Chaotic abstract - a “pleasing mess”!
Encourage imaginative vision, where you “find” forms in the wax *images that appear without preconception.

ABSTRACTS ~ encourage use of the above four iron techniques with the 3 primary colours.

Wax colours to use are:
Show differing viscosities & explain!

Advise exploration of different types of strokes, (smoothing, lifting, edge work and point work).

Encourage observation of how the colours quickly mix, practise of how to keep colours as clean as possible i.e. avoid over-mixing, etc.

Patterns ~ make rhythmic repeat marks across the entire card to form bands of pattern effect. Careful not to wipe out the parts that you want to keep as you apply the next band of pattern. This exercise encourages a relaxed and more natural use of the iron as a tool and gives the user practise whilst providing varied but positive results. Work with the 3 primary colours for the test piece, but also experiment with any other colour combinations that appeal.

Wax colours to use are:
Show differing viscosities & explain!

Advise exploration of different types of strokes, and experimentation of a variety of patterns - How many types can you produce in 5 minutes?

Encourage experimentation and discovery of different repeatable marks possible with the irons surface and edges

Wax colours to use are:
Show differing viscosities & explain!

Advise careful cleaning of the iron when moving from darker areas back into lighter coloured ones.

Encourage experiments with different pattern combinations to make this form of image inspiring as well as light filled - use light or bright colours in the center - keep colours as clean as possible i.e. avoid over-mixing, etc.

Wax colours to use are:

Show "testing the iron's temperature" using this colour. The No.8 Blue Green colour is easy to use & is an unnatural / chemical looking colour.

Important * Do each action once only.
a. Load iron base with wax for landscape. Be prepared to demonstrate a reverse activity for left handers!
b. Place iron flat on card with point at left side and move iron right to spread wax onto card surface. LIGHTLY!!
c. cover the lower half of wax with iron flat and lift iron (from edge on wax) as if opening a box - fairly quickly.
d. Use edge of iron to push through the wax & create lines in a group for grasses. “..like an ice-skate”.
e. use iron tip to get a spot of wax. Spot onto card then clean tip. Put tip on spot & “flick” in one direction, replace tip on spot & “flick” in other direction for the bird.

THE 3 BAND LANDSCAPE STRUCTURE IS NOW EVIDENT. LIGHT + DISTANCE + FORGROUND (& DETAILS).

Wax colours to use are:

Teaches:
* ZIG-ZAG LANDSCAPE - natural colour & full effect *INTRODUCTION OF HAND-HELD DABBING.

Method Notes:
a. Load iron with No.23 Olive Green & edge stripe of No.14 Yellow Brown
b. Do the Zigzag smoothing stroke ~ across, back, across always working downwards.

• DON’T PRESS HARD ~ INSTEAD GENTLY GLIDE THE IRON OVER THE WAX
• USE SUFFICIENT WAX
• GLIDE THE IRON ALMOST COMPLETELY OFF THE OTHER EDGE OF THE CARD
• ENSURE IRON’S TOP EDGE IS CARRYING WAX OR SMUDGING WILL RESULT ON HORIZON
• CHECK THE IRON IS NOT TOO HOT (No 8 blue green should slowly dribble down the iron)

c. Hand-lift and dab in foreground ~ lightly lift card with thumb on front and fingers behind. Don’t buckle the card. With iron facing the lifted card let bottom edge of card touch iron base. Gently but swiftly “spring” the card on and off the iron base WITHOUT THE TOP IRON EDGE MAKING CONTACT ~ no edge marks ?? GOOD...
d. Make grasses less regular, not all emerging from one point on the card. Encourage clumps, uneven lengths, some curved & wavy forms .attention; the ice-skate turns & cuts a path so don’t slide sideways or wide lines result.
e. the bird ~ remember that the size of the wax spot on the card determines the size of the resultant bird. If difficulties arise try applying the wax spot then “cleaning off the iron’s tip” before flicking out the wings.

FINAL NOTE ~ GET THIS SET OF TECHNIQUES MASTERED 80% BEFORE MOVING ON.

Wax colours to use are:

Method Notes: Use the iron's straight edge to create the best flat horizons - slide the iron along with the straight edge at the top of your land area.

For larger images with longer straight lines use a straight edge like a piece of cornice moulding, so that the iron is guided by it but the molten wax does not actually touch or contact it. A straight rule sitting on a wax block at either end will also work well - just be sure to avoid molten wax touching it!

Wax colours to use are:

Method Notes: Use the iron's tip which is loaded a bit like a knife spreading runny butter over the card. Start at the left side(right handed) and create a nice smooth round and erratic graph form as you go across the length of the card, forming a high hill horizon.

Wax colours to use are:

Method Notes: Use the iron's curved edge to create mounded forms that are very effective for low hill and rolling landscapes.

If you run out of wax simply put more on adn re-apply.

Wax colours to use are:

Method Notes: Use the iron's curve up on edge (as if doing grasses), and load the front triangle area with liquid colour, then push sideways like a knife spreading butter, across the card, in the form of a sharp pointed graph.

At the start it is often difficult to avoid repetative zig-zag-zig-zag forms that are the same "saw-tooth" marks over and over. It can help to roughly draw an erratic peaked graph as a guide. Do this on the waste paper so that it is visible just above the actual painting card area, then let your eye follow it as your hand moves the iron.

Colours Used:

Method:
Land: Paint a Zigzag 2 colour landscape and put in the initial hand-held dabbing.

