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Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art

Dive into the wonderful world of wax painting and take our crash course for beginners in this easy to follow, step-by-step tutorial.

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Holly Spanner

Published: May 31, 2022 at 7:46 am

Transform coloured wax into melted masterpieces using this easy guide to encaustic art. Each result is unique, and with just a little know-how, it’s easy to transform flowing wax into beautiful abstract images.

Have fun playing around with different colour combinations, and as each design only takes a few moments to set (as the wax solidifies), encaustic art is ideal for creating bespoke scrapbook pages, card toppers, or pieces of artwork in their own right.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Encaustic-Art-Stylus-Heat-Tool/dp/B081S1D4YN/

If you like this beginner’s guide to encaustic art, why not check out some of our other beginner’s guides, right here on Gathered. In our beginner’s guide to sgraffito, we walk you through a collection of easy zentangle designs, or why not try your hand at paint pouring with our beginner’s guide to acrylic paint pouring? You could learn how to paint a watercolour galaxy or, if you love melted wax as much as we do, be sure to check out our beginner’s guide to batik art, this guide to making your own beeswax candles and how to make wax melts with essential oils.

We love seeing what you make, so don’t forget to share your craft projects with us on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, too!

What is encaustic art?

Encaustic art is a way of transferring melted wax onto a variety of surfaces, where it cools to create unique works of art. You’re essentially painting with wax, and because – by its very nature – wax melts, you can remelt it and change your artwork, simply by reapplying heat.

This, combined with the vibrance of the wax colours, inspires creative confidence and exploration. It’s also a very satisfying technique that produces great results, regardless of artistic ability.

The technique was developed by the ancient Greeks, more that 2,000 years ago. The word ‘encaustic’ derives from the Greek word ‘encaustikos’, which translates as ‘to heat’ or ‘burn in’. Encaustic paints don’t contain oils, so the colours won’t fade or deteriorate over time, and the wax will stay as fresh as the day you apply it.

Encaustic art creates beautiful unplanned artwork, but the basic effects can be controlled. All it takes is a little practise, and we show you how in this tutorial.

Buy an encaustic art starter set!

The main things you’ll need to get started are a craft iron, coloured wax blocks and some impermeable card. With the right tools, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how quickly and easily you can master this craft, so an encaustic set like this one is a useful place to start.

This set includes 16 colours: crimson, orange, leaf green, blue-green, ultramarine blue, red-violet, rust-brown, black, white, olive green, pink, clear, pastel blue, mid yellow, cyan and purple. It also comes with 30 sheets of A6 painting card, 10 sheets of A5, and a metal scribing tool for scratching into the wax.

Top tips for creating encaustic art

  • Play around with different surfaces like coloured sealed card, absorbent card, rough watercolour paper, tissue paper and even fabrics for interesting effects.
  • Like acrylic paint, different colours of encaustic wax can be mixed to create new colours, and the standard colour wheel applies (i.e., red and yellow will mix to create orange etc).
  • Use monochromatic tones to emphasise style and contrast, like an old-fashioned sepia photograph.
  • Patterns can be created by simply making repeated or ordered marks. Use motions like dabbing, shuffling and wriggling with the iron to create a library of effects!
  • Details can be added by using a stylus, or by using a permanent marker pen to draw over the top. This is particularly effective if you want to create sunsets!
  • Clean your iron with tissue between each use as this keeps each layer of colours looking fresh.
  • Switch out the newspaper and scrap paper underneath regularly, as wax build-up on the paper can transfer to the iron and from there, onto your work.

How to do encaustic art

We take you through the basic techniques needed in encaustic art: smoothing, shuffling, wriggling and dabbing, as well as guiding you through the steps needed to make your own simple landscape.

You will need

  • Craft iron
  • Coated card
  • Coloured wax
  • Microfibre cloth (for buffing the wax)
  • Kitchen roll (for cleaning the iron)

Set up your work area

Protect your work surface with some newspaper. The padding will also help when smoothing the iron over your chosen surface. Place a piece of scrap paper on top of the newspaper, this will absorb the excess wax.

Change this scrap paper regularly, as the hot iron will pick up the wax again, and it may transfer to your work. Grab your iron, and some wax, and let's get started!

