Artbookreview.net
Encaustic art is the art of using coloured wax as a painting medium. Having a heated iron, either of the domestic variety or with stylus-like tips instead of brushes takes a little getting used to, but oil painters who are familiar with knives may feel more at home. Theres no doubt that the colours can be extremely vibrant, but Michael also uses traditional media to create more subtle effects and also set off highlights created with the waxes.
Although there is a good introduction to materials and equipment. Theres no doubt, though, that you can produce some rewarding results.
Rachel Hyde - Myshelf.com
There is something irresistible about a craft that is as ancient as the Egyptians yet which also has the properties to free the child in people. Encaustic art pioneer (he invented the tools) Michael Bossom shows how you can paint on a number of different surfaces from wood to tissue paper and incorporate such things as embroidery and rubber stamps. If you have worked through some landscapes and abstracts and want to know where to go next, this is the book for you. Use your hairdryer to blast the wax into amazing patterns, iron your work onto fabric and make mosaics and collages - in short, have a blast.
Originally published back in 2002 this is the second of two books on the subject by this author, the first being the beginner primer Encaustic Art. There is a book two feel about the project book and it is ideal for those who have already mastered the basics. It does skim through what a beginner needs to know, but if you have never done it before, getting the first book is a must. The parts about making different patterns with the iron, showcasing some new tools and composing pictures are all very useful and if you are one of those who thinks that encaustic art is all about fantasy landscapes then you will have a surprise. To this end I was most pleased as this is, in my own experience, what has put some people off the craft in the past and to see flowers, conventional landscapes and abstracts shows that it is indeed a craft for anybody who wants to paint. Encaustic wax is another form of paint in fact. Those who enjoy the popular hobbies of fabric arts and rubber stamping have cleverly been included in this book, too, so all in all this might draw a larger group of people into encaustic art's intoxicating web. A good book that is a lot of fun.
