In this demo I am painting directly on a panel that has black and white gesso, but it the black gesso is acrylic. We set it up for demo purposes this way, but it is not a stable way to create a painting. You'd want to work on either encaustic gesso or a unprimed wood panel or on a background that was made up of white and black encaustic paint.
Hi Ana. Some people do mix pigment powder into encaustic medium to create a form of encaustic paint. There are a few things to be aware of. Mixing in pigment is not the same as buying commercial grade paint that has been milled. Our pigments are finely ground on a three part mill and different colors require finessing in order to make a successful product. Milling breaks the pigment down into what are called colloidal size particles, which means they are small enough to remain in suspension. Mixing cannot do this. All it does is distribute the pigment without sufficiently breaking it down so pigments don't stay adequately in suspension. Paint making is a very sophisticated science and an art and professional grade paint will always have many more such advantages over handmade paint. Another thing you will want to be aware of is exposing yourself to airborne particulates if you work with pigment in your studio.
Yum yum yum……
Oh I have this set. Love them. Are you painting directly on the panel with black and white gesso?
In this demo I am painting directly on a panel that has black and white gesso, but it the black gesso is acrylic. We set it up for demo purposes this way, but it is not a stable way to create a painting. You'd want to work on either encaustic gesso or a unprimed wood panel or on a background that was made up of white and black encaustic paint.
Can I use pigment powders with encaustic ??
Hi Ana. Some people do mix pigment powder into encaustic medium to create a form of encaustic paint. There are a few things to be aware of. Mixing in pigment is not the same as buying commercial grade paint that has been milled. Our pigments are finely ground on a three part mill and different colors require finessing in order to make a successful product.
Milling breaks the pigment down into what are called colloidal size particles, which means they are small enough to remain in suspension. Mixing cannot do this. All it does is distribute the pigment without sufficiently breaking it down so pigments don't stay adequately in suspension. Paint making is a very sophisticated science and an art and professional grade paint will always have many more such advantages over handmade paint.
Another thing you will want to be aware of is exposing yourself to airborne particulates if you work with pigment in your studio.