Well, over in over in the tutorials and books about encaustics, I have heard and read warnings about using the proper ground, lest the wax fall off.
I have not done encaustics before, but I have worked with wax a great deal in sculpture and relief, both microcrystalline and beeswax, and my experience has been that hot melted wax sticks to damn near ANYTHING. I have scraped it from wood, stone, formica,white slick tailboard, masonite, glass, plastic, paint, metal, etc... In fact, when I was making models for lost wax casting of bronzes, the only way I found to keep them from sticking to my work bench was to rub the surface of the bench with mineral oil. It still stuck, but that made it a lot easier to scrape off.
That said, I believe in listening to experienced people and learning a new craft from them as much as I can. So I dutifully read the instructions from various source to make a rabbit skin glue and other special grounds. The people at Enkaustikos are particularly vehement about NOT using Acrylic Gesso(click on image below), and use "the freezer test":
"R &F Encaustics" worked with Ampersand to develop and sell their own Archival "Encausticbord". But the panels are too small and expensive for my project.
"Evans Encaustics" claims the best ground is their own non acrylic "Holly Grail Gesso" , and offer it in a range of wonderful colors that could be used for underpainting, which is an idea I like, eliminating one step in the process. So I ordered a quart of white Holly Grail Gesso, and have been using it on small masonite panels for my "Learning Experiments". The gesso goes on very smoothly with a wide camel hair brush, and is loaded with pigments, so it covers well, and dries fairly quickly.
What I found a little strange though was that it was very chalky, and came off on my fingers if rubbed, even lightly. Sanding it lightly would practically remove it completely, and I just used a paper towel to smooth the light brush marks.
I had by then received a good selection of pigments, and decided to do a color chart with pigments mixed in medium, and scrape each stripe from thick to very thin to judge the transparency(I hate solid opaque colors):
I had not fused the medium, and noticed thin areas tended to break off.
I like to start an underpainting directly by rubbing pigments in the ground and drawing with pencils and pastels, and the results were very smooth and good looking, allowing smooth gradations of tones(2 bottom strips):
But when I rubbed in the Ultramarine Blue pigment, it mixed with the white powdery gesso ground, and I could never achieve the full pigment color intensity, as I could on a panel primed with the alternative "Golden Absorbent Ground"(top strip). Not really a big problem, especially since the Golden Product doesn't cover the brown Masonite as well, leaves heavy brush marks, and would need to be sanded and applied in at least two coats, which means more time and money preparing the panels.
I also like to scrape the medium back to a very thin layer. The bottom strip, which was fused before scraping held up really well, but the middle strip which was NOT fused tended to pull off when the medium became thin. The top strip done on Golden Ground held up well without being fused, especially the area I had sanded smooth on the right.
Just to see, I dropped some molten medium on both boards and let it harden:
The drop on the Golden Absorbent Gesso (right) could not be pried off, but the drop on the Holly Grail Gesso popped right up with the layer of gesso. Not so good. There definitely has to be heavy fusing when using the later for the medium to stick properly, and that worries me. So I wondered why bother, when it seems to stick better to the Golden Acrylic Gesso, which according to Enkaustikos is an absolute NO NO? Time I suppose for a "Freezer Test"!
I left both the Golden and the Holly Grail primed boards in the freezer overnight.
I have not done encaustics before, but I have worked with wax a great deal in sculpture and relief, both microcrystalline and beeswax, and my experience has been that hot melted wax sticks to damn near ANYTHING. I have scraped it from wood, stone, formica,white slick tailboard, masonite, glass, plastic, paint, metal, etc... In fact, when I was making models for lost wax casting of bronzes, the only way I found to keep them from sticking to my work bench was to rub the surface of the bench with mineral oil. It still stuck, but that made it a lot easier to scrape off.
That said, I believe in listening to experienced people and learning a new craft from them as much as I can. So I dutifully read the instructions from various source to make a rabbit skin glue and other special grounds. The people at Enkaustikos are particularly vehement about NOT using Acrylic Gesso(click on image below), and use "the freezer test":
"Evans Encaustics" claims the best ground is their own non acrylic "Holly Grail Gesso" , and offer it in a range of wonderful colors that could be used for underpainting, which is an idea I like, eliminating one step in the process. So I ordered a quart of white Holly Grail Gesso, and have been using it on small masonite panels for my "Learning Experiments". The gesso goes on very smoothly with a wide camel hair brush, and is loaded with pigments, so it covers well, and dries fairly quickly.
What I found a little strange though was that it was very chalky, and came off on my fingers if rubbed, even lightly. Sanding it lightly would practically remove it completely, and I just used a paper towel to smooth the light brush marks.
I had by then received a good selection of pigments, and decided to do a color chart with pigments mixed in medium, and scrape each stripe from thick to very thin to judge the transparency(I hate solid opaque colors):
I had not fused the medium, and noticed thin areas tended to break off.
I like to start an underpainting directly by rubbing pigments in the ground and drawing with pencils and pastels, and the results were very smooth and good looking, allowing smooth gradations of tones(2 bottom strips):
But when I rubbed in the Ultramarine Blue pigment, it mixed with the white powdery gesso ground, and I could never achieve the full pigment color intensity, as I could on a panel primed with the alternative "Golden Absorbent Ground"(top strip). Not really a big problem, especially since the Golden Product doesn't cover the brown Masonite as well, leaves heavy brush marks, and would need to be sanded and applied in at least two coats, which means more time and money preparing the panels.
I also like to scrape the medium back to a very thin layer. The bottom strip, which was fused before scraping held up really well, but the middle strip which was NOT fused tended to pull off when the medium became thin. The top strip done on Golden Ground held up well without being fused, especially the area I had sanded smooth on the right.
Just to see, I dropped some molten medium on both boards and let it harden:
The drop on the Golden Absorbent Gesso (right) could not be pried off, but the drop on the Holly Grail Gesso popped right up with the layer of gesso. Not so good. There definitely has to be heavy fusing when using the later for the medium to stick properly, and that worries me. So I wondered why bother, when it seems to stick better to the Golden Acrylic Gesso, which according to Enkaustikos is an absolute NO NO? Time I suppose for a "Freezer Test"!
I left both the Golden and the Holly Grail primed boards in the freezer overnight.
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