Basic techniques: Smoothing

Step 1

Set your iron to just above low heat, and let it warm up for a couple of minutes. Load the iron with your colours by dragging them across the heated surface of the iron. It’s fun to try different combinations of colours, here we’re using light blue, blue and navy.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art

Step 2

Place the iron down on your coated (shiny) card, then gently pull the iron across the surface to spread out the melted wax. Lightly hold the iron, and glide it smoothly across the card. Go slowly, keeping your speed constant.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art – 03 – smoothing in progress

Step 3

Once the iron is clear of the card, lift it off.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art – 04 – smoothing complete

Step 4

Be sure to keep the iron clean of wax, especially when moving on to a different colour as residual wax can transfer. The encaustic iron is a low heat tool, so a kitchen towel can be used to quickly remove the wax.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art – 05 – clean the iron after each use

Step 5

Buffing the wax once complete will brightens the colours and give the wax a polished appearance. It removes fingerprints and gives your work a professional finish. Use a clean, lint-free cloth.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art – 06 – buff the wax with a soft cloth for a nice shine

Step 6

Smoothing is a useful technique for creating skies, hills or expanses of water. It’s also a useful starting point for when you’re thinking about creating your own design. This one sort of looks like an underwater scene, with sunlight streaming through the surface.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art – 07 – smoothing

Basic techniques: Lifting

Step 1

Load up your iron with wax.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art – 09 – lifting step 2

Step 2

Like before, lay down some wax onto your card by lightly gliding it across the card. Then, place the iron down onto the card, and simply lift it off again to create a dendritic (tree-like) effect.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art – 10 – lifting step 3

Step 3

Repeat all over the card! The pressure and speed with which you lift up the iron will determine the pattern.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 11 - lifting step 4

Step 4

Buff the wax to give it a lovely sheen.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 13 - lifting step 6

Step 5

This abstract encaustic technique is useful for creating foliage, underwater scenes, or just an interesting effect. You'll find this technique is easy, and the results very satisfying.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 15 - lifting step 7

Step 6

Be sure to experiment with different colours and pressures. If you lift the iron off the card quicker, then you get a finer result, like this.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 43 - dabbing

Step 7

Notice how the dendrites are much smaller when you lift the iron quickly.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 44 - dabbing

Basic techniques: Edge marking

Step 1

Start with a full, smoothed page. You'll find the different colours of encaustic wax behave differently, for example, light colours tend to be runnier than dark colours. I really like working with blue and green waxes, but you'll develop your own tastes.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 16 - edge marking step 1

Step 2

Using the edge of the iron, glide it over the wax. Experiment with adding wiggles into your lines, and you can create thicker lines if you tilt the iron at an angle when gliding.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 17 - edge marking step 2

Step 3

This technique is useful for creating grass, reeds or smoke lines.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 18 - edge marking step 3

Basic techniques: Starburst

Step 1

This is similar to the edge marking technique, except this time - add an extra line of colour on the edge of the iron. We're using silver! Drag the iron through the wax you already laid down, and the new colour will mingle with the old, creating a starburst effect.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 20 - edge marking step 5

Step 2

Here's the starburst effect close up.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 21 - edge marking step 6

Basic techniques: Crosshatching

Step 1

Like cross-hatching used in ink or pencil drawings, crosshatching can also be used in encaustic art to create some useful effects.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 23 - edge marking step 8

Step 2

This would make a fun background for a card!

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 25 - edge marking step 10

Basic techniques: Shuffling

Step 1

Load the iron with wax, and working from one side of your card to the other, shuffle the iron back and forth in small steps.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 26 - shuffling step 1

Step 2

Shuffling can create some very nice rhythmic designs.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 27 - shuffling step 2

Step 3

They could be hills or rolling waves!

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 29 - shuffling step 4

Basic techniques: Wriggling

Step 1

Wriggling is a fun technique to try. Load up your iron with wax, we've gone for yellow and red this time. Using a similar amount of pressure as when you were doing the smoothing technique, gently wriggle your iron back and forth as you transfer the wax down onto the card.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 30 - wriggling step 1

Step 2

Wriggling creates a fantastic 3D effect, it reminds me of fabric - or a Tudor ruff!

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 31 - wriggling step 2

Step 3

Buff your work to brighten your wriggled design.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 32 - wriggling step 3

Basic techniques: Graduated dabbing

Step 1

Let's try graduating colours from one to another, we've gone from yellow to green. You can, of course, load up your iron with multiple colours at once, but if you want something a little more measured, here is how you do it.

