Encaustic Wax review by PAWS

Starter Kit

ENCAUSTIC WAX ART : A REVIEW

All products shown in review can be purchased from Hochanda

Good morning everyone, i thought today i would take a look at a fab hobby that is fun, messy and produces magic everytime...Encaustic wax.

I bought the starter kit simply because i wanted to create waxy looking ivy leaves for a project i was and still am working on....

Ivy Created by Applying Encaustic Wax to Satin Fabric

Then i did something terrible.....i pushed the box under the bed and forgot about it until i saw a show with Shona and Michael Bossom on Hochanda. I fished the box out and had a play, and oh boy did i have fun.....it doesnt matter what you do magic happens, and if you dont like what you've done you can remove it with the iron.

Encaustic wax waterfall

This picture is one of the peices i produced....the foreground leaves and flowers were created with the hot stylus which is an additional tool and very very useful. You can also buy a metal stylus which is really useful for working into the wax whether it is hot or cold.

Michael and Shona Bossom are incredibly talented and full of ideas for things you can do with your encaustic kit...they have written books which i can highly recommend, packed full of ideas to get you going...also to be found at Hochanda.

You can also get the wax sealer which protects your work once it is finished:-

and this is well worth investing in as it lasts FOREVER...well not really but it does last ages as you dont use much to seal each picture.

Whats in the Starter Kit?

This is a great way to start as you get the encaustic art painting iron,16 wax block beginner colours, 32 page Quick Guide,  A Metal Scribing Tool, 6 colours @4 x A5 = 24 cards, 40 x A6 white card, 20 x A5 white card, 10 x A4 white card.

Are there more wax colours available?

Oh yes!!! And they are yuuuummmmmy.

Starter Colours

Expanding Colours

Vivid Colours

The Vivid are my next planned purchase as i have an urge to do sunsets and space scapes and they look perfect for that task. Again Hochanda is a great place to get them.

Can i get DVD's to teach me how to use the Encaustic wax?

Yes, and they are superb as you can craft along with them and learn loads of fun techniques

Is the Iron and Hot Stylus Dangerous?

Well a little yes as they are hot, but with supervision the younger generation will love playing and producing their own masterpeices.

Can i apply Encaustic to fabric?

Yes....as my picture above shows, you can use the wax to alter the texture of fabrics, but you can also transfer your images from the card onto fabric....one of my next planned experiments is to transfer an image to felt and then machine felt using my Pfaff into the image....should be fun.

I have transferred all my unwanted images to a peice of old duvet....There is no plan for this as of yet...but it looks great

There, That is my review on Encaustic Wax...i hope it helps and you enjoy reading....I love this hobby as it is very satisfying and almost magical.