Oil and Wax Combinations.
I love combining oil paints into my encaustic pieces. I think every one of my pieces has an element of oil paint. Its the building up layers of oil in my paintings creates an opulence and unusual sense of depth that I find incredibly beautiful and exciting.
But it doesn’t come without occasional issues.
Oil and wax are chemically compatible. So, what’s the problem?
Think of the mixing of oil and wax as a continuum. At one end of the continuum wax is added to oil paint to give the paint more body, but it’s the property of the oil that predominates. R&F Paints has perfected this mixture of oil and wax together in their pigment sticks, which are essentially oil paints manufactured with enough wax (less than 15%) for the paint to be molded into stick form.
At the other end of the continuum, if a little oil is stirred into melted wax, the two will readily combine, and the properties of the wax will predominate. This is indeed how many artists make their own encaustic paint colors. (It’s important to recognize though that the oil lowers the wax’s melting temperature making it less hard and results in a ‘waxy’ finish.)
If you’ve taken one of my in-person workshops you’ve then heard me harp on this subject over and over. Be careful not to end up in the ‘danger’ zone—where you have equal parts oil to wax—as you’ll get a gummy concoction that will never fully dry. The Danger Zone is 50% wax to 50% oil where the binding and adhesive properties of both the oil and the wax are so compromised by the other that it becomes unstable—it will neither dry nor harden.
When I work with oil, I’m just really cognizant of how much oil I’m adding. I use both oil paint directly from the tube and R&F Pigments sticks. My decision usually lies in my color choices. I love the buttery feel of the pigments sticks but consider the effects of the stick vs tube to be the same.
Each piece is different, sometimes it’s added to the background before I add my tissue paper image, and sometimes it’s on top of the tissue to help the image ‘pop’ back out of the wax.
I also make marks and fill them with oil paint or pigment sticks.
I cover entire areas of the substrate with oil paint and then wipe off all the excessive amounts. I usually wipe it off using walnut oil or another light-colored vegetable oil. If I feel like there is a lot of vegetable oil left on the surface, I’ll wait a day or two until it’s dried and a bit less greasy before fusing and dropping the oil paint into the layer below, thus reducing the oil to wax ratio.
If I think I’m getting too much oil to wax, I’ll add a layer of two of wax to lower that ratio—giving more wax for the oil to combine with.
Sometimes I’ll work encaustic paint over wet paint to accentuate and enrich the effects of the oil (be careful not to put this brush immediately back into the medium without cleaning it off first.)
And of course, fusing can also have an effect on how the oil and wax will interact. A longer fusing can make the oil diffuse further into the wax causing an unusual mottled effect.
These are just a few ideas of how I use wax and oil together. I used to make some of my own colors but didn’t like the waxy feel I was getting from the addition of oil paint to molten wax. I’ve since stopped making my own colors and prefer to purchase encaustic paints from either Enkaustikos or R&F Paints.
These methods are just scratching the surface of what you can do with the combination of these two materials. Experiment and come up with your own effects. Just please keep in mind that you want to stay out of the danger zone.
What has been your experience with mixing oil and wax in your encaustic work? Let me know in the comments below.
Be well….be creative,
Thank you for this detailed explanation. I have been fusing directly after wiping with cocounut oil and I often get the “moddled” phenomenon – or I fuse too long after painting with oil paints. This mistake has made for some very frustrating experiences.
It’s a really common mistake Nicole….and I totally get your frustration. Just keep in mind not to use too much oil and if you are thinking you’re using too much, build up more wax on the piece to keep the oil to wax ratio in balance.
Great article, Clare! Thanks for always guiding and teaching.
Thanks Patty. Glad it was helpful!
I, too, have had both bad and good experiences with too much oil. Sometimes I like the muddled effect. But I do get confused when you or others refer, at different times to encaustic paint and pigment sticks. Could you please explain the difference if there is any? Or is the difference just in how Encaustikos and R&F label the same thing?
Encaustic paint is a solid wax that needs to be molten to be applied. It’s about 85% medium (mix of damar and beeswax) and 15% pigment (usually in the powdered form) that is mixed and manufactured by companies like R&F Paints and Encaustikos. When people refer to pigment sticks they are usually referring to R&F Pigment sticks which are about 85% oil paint and 15% medium. They come in stick form and have the consistency of butter or lipstick. The two products are similar in their ingredients but differ greatly in their percentages of oil and wax. Encaustic paint has a low percentage of pigment and it’s a dry pigment so we don’t worry about the oil to wax ratio with this material. The pigment stick on the other hand is largely oil paint, so we need to worry about the oil to wax ratio using this material.They are also applied to the board very differently….one needs to be molten to be applied and the other goes directly onto the board with your fingers or a brush.
Hi Clare. I appreciate these tips. The details are very helpful and I love a good graphic! I constantly lust after more studio time but I am drawing ever closer to the day when that becomes possible. Have you tried Hylla Evans Encaustics? They are very heavily pigmented. I love working with them.
Hi Nancy….sounds like you are thinking of retiring! Yes, I do know of Hylla Evans and her encaustics. I’m so glad you like working with them.
So if we would like to try and make our own encaustic paint, we should mix about 15% of oil paint that has sat on a paper towel for a couple of days (to pull out some of the oil) with 85% wax medium?
Yes, that will work. But know it’s not the same as purchasing manufactures paints that use a powder pigment rather than oil paint. It has a slightly different consistency…..and don’t try to do any photo transfers directly on anything with oil in it. It will not work. You would need to put a layer of medium down first before doing a transfer if you are using paints you mixed yourself.
I have been using the RF Pigment sticks mixed with the RF blending medium and applied by hand or with a shop towel as a glaze over encaustic paint or medium. It gives a gorgeous color shift and pops the color already there. I often incorporate my photos printed on vellum or rag paper into the pieces and this gives me a great way to enhance the color and make them other worldly. I fuse it lightly. After a few days it still seems to be giving off color if buffed with a clean cloth. Any idea how long it takes for the pigment stick/blending medium to cure? Would fusing it after a week or so help? I love the look of it but am still trying to figure a few things out. Suggestions?
If you’ve fused and are still getting color on your clean cloth you probably have too much oil to wax ratio. You’re base of encaustic medium/paint most likely wasn’t enough to ‘hold’ all the oil you are using.
Thank you for this article. I’m just now branching out to add the oil paintsticks with my encaustic art and you have answered several of my questions. Thank you!
Hi, Clare. Can you please kindly tell me how to remove excess vegetable oil from the surface of an encaustic piece? I used an oil stick on it and used too much vegetable oil to remove the excess and now the surface is very sticky. I did try to remove it with a paper towel but it’s still sticky. Will windex cause erosion of the wax? Will soap and water work? Many thanks!!
I just wipe as much as I can off with a paper towel. Sometimes if it’s still really sticky I’ll wait 24 hours and then fuse. The small amount of oil that drops into the layer below is fine…..you just don’t want to do it too many times so that your oil to wax ratio is off.
I have no idea how Windex and wax will react. You’ll want to google what Windex is made of and think about those materials and how they might interact with wax and if they will erode your work. Again, what soap are you using and what are the materials it’s made of?