9 Rookie Mistakes in Photo Encaustics (and how to avoid them)

---

I’ve had the great fortune of teaching hundreds of students over the past decade — artists from every background, skill level, and creative journey. Some are brand new to encaustic. Others come with a photography background but no wax experience. And every so often, a seasoned photo encaustic artist joins in, just to strengthen their foundation.

What’s interesting is that no matter how different their experience levels are, most beginners make the same mistakes. I’m often asked how I know what students are getting wrong if I can’t watch them work in person. The truth is, after years of teaching both in the studio and online, I can spot the issues just by looking at the images students share. The patterns are unmistakable.

Here are the nine I see most often — and what to do instead.

1. Putting Encaustic Medium on Too Thick

Thinner layers beat thicker ones every time. Thin layers keep the piece translucent and prevent that cloudy look thick wax creates. Wipe your brush on the side of the wax container before you apply it, and push firmly so it releases evenly as you slide across the substrate.

2. Holding the Heat Gun Too Close to the Substrate

Get too close and the wax turns to liquid, causing ripples and bald spots. Keep the heat gun at least six inches from the piece. You only need the wax to shine for it to be fused — you don’t need it to pool.

3. Creating a ‘Halo’ Effect

Pigments need to transition naturally with the image, not sit around it like a frame. If a photo starts with a white background and the pigments are deeply colored but don’t feather across the whole image, a white halo forms around the subject — and your eye goes straight to it. Integrate your pigments with the image so the subject and background blend fully.

4. Adding Too Much Oil Paint to Wax

Get close to a 50/50 oil-to-wax ratio and you’re in danger territory. The piece won’t dry. It won’t harden. If you’re working with a lot of oil-based pigment, build up plenty of layers of medium to absorb it.

5. Skipping a Smooth Surface Before a Photo Transfer

If your board has texture or divots, the print won’t burnish down evenly — the ink won’t adhere into those low spots, air holes, or textures, and it’ll lift right back off. Start smooth.

6. Choosing the Wrong Image for the Technique

There are three ways to bring a photograph into encaustic — mounting an image to a board, embedding it as a non-traditional paper, and transferring the ink directly into the wax. Each has its own strengths, and each calls for a different kind of image. Knowing which photograph fits which process will save you a lot of frustration.

7. Forgetting to Push Down When Embedding Tissue Paper

This one takes both hands. Hold the heat gun in one, fusing lightly, while you push down on the image with the other. Go easy on the heat so you can press firmly without melting the wax too much.

8. Choosing an Image You “Love” When You’re Just Starting Out

Pick something you’re curious about, not your favorite. Students who fall for an image early on tend to get careful and cautious — they don’t want to ruin it. But this is your time to experiment, to push it further than feels safe. That’s where the real learning happens.

9. Expecting to Create a Masterpiece as Your First Piece

At the start, your only job is to gain experience. Photo encaustic is a complicated medium, and setting out to make a masterpiece on your first try is setting yourself up. Let yourself learn from what doesn’t work — that’s what makes the masterpieces possible later.

If you want to go deeper into these — and the rest of what goes into working with photographs and wax — that’s exactly what I teach inside The Artistic Image.

 

 

---

What do you think? What are some of the biggest rookie mistakes that you’ve made?

Be well….be creative,

Clare

 

Learn how photographs, wax, and intuition come together.
View my photo encaustic classes, courses, and workshops.