01-31-2006, 11:20 PM
Rich,
If you haven't had a chance to check out this old thread from Carlton and myself, check this out:
http://www.romanarmy.com/rat/viewtopic. ... =encaustic
For myself, I found that not even one full teaspoon was plenty of pigment to paint with for the red pigment, but quite a bit more black was needed to get a nice deep black color. I suspect it completely depends on the type of pigment you are using. I believe I used Iron Oxide for the red (very coarse and heavy) and this mixed very readily in the wax/resin. The black was a more powdery substance (I know it wasn't coal dust, but something like that), and it took quite a bit (I want to say 3 - 5 teaspoons) to get the same rich colors.
You are a much smarter man than myself for buying a hot plate!! Working on a Coleman camp stove was less than fun and definately was a right royal pain in the arse for keeping a constant temp. I also recommend buying the special tool they sell in art stores for 'finishing' the encaustic painting. The tool looks like a little electric iron and is supposedly great for smoothing out the wax when you're all done painting(much better than a heat gun I'm told...).
I used Damar resin as it was recommended to me by the folks at fineartstore.com, who said that it was close to historical resins of the middle east, but I can not attest to that myself.
Also, let us know how your shield stands up to the summer sun! I took mine out to an event north of Kansas City in the beginning of june and in less than 20 minutes, it looked like a melted candle (I have pics somewhere...)
good luck!
Britannicus
If you haven't had a chance to check out this old thread from Carlton and myself, check this out:
http://www.romanarmy.com/rat/viewtopic. ... =encaustic
For myself, I found that not even one full teaspoon was plenty of pigment to paint with for the red pigment, but quite a bit more black was needed to get a nice deep black color. I suspect it completely depends on the type of pigment you are using. I believe I used Iron Oxide for the red (very coarse and heavy) and this mixed very readily in the wax/resin. The black was a more powdery substance (I know it wasn't coal dust, but something like that), and it took quite a bit (I want to say 3 - 5 teaspoons) to get the same rich colors.
You are a much smarter man than myself for buying a hot plate!! Working on a Coleman camp stove was less than fun and definately was a right royal pain in the arse for keeping a constant temp. I also recommend buying the special tool they sell in art stores for 'finishing' the encaustic painting. The tool looks like a little electric iron and is supposedly great for smoothing out the wax when you're all done painting(much better than a heat gun I'm told...).
I used Damar resin as it was recommended to me by the folks at fineartstore.com, who said that it was close to historical resins of the middle east, but I can not attest to that myself.
Also, let us know how your shield stands up to the summer sun! I took mine out to an event north of Kansas City in the beginning of june and in less than 20 minutes, it looked like a melted candle (I have pics somewhere...)
good luck!
Britannicus
Gaius Aquilius Britannicus
aka. Todd Searls
aka. Todd Searls