Add some yellow onto your iron, and using the dabbing technique, lay down the colour.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 33 - dabbing step 1

Step 2

Next, using light green, extend the dabbing further down the card. I had intended to stop halfway, but as you'll find out - it's very difficult to stop!

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 35 - dabbing step 3

Step 3

Next, load your iron with a darker green and finish off by dabbing at the bottom of your card.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 37 - dabbing step 5

Step 4

And there you have it!

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 39 - dabbing step 7

Basic techniques: Mix it up

Step 1

You can get some fun effects by mixing up the techniques. Here, we've used dabbing and edge marking to create an abstract piece.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 40 - dabbing and edge marking

Step 2

I love this colour! This one is definitely going into my card topper collection for last-minute card making.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 41 - dabbing and edge marking

Easy encaustic project: Simple landscape

Step 1

Ready to try an easy encaustic art project? Let's make a simple landscape.

First, lay down the sky using the smoothing technique. It only needs to be over the top of the card.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 45 - simple landscape step 1

Step 2

Next, use smoothing to 'paint' some hills. Use two, gentle, sweeping motions. Do the back hill first, then working in the opposite direction, smooth down the front hill. It will remelt the base of the back hill in the progress and give you a nice, smooth result.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 47 - simple landscape step 3

Step 3

Next, use dabbing to create some foreground foliage. I'm lifting the iron quite slowly here, as I wanted larger dendrites.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 50 - simple landscape step 6

Step 4

Use the side of your iron to add in some reeds in the foreground. I've added a little copper coloured wax to the edge of the iron to make the reeds stand out a bit more.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 52 - simple landscape step 8

Step 5

Dab the front of the design, to make it look like the reeds are rising from behind a grassy knoll.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 56 - simple landscape step 12

Step 6

If you fancy, add some colours to the foreground by dabbing spots of colour onto the hot iron, and using the dabbing technique. Here, I've gone for spots of yellow and purple.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 57 - simple landscape step 13

Step 7

Congratulations, you've completed your super-easy landscape using encaustic art! Once you get used to the motions of the iron, you can have fun building up details, adding shadows, and wildlife to your artwork.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 60 - simple landscape step 16

Easy encaustic project: (Another) simple landscape

Step 1

Let's do another one. Load up your iron with blue and purple wax, then smooth it onto the top of a portrait card.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 61 - portrait landscape step 1

Step 2

Next, load up your iron with some green wax and smooth on some hills.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 63 - portrait landscape step 3

Step 3

Use the dabbing technique to build up foreground foliage and use the edge of the iron to add in some reeds.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 66 - portrait landscape step 6

Step 4

Add in a little more foreground foliage using dabbing.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 68 - portrait landscape step 8

Step 5

You could leave it here... or tinker with it a bit. We're going to tinker.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 70 - portrait landscape step 10

Step 6

Grab a black marker pen, and start sketching a tree. Check out our tutorial, how to draw a tree, if you need some inspiration.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 72 - portrait landscape step 12

Step 7

Build up your tree, adding branches here and there. Try not to think about it too much, just go with the flow.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 73 - portrait landscape step 13

Step 8

The black marker pen adds a whole new dimension! You can also try stamping over the top (be sure to use archival ink rather than water-based) to create interesting effects.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art - 74 - portrait landscape step 14

Encaustic art supplies

Wax

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art – The Wax

Encaustic waxes are made from one or more different types of wax, which are combined with pigments to create the colour. They are often blended with resin, and each pigment has different qualities, so using a range colours can yield different results. You’ll get to know the feel of different colours, just by playing around with them. Over time, you might like to start mixing your own waxes and pigments, but this requires a substantial amount of experience, so we recommend the ready-made wax blocks like these. If you’re interested, a typical recipe for encaustic waxes is around 85% beeswax mixed with around 15% resin – plus the pigments.

Encaustic iron

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art – The Iron

A lightweight encaustic iron is the main piece of kit you’ll need, besides the wax. It has a detachable handle that can be slipped over the iron, turning your iron into a hot plate, or it can be used as you might expect, both with the main flat surface, and for edge marking. If you don’t want to splash out on a specialised encaustic iron, a standard travel iron, like this one from Stix2, will also do the job nicely (yes, I’ve tried). Just don’t be tempted to use your household iron as they have a tendency to become too hot.

