Very nice and detailed video. But I do have a question please. I'm just starting with encaustic and have bought ready medium which is very expensive. Would love to make my own medium like this. But would it give my paintings the same kind of clarity and look as ready medium? Please do let me know. I'm really looking forward to exploring encaustic. Thankyou so much
I skip the filtration process, I don't like losing so much medium and I have NEVER had an issue with 'particulates' showing through, there is just not enough of them. 🤗
I guess it depends on the type of art you are making with it. I tend to stick with a lot of clear, translucent layers and white, so any bits of bark, etc., from the damar resin will be pretty obvious. But the nice thing is, I reuse my filter many times (any hardened wax already in the cloth will melt under the heat) so I really don't waste medium in the process.
ah! just learning about the medium, and thinking to make a version myself. I wonder if there is anything else in terms of resin that will behave like damar. What about myrrh? That feels intuitively like it belongs together with beeswax, both being sacred substances. Any thoughts about this?
The damar resin is added to make the surface a little "tougher" and increase the melting temperature , but different artists use different ratios and some even use only pure wax. If you are not concerned with the durability of the medium, you can certainly eliminate the damar resin, and incorporate different elements. I think your idea is worth trying- if you do (or did), please let us know how it goes.
Love the video but why not just incorporate tje natural debris into the art . Use the top wax if you need clear. But its a natural substance. Including the debris. Im ocd as well . But no need to create a new th8ng to obsess over . Natural wax .. leave the particulates. Or use paraffin. Those beese worked hard for that wax . The art should contain the nature
I do not understand why it takes you only 8 minutes to melt your resin and me after an hour it wasn't even halfway melted down. And is was in powder. I don't understand . So i gave up and took the big clumps of resin out of my wax and hope for the best.
Hmm, were you keeping a close eye on the temperature of your wax? You definitely don't want to heat it too much (stop heating if it starts to smoke), but perhaps it was too cool? Also, because of the way it is collected, sometimes damar resin has debris in it (tiny bits of wood and other 'natural' stuff), I'm thinking it's possible the clumps you were removing weren't actually resin but debris. Either way, there really isn't a "magic proportion" of resin to wax, it's really a bit subjective (I've found artists who use more than I do and some who use straight beeswax) so I'm confident your batch was perfectly fine.
Very nice and detailed video. But I do have a question please. I'm just starting with encaustic and have bought ready medium which is very expensive. Would love to make my own medium like this. But would it give my paintings the same kind of clarity and look as ready medium? Please do let me know. I'm really looking forward to exploring encaustic. Thankyou so much
As long as you are using high quality, white beeswax (i.e. filtered and naturally "bleached") and are filtering the impurities from your medium as I do in this video, then yes, you should end up with a product that is virtually the same as prepared encaustic medium. The only difference might be the ratio of beeswax to damar resin, since I don't believe the manufacturers share that information. I would suggest beginning with the 8:1 ratio and create a few samples to make sure you are happy with the results. You can always adjust the ratio in future batches (or even melt down the medium and add more resin or more wax to suit your needs).
super helpful, thank you for sharing
Hi there. Txu for informative video. I gave away my griddle pan can i use a wok pan instead?
Thank you for the video. Very informative
Glad you enjoyed it!
Very nice and detailed video. But I do have a question please. I'm just starting with encaustic and have bought ready medium which is very expensive. Would love to make my own medium like this. But would it give my paintings the same kind of clarity and look as ready medium? Please do let me know. I'm really looking forward to exploring encaustic. Thankyou so much
I have damar trees that produce rosin, and shipping around the world. My Instagram @petty_hasilbumi
Encaustic medium mix of damar rosin + beeswax
Thank you.
You're welcome!
I skip the filtration process, I don't like losing so much medium and I have NEVER had an issue with 'particulates' showing through, there is just not enough of them. 🤗
I guess it depends on the type of art you are making with it. I tend to stick with a lot of clear, translucent layers and white, so any bits of bark, etc., from the damar resin will be pretty obvious. But the nice thing is, I reuse my filter many times (any hardened wax already in the cloth will melt under the heat) so I really don't waste medium in the process.
Where did the wax you used come from?
ah! just learning about the medium, and thinking to make a version myself. I wonder if there is anything else in terms of resin that will behave like damar. What about myrrh? That feels intuitively like it belongs together with beeswax, both being sacred substances. Any thoughts about this?
The damar resin is added to make the surface a little "tougher" and increase the melting temperature , but different artists use different ratios and some even use only pure wax. If you are not concerned with the durability of the medium, you can certainly eliminate the damar resin, and incorporate different elements. I think your idea is worth trying- if you do (or did), please let us know how it goes.
Love the video but why not just incorporate tje natural debris into the art . Use the top wax if you need clear. But its a natural substance. Including the debris. Im ocd as well . But no need to create a new th8ng to obsess over . Natural wax .. leave the particulates. Or use paraffin. Those beese worked hard for that wax . The art should contain the nature
I include it… I think it adds interest!
I do not understand why it takes you only 8 minutes to melt your resin and me after an hour it wasn't even halfway melted down. And is was in powder. I don't understand . So i gave up and took the big clumps of resin out of my wax and hope for the best.
Hmm, were you keeping a close eye on the temperature of your wax? You definitely don't want to heat it too much (stop heating if it starts to smoke), but perhaps it was too cool? Also, because of the way it is collected, sometimes damar resin has debris in it (tiny bits of wood and other 'natural' stuff), I'm thinking it's possible the clumps you were removing weren't actually resin but debris. Either way, there really isn't a "magic proportion" of resin to wax, it's really a bit subjective (I've found artists who use more than I do and some who use straight beeswax) so I'm confident your batch was perfectly fine.
8 parts wax to 1 part doesn’t add up
Very nice and detailed video. But I do have a question please. I'm just starting with encaustic and have bought ready medium which is very expensive. Would love to make my own medium like this. But would it give my paintings the same kind of clarity and look as ready medium? Please do let me know. I'm really looking forward to exploring encaustic. Thankyou so much
As long as you are using high quality, white beeswax (i.e. filtered and naturally "bleached") and are filtering the impurities from your medium as I do in this video, then yes, you should end up with a product that is virtually the same as prepared encaustic medium. The only difference might be the ratio of beeswax to damar resin, since I don't believe the manufacturers share that information. I would suggest beginning with the 8:1 ratio and create a few samples to make sure you are happy with the results. You can always adjust the ratio in future batches (or even melt down the medium and add more resin or more wax to suit your needs).