DIY Encaustic Paint and Wax Crayons

St. Peter

Saint Catherine's Monastery in Egypt, 6th Century

The word encaustic originates from the Greek word, enkaustikos which means to burn in, and this element of heat is necessary for a painting to be called encaustic. This painting technique dates to the 1st Century BC. Traditional encaustic paint is used on wood panels, but it can also be used on thick paper, canvas and fabric. 

Untitled by Sister Gertrude Morgan, 1966

Pliny the Elder described the first techniques of wax crayon drawings. Contemporary crayons are purported to have originated in Europe during the 1790s where some of the first cylinder shaped crayons were made with charcoal and oil. Joseph Lemercier added colored pigments in 1828. Crayola (formerly named Binney & Smith) developed wax crayons on June 10, 1903. Edwin Binney's wife, Alice Stead Binney, coined the term "crayon". 

White Beeswax You need this for oil sticks, oil pastel, colored pencils and wax crayons. TKB sells 8 oz for $5.25.

Carnauba Wax is a hard, brittle, lustrous wax with a high melt point. It must be softened with a bit of beeswax so it doesn't break easily from normal handling. You only need this for making wax crayons. TKB sells 8 oz for $4.95.

Water Soluble Wax is composed of polyethylene glycol and siduyn bicabonate. It has a low melt point and dissolves completely in water, leaving behind only pigment. Contenti sells it for $10.40.

Eco-House 955 Heavy Damar Medium contains lead-free octoates to reduce the drying time of linseed oil. It hardens encaustic paint. I get it from dickblick.com for $10.07.

Cray Pen is a wax melting and painting tool that works with both encaustic paint and crayons. Get it from Blick Art for $14.99. Extra tips are available.

Refer to my posts: Make Your Own Art Supplies, Makeup, Pigment, Paint and Dye, and Media Molds and Containers for a list of things you will need to complete this tutorial.

Encaustic Paint

2 L scoops (2 Tads) Damar Resin

8 L scoops (8 Tads) White Beeswax
1 S scoop (1 Smidgen) Dry Pigment

Dental spatula

Electric skillet or candle warmer

Water

Mini Muffin tins or metal tartlet molds

Ice cube trays
Wax paper

Newspaper

There are several ways to make these. To make individual cakes, use a candle warmer with tartlet molds. You can leave the wax in the molds and heat as needed or pour it into an ice cube tray cavity. Once solidified, you can remove the cake and label it. Use it with a wax pen.

Place muffin tins into an electric skillet. Add beeswax to each well of the tin. Pour just enough water into the skillet so the tins don't float. Turn the skillet on low and wait until the wax melts. Add Damar resin and stir. Add pigment and stir. You will no longer need the electric skillet after mixing the paint until you need to melt it again.

Use and store the paint in the tins. They can be placed in ziplock bags to keep dust out. A cray pen or wax pen is used to melt encaustic paint as needed. Pour some orange terpene solvent into a separate glass cup and use it to blend the paint with a natural brush. Crayons can be melted and applied to fabric.

Crayola Type Crayons

Colorless Blender

18 L scoops Carnauba Wax
2 L scoops Beeswax
1 Drop Zinc Oxide

Pigmented Crayons

8 L scoops Carnauba

2 L scoops White Beeswax
1 S scoop Dry Pigment or makeup

Dental spatula

Candle warmer

Glass beaker

15 ml centrifuge tube

Tube rack
Wax paper

Newspaper

Melt beeswax and carnauba wax together. Add pigment and stir. Pour into a centrifuge tube. Place tube into the rack. Allow to cool upright. You may need to top off the wax as it cools. When cooled to room temperature, place rack into the freezer. Remove crayon from tube when solid and wrap in wax paper.

Water Soluble Crayons

Caran d'Ache introduced Neocolor wax crayons in 1965.

Colorless Blender

20 L scoops Water Soluble Wax
1 Tad Zinc Oxide

Pigmented Crayons

8 L scoops Water Soluble Wax

2 L scoops Dry Pigment or makeup

Dental spatula

Candle warmer

Glass beaker

15 ml centrifuge tube

Tube rack
Wax paper

Newspaper

Melt wax. Add pigment and stir. Pour into a centrifuge tube. Place tube into the rack. Allow to cool upright. You may need to top off the wax as it cools. When cooled to room temperature, place rack into the freezer. Remove crayon from tube when solid and wrap in wax paper.

 

Faber Castell Gelatos are made of water soluble wax and a UV resistant chemical like water soluble crayons, but they aren’t hard like a crayon. They’re soft and blendable even without water. It’s the use of glycerin and propylene glycol that makes them soft. The wax is used to solidify them.

Clear lip balm tubes are about half the size of paint sticks, but they’ll work. These are $14.95/100 on eBay. Capacity is 0.15oz or 4.2g.

Opaque Paint Sticks

The amounts in parentheses will make 100 grams or almost 24 tubes. Mix up the bulk formula without the pigment. Heat 4 grams of the formula to 158F. Stir in dye concentrate or pigment mixture and pour into a tube. This will allow you to make 24 tubes, each of a different color in less time. Or use the amounts on the left to make enough for a single tube at a time.

2.1g (21g) Water soluble wax

6.70g (67g) Propylene glycol

1.3g (13g) Distilled water

0.6g (6g) Dye concentrate or pigment mixed with glycerin

Melt wax in a glass beaker. Add other ingredients and stir to combine. Remove from heat and pour while hot into tubes. Allow to cool. It will harden to the consistency of a lipstick and be water soluble.

Transparent Gel Paint Sticks

The preservative is necessary in this case because the gum is a natural material that will turn rancid quickly. The amounts in parentheses will make 60 grams or 14 tubes. You can mix up the bulk formula without the pigment. Heat 4 grams of the formula to 176F. Stir in dye concentrate or pigment mixture and pour into a tube. This will allow you to make 14 tubes, each of a different color in less time. Or use the amounts on the left to make enough for a single tube.

Phase A

4.655g (46.55g) Distilled water

0.025g (0.25g) Caesalpinia Spinosa gum

0.020g (0.20g) Gel Maker

Phase B

1 Drop Phenoxyethanol SA (preservative)

Phase C

0.3g (3g) Dye concentrate or

0.25g (2.50g) Glycerin + 0.05g (0.5g) pigment or mica

Phase D

0.10g (10g) Sodium stearate

Sprinkle Caesalpina gum and gel maker onto water while stirring vigorously until smooth and free of lumps. Add phenoxyethanol and blend well. Pre mix glycerin with pigment (if using powder). Add dye concentrate or pigment mixture and blend well.

Heat mixture to 176F. Stir in sodium stearate and pour into lip balm tube. The gel will harden to the consistency of a stick deodorant and be water soluble.