The stylus drawing tip is a tapered brass rod, split so that a slot reservoir is formed. The wax is held in the slot by capillary action.

To fill the drawing tip with wax colour simply rest the heated end against the wax block. When there is wax in the slot the stylus is loaded and ready to use.

Place the tip end onto a piece of card and draw a line.
For a smooth and uniform line start moving the stylus before you make contact with the card surface

Note: if you place the tip onto the card and don't move it then some wax will still flow out and a small spot will be formed - the more liquid the wax the larger the blob.

Once you have grasped this thing about the slot being in contact with your artwork surface the stylus is easy to use and very controllable. Writing, drawing , blending, pointillism, line work and pretty much any ' pen like' style is possible.

Tip: the abrasive paper square that came with the stylus is there so you can perfectly polish the tip end so that it glides over the artwork.

These next 3 images show how to clean the drawing tip.

• make a thick tissue pad and place the dirty stylus tip into it with the slot touching the tissue at the bottom

• squeeze the tissue over the tip and gently pull the stylus away from the pad

• for general use the drawing tip is now clean, but if you want it to be pristine then dip it into some clear wax medium and repeat the process on a clean area of the tissue pad.