Making Encaustic Paint — The Hot Beeswax Medium of Ancient Greek and Egyptian Painters

Place 100-200 g of pure beeswax (filtered, refined yellow or white) in a heat-safe container set in a water bath (double boiler). Heat the water to 70-80°C — beeswax melts at approximately 62-65°C. Do NOT heat beeswax directly over a flame — it is flammable above 200°C, and direct heat causes uneven melting and scorching. Once fully melted, the wax should be a clear golden liquid. Keep the water bath at a steady temperature throughout the session to maintain the wax in its liquid state.

For a harder, more workable paint, add damar resin to the melted beeswax at a ratio of 1 part resin to 8 parts wax by weight. Crush the damar resin to small pieces and add to the hot wax. Stir until the resin dissolves completely — this may take 10-15 minutes. The resin raises the melting point slightly and makes the dried paint harder and less susceptible to scuffing. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh to remove any undissolved resin particles. Pure beeswax alone works but produces a softer surface.

Divide the molten wax-resin mixture into small containers (metal muffin tins work well — each cup becomes one colour). Add dry pigment powder to each cup and stir thoroughly with a small stick or old brush. Use any mineral pigment: ochres, umbers, siennas, iron oxide red, lampblack, titanium white. The pigment-to-wax ratio varies by pigment density — start with 1 part pigment to 3-4 parts wax by volume and adjust. Some pigments (earth colours) absorb more wax than others (titanium white). Stir until the pigment is evenly dispersed with no lumps.

Encaustic must be applied to a rigid, absorbent surface — wood panels, unprimed hardboard, or heavy paper mounted on board. Canvas flexes too much and the wax will crack. Keep the wax colours molten in their containers on the water bath. Dip a natural-bristle brush into the molten coloured wax and apply to the surface quickly — the wax solidifies within seconds. Work in small areas, building up the image with successive layers. Each layer should be thin. Metal palette knives can also be heated and used to spread the wax. The ancient Greek painters used heated metal tools called 'cauterium'.

After building up the painting, fuse the wax layers together by passing a heat source close to the surface — a heat gun on a low setting, a hair dryer, or a heated metal tool held near (not touching) the surface. The wax should just soften and become slightly glossy, then re-solidify. This fusing bonds all the layers into a single, cohesive surface. Do not overheat — the wax should flow slightly and level, not drip or pool. After fusing, the painting has a beautiful, semi-translucent luminosity. The surface can be buffed with a soft cloth for additional sheen. No varnish or sealing is needed — beeswax is its own protective coating.