Encaustic Studio: A Wax Workshop in Mixed Media by Daniella Woolf 

This is my absolute favorite beginning encaustic book. The author gives solid easy-to-understand information on basic techniques, while also providing a lot of inspiration, ideas for mixed media, and experimental approaches.  

Presto brand electric griddles are reliable, and seem to last a long time! I like this version that folds flat for easy travel or storage. The edges are also relatively low, which makes it easier to use for saturating collage papers. 

A surface thermometer is a must-have to keep the surface of your griddle at or below 200 degrees. During the summer months, you can find these in the grilling section at your local hardware store.   

I recommend a Wagner brand heat gun, and I like this model.  It’s the same one you used in class, and it has a high and a low setting. I have used other, cheaper brands, and all of them have stopped working after only a few months – not worth the few dollars I “saved.”

If you want to use a torch, this is the one I recommend: the Iwatani Butane Kitchen Torch. It’s lighter weight than propane torch heads and easy to use. There are a lot of look-alikes on Amazon – I tried a few of the cheaper ones, and threw them out because the flow of gas never stayed consistent. 

The Iwatani allows you to control both the amount of gas AND the amount of air, giving you incredible control. When you’re just starting out with a brand new canister of butane, the Iwatani torch head can “spit” or flare, but will steady out relatively quickly; the cheaper ones just kept spitting and flaring.  A single canister lasts a long time, and the notched style fuel canister. can be purchased at most camping stores and Ace hardware stores. NOTE: if you do use a torch, make sure that your work surface is covered with something heat resistant like metal, wood, or ceramic rather than paper or plastic. Always be careful and have a fire extinguisher close at hand. 

It’s always good to have a Fire Extinguisher or Fire Blanket in any studio where there are heat sources and combustible materials present.

I use these inexpensive ½” chip brushes (available at most hardware stores) all the time, and at this price (28 cents each when I made this list), they allow me to have a brush for every single pot of color! This brand, Pro Grade, seems to hold up better than some others I’ve gotten. 

This set of Zem Chungking bristle brushes in  round and flat are affordable, quality brushes that allow you get more detail and control with your encaustic paints. Other less expensive sets of artists brushes that I’ve tried fell apart quickly when exposed to the heat of encaustic. 

I LOVE this ½” Enkaustikos angled hog bristle brush, designed just for use with encaustic. 

And if you really want super-smooth coats of medium, try this 4”  R&F hake brush!

I also like these Creative Mark Mandalay hake brushes, which come in sizes from 1” to 10”.  If you do end up purchasing less expensive hake, be aware that the ones with the bristles held in with a strip of metal and tiny nails will start to come apart in the warm wax over time. 

If you don’t have a friend who can supply you with cat food tins, but don’t want to splurge on a case of tins from Uline, these aluminum baking cups make a great interim solution for holding paint on your palette and aluminum loaf pans are great for medium or a big batch of white paint. You can also often find loaf tins at resale stores! If you want to dive right in and get flat-bottom tins from Uline, I recommend the 4oz or 8oz square ones. 

Here is a basic set of pottery carving tools that will give you a wide scraping loop tool, a fine loop tool, and a needle tool, along with a few extras (but buying the three basic tools individually is more than the set). I like the Kemper brand because their tools are generally well made, and their wide loop tool, which we use for scraping, is flatter than some other brands. This allows for more shallow, controlled scraping than cheaper scrapers with a more curved edge. Some folks really like using razor blades for scraping, though holding them cramps my hands!

I use tools from this set of mini loop or ribbon tools ALL THE TIME!

Encaustic paints and other pigment options are available through fine art supply stores. In Asheville, Cheap Joe’s has a very limited selection of R&F products, and does not carry Encausticbord. 

You'll need encaustic medium. These are my two preferred brands, Enkaustikos and R&F. Some people think that the Enkaustikos has more of a warm, yellow tone to it, but I've found that because encaustic medium is made with natural materials (beeswax and damar tree resin crystals) it varies more from batch to batch than from manufacturer to manufacturer.

If you do a lot of collage or image transfer, these deli sheets are so convenient and easy-to-use! You can just grab a sheet, and they lay flat. Of course, the best material is the one that you already have, so check your kitchen for parchment paper or wax paper!

11" wide           16" wide           24" wide

When I mount paper to a panel - whether it's watercolor paper or an archival reproduction or a photo printed on heavy paper that I'll be doing encaustic on top of - I use Scotch 3M 568 positionable dry mount adhesive!  This stuff rocks, and it has made my life so much easier!!

I love Jacquard’s Extravorganza – silk organza that runs through your printer, meaning you can print an image on a transparent material and embed it in your encaustic painting. 

Many Japanese paper manufacturers make printer-friendly, absorbent, lightweight, "rice" papers - though my favorites I have to actually order from Japan. This Onao paper is 45gsm, and easily available through Amazon!

Use DecoFoil to add shimmery metallic accents to your work. Gently warm the surface of the encaustic, place the foil shiny side up with the dull side facing the wax, then press using a thumbnail, embossing tool, or old ballpoint pen!