Adding rust to your Encaustic Paintings

I am so glad to finally be finished with this piece.  :)  It really seemed to take forever because I kept trying to use shortcuts with the supplies I had, and nothing was working. Lesson learned- when trying a new encaustic technique, follow the recipe!

I painted this on a cradled wood panel, 6*6.  I painted the wood white to begin with, then started working with the wax.  I added my quilled pieces first- some leftover brown pieces I had in my caddies.  Adding the rust was the tricky part.  No, tricky is the wrong word- it’s an easy enough process, once you have all the tools, which include: white vinegar, water, and some steel wool (real steel wool, not the curly stainless steel scrubbers they sell in grocery stores, which is what I tried to use first.)    Mix one part water with one part vinegar.  I laid my steel wool right onto the wax and sprayed it with my vinegar mixture.  Once everything dries, you have an awesome rust layer on the wax. And that’s it!  You can paint over it with wax if you want.  For this piece I left the rust as the top layer.

Adding rust to your encaustic paintings is  a lot of fun, once I got everything to work. I’ve created a free printable for all new subscribers that outlines all the details- you can download it by clicking below, as well as all of my other printables.

I hope you have a lot of fun with this technique!  Go wild, and feel free to share your new pieces in the comments- I’d love to see what you create!