Here’s what I know for sure after months of experimenting with encaustic photography. For me, the encaustic world is currently flat.
Certain of my photos work very well, but not always in conventional encaustic ways.
For example, when it comes to many of my garden photographs that I prepare in Photoshop with digital paints and texture, a simple photo transfer on to a warm encaustic substrate is the look I like best. I prefer the embedded nature and feel of the image into the wax substrate to simply attaching a photo to the board and then waxing over it and adding pigment. And, I definitely prefer it to printing and framing it. Some photos are further enhanced by a layer of wax and pigment, but surprisingly, I, more and more, find myself wishing I had simply left it alone.
I am worried, though, that if I leave it without any layer of wax, the colors might fade or chip, so I am going to experiment with adding a thin layer of varnish over the weekend.
It is unbelievable how much experimenting I have done to feel competent in the art of the transfer as well as how to use the properties of wax to enhance my images.
Of course, folks once thought the world was flat, too. So, I guess this encaustic flat world I have now is what I think I know for sure until proven wrong.
