Encaustic orchid

encaustic_orchidweb

More experimenting with encaustic – this painting has been in the works for a while, and has been subjected to other experimentation.

It is on board, and after preparing the board with gesso I did a loose drawing on it inspired by an enlarged photo I took of tiny Western Australian native orchids, in their natural habitat. Next, I took to the board with my Dremel (an electric tool that has small interchangeable heads for engraving, drilling and making other marks). I carved out some of the pencil lines and some texture, such as in the centre of the flower. As the board is quite hard, it was not easy to control the resultant marks so they became fairly random and not particularly smooth. The next step was applying some oil paint, before adding encaustic wax, then more scraping back, scratching and layering paint and wax.

I’m still not sure if it is finished – it has quite a rough quality to it and I think it will take time for me to decide how I feel about it. It belongs with the other paintings in the 30 x 30 cm series (see here, here, here and here).

Oil and encaustic on mdf board, 30 x 30 cm

Author: anna warren portfolio

I draw, I paint, I am a printmaker. Always searching for the interesting detail in the world around me.

20 thoughts

  4. Hi Anna, Well, I finally figured out why I wasn’t getting notifications when people I followed were posting. Duh! So I am glad that I will now see more of your beautiful art in a more timely manner. I love this one. How loose it is and powerful at the same time. I love the orange color. I have wanted to try encaustic for a while but just don’t have the space to set up what is needed to work with this medium.

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  6. You’re lucky to have such a beautiful small orchid in your area. They are so amazing, especially all their crazy roots. Your piece has a lot of depth, interest, and great colors. It could be done…. or live with it for a while. 🙂

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    1. Thanks Gale – they aren’t really in my area, WA is thousands of kilometres away on the other side of the country, but nevertheless at least it is possible to find the orchids in the wild. I’m hoping to get back there and see more later this year. Yes, I think I will live with it a bit more and eventually decide if it is finished!

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  7. This is so interesting. I get the sense of the layering but I also like how you have scratched into the certain parts of the painting. I also really am attracted to this color palette. Overall I think it’s very successful. It’s so hard to know when something is done but as far as I can tell, Julie says it’s done so it must be done.

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  8. Love it. This technique seems to give greater richness and depth to your work and the engraving/scratching enhances that. I think this piece is worthy of its own series. Is it done? I am one for living with it for awhile, even putting it away, but if Julie says it’s done, who am I to argue. 😉

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    1. Thanks Karen – the layers do seem make a difference, I think there will be more coming like this, I’m enjoying the process. I will live with this one for a while and decide if it is done, I have no plans for it at present. Julie is very settled on that point, and I do respect her judgement!

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  11. Congrats on trying a new medium. Today I will take a class in acrylics. I too prepared a board with gesso and then toned it. I look forward to painting on a new surface and with new paints.

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