The directions for rectifying of any defects arising from too small a quantity of wax, are so clear, simple and sufficient, that they want but little explanation or addition; only, you may instead of wax simple use wax dissolved in such a quantity of oil of turpentine, as to make it when cool, fluent enough to be employed with a brush on the back of the picture, which, when brought to the fire, the wax will settle with the colours, and the turpentine will fly off.
My saying under the above article that the sudden action of the fire might disturb some of the colours, must not be understood in regard to the wax, but in regard to the nature of the colours, which, if the picture be brought too near the fire at once, will be scorched before the wax can melt and penetrate the texture to screen and secure them.
Observations on Art. the fifth and last.
The facility and conveniency for retouching a picture after the colours are fixed, without the new colours differing from the hue of the old ones, is an advantage no other manner of painting is possessed of.
In oil painting you cannot do it so well except you paint over large parts, because the colours in drying acquire a yellower hue, than they have while fresh; there will always be a difference between the very same tints; besides, oil pictures are frequently greasy-like and refuse the new colours, so that you are obliged to rub those parts with oil, to make the new colours adhere to and flow over the old ones, which rubbing with oil very often makes a dull and yellow spot when the colours are dry; in size-painting it is worse, retouchings there in general appear hard, and in large masses of a uniform colour,—such as sky’s—produce spots.——Encaustic is free from all that; you may glaze with a body of colours as thin and as transparent as you please, without your colours changing of tone. By retouching with crayons upon the fixed colours, the sweetest effects may be produced in landscapes and figures; nay, for retouching only here and there, I should prefer crayons. For instance—to finish a head,—and give the decisive strokes about the eye, mouth, hair, and sharp folds of linen, &c. in landscapes—for the extremities of trees, &c. the smart touch of a crayon will be preferable to the pencil.
When your picture is entirely finished, and you should want to give the canvas more solidity, you may paint it over on the back with any colour or tint, and bring it again and for the last time to the fire, to fix that colour; if you apprehend there is not wax enough, apply a little dissolved in spirit of turpentine, as mentioned in the foregoing observations on Art. iv. this fixed take your picture off from the frame, and stretch it upon that whereon it is to remain.
Having now done with the process for painting in encaustic with the pencil, which notwithstanding its simplicity might appear to some beginners intricate, because I pointed out all the difficulties that possibly may occur in the execution,—to comfort and encourage those that might think the task hard, I shall recapitulate, and reduce the whole within this compass.—Stretch a piece of cloth upon a frame, rub the back of that cloth with wax, paint your subject on the other side, with colours prepared and tempered with water, and when dry bring the picture near the fire, and by melting the wax fix the colours.
N. B. I might have said much more, and dwelt longer on several particulars; but as the only aim of this treatise is to communicate the discovery to artists, and others already acquainted with the management of colours, and not to form pupils from beginning, I omitted saying any thing of composing the tints and disposing the colours on the pallette, &c. Every artist may go on in his accustomed method; the use of all the colours is in encaustic as in oil, as may be seen by the following list.
The direction for painting with crayons will illustrate some passages of the foregoing process, and what other advantages encaustic painting will have over oil and size-painting will be shewn by conclusions drawn from the experiments.
The end of the first part.