I realized that I didn't post any of the videos I watched to help me along with my encaustic experiments...I found that the company Enkaustikos had the most helpful videos. There were some pretty terrible videos...terrible.
These are both Enkaustikos videos. The first is just an explanation of supplies and setting up your work area. The second video shows how to create surfaces with different heat sources and tools.
After my experiments, I had a chance to talk with Professor Noel, who uses encaustics in her own work. My discussion with her was extremely helpful as well as the material she sent me that included safety instructions along with step by step instructions for making your own encaustic paint. It turns out that it is much less expensive to create your own colors with wax and pigment. I definitely won't have time to play with this before the semester is out but I will be attempting it in the near future. I didn't think I would like this medium and now that I've used it, I'm very happy at my decision to splurge on the encaustic materials. Being a painter, I think it is very important to experiment with different methods and materials. Lately, I have been interested in combining 2-dimensional media to create my paintings and I am so excited to incorporate encaustics into my future pieces!
Totally worth it and SO amazing!
The word fresco is from the Greek word affresca, derived from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes were frist developed in ancient Greece but retained its popularity through the Renaissance. There are three types of fresco painting. The buon fresco technique is the first one I'll explain. This first technique involves painting on fresh, or wet, plaster. In ancient times, pigment would be mixed with water and then applied to the fresh plaster. There was no need for any type of binding agent due to the chemical reaction that happens as plaster dries. Once the plaster finished drying, the pigment would essentially be part of the plaster, creating a smooth surface. The only real downside buon fresco is that some pigments, mostly blues, did not work well with the wet plaster. Other than that, this technique is the most durable of the fresco painting techniques.
The earliest known buon fresco paintings are dated around 1500 BC in Greece on the island of Crete.
This is the most well-known of these ancient frescoes. Titled The Toreador (below), this fresco shows a sacred ceremony that involves jumping over large bulls.
The Roman wall paintings left in the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneim were also painted in the buon fresco style.
This is inside of the Villa dei Misteri in Pompeii (above).
The Renaissance saw the most prominent use of fresco. In Italy, most churches and many government buildings still feature fresco decoration.
Clearly, the most well-known group of fresco paintings are at the Sistine Chapel, especially the ceiling, by Michaelangelo and the Last Supper, by Cosimo Rosselli located on the Northern wall.
The Last Supper, Cosimo Rosselli
the Creation of Adam
the Creation of Eve
If you look at the Creation of Eve (Michaelangelo), you can see very clearly the incredible amount of dimensionality that Michaelangelo acheived. It is amazing how deceiving the painting can be even in the terrible reproductions you can find on a google image search.
So...I decided to try this out for myself. I watched close to 15 YouTube videos and read about 10 explanations of the buon fresco technique.
I was still pretty intimidated so I chose a very simple subject and just went for it. Technically, this isn't a true fresco, due to my lack of funds, I couldn't use pigments mixed with water. I had to use what I could scrounge up in my studio, some acrylic paint. This was just my first attempt. I actually kind of enjoyed it and I'm planning on trying it again, maybe with a subject I'm interested in and a piece I've planned out a little bit better.
This is my super fantastic first attempt at fresco painting. It's horrible, I admit but again, it was my first try. I really did like making it, despite the unfortunate outcome of my piece.
The word encaustic comes from the Greek term enkaustikosmeaning "to burn in". This method of painting was used first by the people of ancient Greece. During the Hellenistic period, encaustic painting spread to Egypt. The most well-known encaustic paintings are the Egyptian mummy portraits. They were meant to be placed over the face of the deceased when they were mummified. I went on the last New York City bus trip on November 5th. One of the museums I visited was the Met. It turns out they have a large collection of these mummy portraits; they even have one still attached to the mummified body.
It's a pretty terrible picture but it's the best I could do in an extremely dark room with no flash. It looks benign in the photograph but seeing it in person was somewhat disturbing. The crazy thing is, these portraits are all still in fantastic shape. They look like they were just painted, with little cracking if any and no discoloration. I find the extremely long lifespan of encaustic paintings fascinating, especially when comparing it with oil, acrylic or tempera paint.
This video starts out weird and has creepy music...so I suggest you just turn the sound off. I wanted to post this video because it shows soooo many examples of encaustic mummy portraits.
"As encaustic painting flourished in Greece and Egypt, it was also inevitable to spread to Rome. Pliny, the Roman historian, wrote in 1st century C.E. that encaustic wax paint was being used in the Roman portraits and mythology paintings done on panels... Archeologists have been able to discover some Roman encaustic paintings. For instance, a painting on slate depicting Cleopatra being bitten by the asp was found near the ruins of Hadrian’s villa. After the Roman Empire fell, artists began turning to cheaper, quicker paint instead of the encaustic paint because the ancient heating process was so laborious for the wax." (Enkaustikos.com)
After that, the medium began to die off. It wasn't until the 18th century when the encaustic wax painted walls of Pompeii and Herculaneum were discovered that research on the method began. Still, there wasn't much in the way of technology and the process was still as long and boring as it was in ancient times.
BUT! Finally!!!!! Jasper Johns in the 50's and 60's was one of the first to display encaustic works to the public. He was a main factor in bringing the almost lost medium to the "forefront of the art community"
This is Jasper Johns' painting, Flag, made in 1954.
It's so interesting, to me at least, to see the progression and development of technologies and methods throughout history.
Today, it seems as though encaustic painting may be one of the easiest mediums to use much unlike ancient times. I decided to create my own little encaustic painting. I ordered the supplies and dove right in! Of course, I was completely in the dark, never using this method EVER in my life so I turned to videos on Blick's website and YouTube in hopes of helping me understand technique a little bit better.
I know, I know, it's pretty terrible but hey, it was my first try!
It was more experimentation than anything else. There are SO many surfaces you can create, there's so many other mediums you can combine with it and it's instant gratification because it dries IMMEDIATELY! Even though I wouldn't consider my piece a success, I loved every second of this little project!
Information found on the Enkaustikos website:
http://www.encausticpaints.com/Resources/HistoryofEncaustic/tabid/407/Default.aspx
