Watercolor + Encaustic Painting

I know what you are thinking…..

How in the world can you mix watercolor and wax? That will never work. I know it seems unlikely, but in reality it’s really not so far fetched.

I use watercolor all the time—actually in most of my paintings.

So I want to share with you the two ways that I use watercolor.

The first is that I simply mix watercolor paint with water and use a sponge to apply it to the wax. In the image here, I’m squeezing it over the top so it streaks down the sides.

Then I let the water evaporate.

Once it’s evaporated I’m able to put a layer of medium over the top and fuse, thus encasing the pigment in wax. Most oil based pigments will drop into the layer of wax below when you fuse. Watercolor pigment is different in that it won’t drop into the layer below so it’s imperative that you put a layer of medium over the top before you fuse.

Experiment with the amount of water you use before applying. Sometimes I use the color almost straight from the tube, other times, I use only a small quantity to large quantities of water.

It’s also really fun to mix multiple colors together to get color variations as it dries.

The second way I add watercolor to my paintings is to add watercolor to tissue paper before I embed it in medium. Sometimes it’s to embellish a tissue paper image and sometimes it’s to add a geometric element to a painting. For example, when I was creating my Below the Surface series, I wanted to add color to the paintings, but my model was dressed all in black. So I choose to add a color element by coloring circles of tissue paper with watercolor and once the paper was dry, encasing them in wax.

This process can also be a fun way to tint the wax if you lay the tissue paper geometric shape on the wax, add the watercolor, allow it to dry, and take up the tissue paper and throw it away. You are left with the wax tinted in the geometric shape.

So if you haven’t thought about using watercolor before, I suggest you give it a try. It’s a fabulous way to add different color element to your work.

Would love to hear how you have incorporated watercolor into your work.  Leave a comment below.

Be well….be creative,