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Technique

Encaustic in my work

Any technique, extant or to be invented, as long as it serves the creative purpose of the artist at any given time, is valid. I use mainly encaustic painting but each theme requires its medium.Therefore I also use graphite pencil; charcoal, that I believe has terrific expressive qualities; gouache; ink; pen and others such as collage, photo-montage, etc

Encaustic paint is one of the oldest known painting techniques, dating back more than two and a half thousand years.It was used by Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. Later on it fell into oblivion due probably to the technical difficulty of having to keep the mediums and paints hot, and the development of other, easier mediums. Today, with the use of electricity and a miriad of hot plates available, this difficulty is non existant.

Encaustic paint consists basically in mixing artists pigments (I use widely available pigments from Art  Suppliers shops) with pure refined beeswax. The wax must be kept hot otherwise it solidifies instantly and becomes unworkable.

For me encaustic has qualities which are real as well as symbolic. It is based on beeswax, made in a natural way by bees, the same way it has been done for millions of years. It is chemichaly inert, it does not experience any chemical change ever. It repels dust and humidity and it is so permanent that existing works dating back more than 2.000 years are as fresh as it they had just been painted.

From the expressive point of view I feel very comfortable working in encaustic. Because it solidifies instantly it allows for very fast working methods, corrections are very easy to make; the marks remain fresh and visible, it has a fantastic texture and a beautiful sheen. The range of possible techniques is inexhaustible.

 

 

Nihonga Technique is, basically, a method of painting that uses animal glue as medium, mixed with mineral pigments. The name, that in Japaness means simply “japanesse painting” was coined by American intellectual Mr Fenollosa in late 1800, to distinghish japanesse painting from western painting, that, at the time, was been introduced in Japan.

Aside from this historical note and the peculiarities of each type of glue used, as well as the type of pigments, glue water based medium has been in use all over the world for centuries .

The main characteristics of nihonga painting however, are more cultural and deeper, and they are anchored in the traditional chinese and japonesse painting, and a different way to approach and understand the visual arts.

I have been using this technique for a long time, and everyday I use it more and more because it fits very well with my way of thinking and working. On the one hand, like encaustic, it requires a very physical contact with the materials. The glue has to be prepared daily, the pigments are mixed on the spot, by hand, nothing comes out of a pre.prepared tube or jar. Although I have nothing whatsoever against pre made materials, there is something fascinating about mixing your own paints

On the other hand ,water based techinques, such as water colours, gouache, tempera and acrylic has been in use in the West for centuries; I have tried them all. They allow for a great transparency and a great variety of techniques, and therefore they do not stop  you, but to the contrary, they incite creativity.

 When in the description of my paintings there appears “nihonga” it must be understood in this context, without necessarily any reference to its historical or cultural context, but simply to the method .