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Stamps & Silhouettes...

Stamps and silhouettes enable anyone to produce a graphic.
Many people believe they can not 'draw' and are not 'artistic'. Often, those same people also believe that either you 'can' draw or you 'can't'.  Drawing is like writing. It takes time and effort to learn, but anyone can do it if they so choose.

Art is a quality which, like most others, will develop when desire is present and practise is exercised.  Anyway, the point is that with rubber stamps (or clip art for that matter), graphics can be produced (and someone else has done the drawing for us).  Next use encaustic art to provide 'an environment' for the image.

Make a stamped image onto the painting card.  We use and supply 'Impress' black dye pads for this because they dry quickly and the colour remains strong. Allow to dry.... Use plenty of the clear wax medium on the iron and add small amounts of  translucent colour (here blues) to this (not opaque pigments like white as this will overlay the stamp).  Spread this diluted colour over the card  until it looks good.
Add details with the iron (or the stylus if you prefer).  The border has been added last and finishes the image of nicely.  An interesting thing about working with a pre-made graphic is to see how many different pictures you can create from it.
Below an alternative development of the image. A simple dabbed border adds a surreal underwater cave feel to the scene as well as providing a simple frame. Wax can be scraped off parts of the image as has been done here on the white section of the whales. Below another development of the same stamped whales.  This time the iron edge was used to create an underwater iceberg scene. Finally yet another use of the stamped whales.  Here a sea bed type of landscape has been worked in. Take care to use colours that fit the scene. It is often better to use a few harmonic colours than try to include a rainbow effect every time! Keep it simple!!

Remember that you can also use permanent markers and ink pens to draw in any graphics you wish. If you do this direct onto the card then the inked image is permenetly attached to the card. If you use markers on top of the waxes then any alterations made to the wax artwork will destroy the inked additions on the wax surface.


..take a look at this short printable article on stamping with wax

...examples in the gallery section.         ...or back to techniques index
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Arts Encaustic Ltd, Glogue, Pembrokeshire SA36 0ED UK
  Tel: +44 (0)1239 831401               info@encaustic.com