Irises in June : colouring-over a favourite photo

Irises in June are a lovely sight. The National Collection of Bliss Irises – Arthur Bliss Irises : www.blissiris.co.uk – were on the list of places to go and see. Camera to hand and a lot of clicks later some great shots. But what do you do with them or with any nice photo that you like. Well, colouring-over is a fantastic way to evolve the visit through the captured photos into a creative expression of encaustic art. The photo is printed out onto some regular copy paper which is slightly absorbent. The photo print is only there as a guide for hte painting to come. It will be completely covered and unseen after the wax has coloured-over the whole surface. That sheet of printed paper is then glued onto something more rigid -a thick card or some light board. Then the encaustic work can begin using the stylus. This small work with fine detail is done using the drawing tip but larger areas can be covered more quickly using the wire brush head – see earlier videos on colouring-over with encaustic art. One of the great things I love about this process is how carefully the photo can be replicated or how wildly different the over-painting can become – a totally changed surrounding to the original center piece flower head!