More detailed results are obtained at the lower end of the temperature
range, while at slightly higher temperatures, you get a smoother
finish and the colours combine more easily.
Other
Possible Effects
Dehan encaustic wax is translucent,
so you can draw things on the painting card, using ink, and then
paint over the top of them.
The ink design will show through the wax.
This is how most of the silhouettes
I use are done.
Comparisons
If you have done this type
of encaustic painting before, using a different wax, at first
Dehan wax will appear to be very watery.
This is because it is translucent. Once you work with it, it feels
thicker than it looks.
When you first melt it on your iron it tends to pull away from
the edges, looking as if it is evaporating.
It isn't, it is just that it doesn't like being spread thinly
over the iron's base, and it is trying to clump together in the
center of the base, (something to do with that high surface tension
again).
Plus...........you can use it with other waxes, (so you don't
have to throw your old wax away and start again), and it has almost
no smell.
There is no beeswax in it at all.
Summing
Up
Personally I find Dehan
encaustic painting wax more controllable and versatile than other
waxes I have tried. In particular the pearl
waxes give some beautiful effects, either mixed with other
colours or used alone.
Price
details
Details of prices, what
you need and where to buy it, can be found at Do
It Yourself
Encaustic (wax) Painting - How to paint with an iron
Encaustic Paintings by Chris Carrick
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