My second experiment with encaustic painting was a painting of my mother Karin.
Encaustic, paper, gold leaf and oil stick on R&F encaustic gessoed cradled birch wood panel.
Palette and Supplies:
Encaustic media was created by melting the beeswax and Damar resin together at 225-250F in an 8:1 ratio (wax to resin) by weight. Three layers of medium were brushed onto the wooden support and fused with the heat gun.
Design was created in Photoshop and then printed onto parchment paper using an HP Laserjet printer. The panel was heated with the heat gun and parchment paper applied, pigment transferred by burnishing with a wooden spatula.
the key lines of the image were then etched into the wax with a metal tool and filled with oil pastel. Shadows were then painted in. I then painted in the background and applied ivy leaves in gold leaf, scraping away to create “veins” in the leaves.
Next, I worked on the eyes
More leaves added, this time paper cut-outs of leaves printed by B&W HP Laserjet
Fleshtones and hair painted in and a final layer of gold leaves
“Karin” (2018). Louis Cooper. Encaustic, Oil Stick, Paper and Gold Leaf on Wood Panel. 12″x12″