Stylus and tips

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art – The Stylus

A stylus is used if you want to achieve details with your wax painting and comes with a range of tips that fit into the stylus. Using different tips will help you achieve different effects including spots, lines and shading. It’s specifically designed to work at low heats (because wax has a low melting point), and it’s used much like a dip pen. Dip your heated stylus into a block of wax to pick up the colour, then draw with it (like you would a pen) onto your chosen surface. Do not use soldering irons or pyrography tools as they get too hot and scorch the wax.

Heat tool

Wow! Heat Tool

A heat tool (or standard hairdryer) can be used to blow the hot wax around on your surface. You can create some interesting ripple and splatter effects, depending on how close (or far away) you hold the heat tool. This is probably an advanced technique, so be sure to protect your fingers and surfaces from scalding before you begin. Once you’re more confident using the encaustic iron and stylus, then I would recommend moving on to a heat tool. If you’re buying a new one, look for one with dual heat settings, like this one from WOW!

Impermeable white card

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art – impermeable card

You can use all sorts of material to create your artwork, but I prefer using sealed, white card. It’s shiny, so the wax glides smoothly across the surface, and because it’s impermeable, the colours stand out for maximum effect.

Opting for white card (as opposed to another colour), gives the wax an enamel-like appearance, and as a bonus – no preparation is needed, so you can get creating straight away. It’s thick too, so it allows easy reworking of the waxes. I also find that working with smaller sizes, like A6 is easier. Be sure to check out our guide to card sizes if you’re asking yourself, ‘what size is A6?’

Buffing material

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic art – buffing cloth

When freshly completed, wax can sometimes appear cloudy. But it’s easily fixed, and buffing your work with a soft tissue, or a soft lint-free fabric will give your piece a beautiful sheen, as well as making the colours pop!

Permanent markers

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic art – marker pen

If you like making artwork that really wows, then a few permanent markers can go a long way. Once you’ve finished your encaustic art background, add some silhouettes with a marker pen – it’s fun and super quick to do. If you’re trying this technique for the first time, opt for warm colours to create your background – reds, oranges and yellows – then draw on the silhouette of a tree, and you’ll have created a super easy, but effective, sunset.

Wax sealer/ varnish

Winsor and Newton Galeria Acrylic Varnish

If you’re likely to scuff your wax masterpiece (for example, if it’s in a sketchbook or anywhere that’s not behind glass in a frame) then it’s a good idea to get some acrylic varnish or wax sealer. It’s completely optional, but will keep your work looking fresh and bright, so it’s useful especially if you’re selling your work. You apply it using a soft, flat brush – the type you use with watercolour paints. Around a 2cm brush tip will do the trick, and help you apply it evenly.

Encaustic Art: The Complete Guide to Creating Fine Art with Wax

Encaustic Art- The Complete Guide to Creating Fine Art with Wax

If you’re looking for some more encaustic art inspiration, this The Complete Guide to Creating Fine Art with Wax includes essential painting techniques and other creative methods like design transfer, collage as well as incorporating drawing and photography. There are techniques for creating wax sculptures, prints and even installation art. It’s got tips and techniques from more than 60 professional international artists, and is presented with lots (and lots) of beautiful photography.

Beginner’s Guide to Encaustic Art 1

We hope you’ve enjoyed our beginner’s guide to encaustic art. For more brilliant craft tutorials, check out our beginner’s guide to batik art, how to tie dye or our beginner’s guide to acrylic paint pouring.

Holly Spanner

Staff Writer, BBC Science Focus

Holly is the Staff Writer for BBC Science Focus and looks after the popular Q&A section. She holds an MSc (distinction) in Geoscience (Space and Climate Physics) from UCL, and specialises in astronomy and earth sciences. Before joining Our Media, she worked as a geoenvironmental consultant and engineer, informing on ground risk and remediation in the north of England, while hunting for exoplanets in her spare time. Alongside this, she was regional editor of a popular theatre website for nine years, and has a solid background in curating and developing content for the digital space. Holly is also an artist and illustrator, and regular contributor to the craft website, Gathered. She has previously worked with the RSPB, English Heritage, Disney, Pilot and Brother, as well as on BBC Good Food magazine, Home Style magazine, and Papercraft inspirations magazine. She enjoys photography and has a sustained interest in antiques.
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