Wax painting

Art lovers must have heard of wax painting. Originally known as hot wax painting or encaustic wax, this is actually a very old method of painting. It is believed that first wax painting was created centuries ago. It is hard to explain the original components of wax paintings in ancient ages because the culture of this painting method has kept changing. However, the credit for this beautiful form of painting goes to Roman and Egyptian culture. Number of application techniques was used to make paintings from wax. In this method, heated beeswax is used in combination with colored pigments. The resultant paste is further used on a surface made of wood. Canvas is also used in the surface.

In earlier ages, wax was boiled in salt seawater and then strained. The later function was performed with the help of cheesecloth to remove contaminations. This process was repeated several times before the wax was left in sun or moonlight for several days. Once the wax was properly bleached, sodium hydrogen carbonate was added to it for the purpose of saponified. The last stage included of rinsing the product in lukewarm water and air-dried.

Before using the final product in painting, it was mixed with other natural ingredients. There were several domestic tools used for making a perfect wax painting. Some of the popular tools were, mixing trays and containers, hot plate, brushes and knives, and hot-air guns. The culture of encaustic painting is still prevalent in certain parts of the world.