SKY: Use No.12 Red Violet and No.18 Prussian Blue.
Get blocks and “clean & soften” one edge of the block.
Apply the Prussian Blue to the top 50% of the sky area VERY LIGHTLY AND EVENLY.
Apply the Red violet to overlap part of the blue and extend down to the horizon line at the edges BUT LEAVE AN AREA OF CLEAN WHITE CARD IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HORIZON.

Rub hard to smudge into an even “light”. Careful not to buckle the card. If too much wax, wipe some off using tissue.

Melt a small scribble of these 2 colours onto the iron and dab (hand-held) into the foreground to give a subtle colour harmony with the sky. Too much looks poor. Too little can create banded and disjointed images.

Add grass details and the bird.

Note: For older hands and weaker fingers this rubbing can be difficult.

Colours Used:

Method Notes:
SKY:
a. Load the iron with plenty of white and then put in colour bands.
b. spread wax onto card to keep colours in clean bands.
c. re-work until an acceptable result occurs.

• REMEMBER
• Plenty of (white) wax for fluid workability
• Glide the iron as lightly as possible.
• If too dark go over with more light wax (white, pastels or clear)
• Faster Movement for Texture = storm / wind
• Slowly Smooth horizontal = calm / peaceful

Land:
d. Continue by adding zigzag landscape cutting just through the sky wax on the horizon.
e. Hand-held dab & add dark versions of the sky colours to make colour harmony.
f. Add grasses, bird and also spots of sky colours to foreground as flowers.

Congratulations on your first full painting.
What is this? ~ a landscape? ~ No, just a bit of card with some wax on. In fact it is an illusion of a landscape, merely a representation. In order to produce good illusion you must have a good understanding of the subject.
SPEND TIME LOOKING AT REALITY!

Colours Used:

Method Notes:
a. Paint another full iron landscape and try not to get “blobs” for birds or flowers.

• TRY TO MAKE THE WAX COATING ON THE CARD A GOOD EVEN LAYER OF COLOUR ~ VITAL FOR A DEFINITE & UNIFORM PRINT.

Printing onto the fabric.

1. Clean under-paper covered in tissue (to provide absorbency & mop up any wax that penetrates the fabric)
2. Fabric face-up then place wax image to be printed in position face down
3. Cover with tissue and iron pressing hard with a slightly hotter iron.
4. Peel up part of the waxed card to check how the image is transferring. When transferred remove the wax card before it cools. If some of the wax has not transferred carefully replace the wax image and re-iron.

WASHABILITY ~ Not recommended for contact items (clothing/furnishings although Tee Shirts can work pretty well if washed carefully).

PRINT ONTO ANY FABRIC FROM SILK TO AIDA

• the finer the weave the finer the print
• the finer the fabric the more absorbent under-tissue you need ( to "mop up" excess wax).

IDEAL UNWASHED FOR ANY DECORATIVE AND CREATIVE TEXTILE USE. EMBROIDERY BY HAND & MACHINE, COLLAGE, CROSS-STITCH, MONTAGE, WALL-HANGING QUILTS, ETC.

STYLUS Try :

• Writing
• Dragonflies - flick outwards from a spot of wax to get sharp tips to the wings
• Castle Spires - make them heavier and bigger at the base and ensure the spires are parallel with the vertical edge of the card - then they will look upright. Again, flick from a spot of wax at the top of your tower to get a slim and sharp spire.
• Flowers, fences, trees, etc.
• Explore colour mixing on a card palette, then picking up from previously mixed colours - these palettes can be kept for years and enable many unique colours to be created in small amounts.

SCRIBER Try:

• Using the pointed end to sign your work
• the bladed end to create a pathway
• the pointed end to outline shapes and effects in an iron abstract
• hatching & drawing in the wax (like scraper board)

Wax colours to use are:



a variation is to also use

Method Notes:

1. Apply wax to a piece of 2 ply tissue by covering the front 1/3rd of the iron with one colour at a time and wiping onto the tissue. Each colour should partially overlap its neighbor and all 3 colours overlap in the center area.Tear off excess tissue.
2. Put the waxed side of your tissue onto the painting card.
3. Place the curved edge of the iron onto the tissue and make some small and some longer "graph" type strokes, keeping as parallel with the card's vertical edge as possible. The longest strokes will be the castle towers / spires.
4. PRESS HARD DOWN ON THE EDGE TO “SQUASH” WAX THROUGH & ONTO THE CARD.
5. Work to make a nice central castle body with two or three taller spires.
6. Use the iron tip to drag down over the tissue to create a hill form for the castle to stand upon
7. Use you finger to smudge down through the hill area, adding shading and body as the wax spreads softly over the white card.
8. Add a couple of birds with the Stylus tip and a small path with the Scribing tool.

Wax colours to use are:

Method Notes:

1. Apply wax to a piece of 2 ply tissue by covering the front 1/3rd of the iron with one colour at a time and wiping onto the tissue. Each colour should partially overlap its neighbor and all 3 colours overlap in the center area.Tear off excess tissue.
2. Put the waxed side of your tissue onto the painting card.
3. Place the point of iron on tissue with back edge of base plate lifted about 1” off the surface.
4. PRESS HARD AND MOVE THE POINT WITH SMALL VIGEROUS ACTIONS TO “SQUASH” WAX THROUGH & ONTO THE CARD.
5. Work to make 2 “piles of stones”.
6. Rub through the base area of the “stones” with your finger to create the “water” effect. Keep it horizontal (parallel to the bottom card edge).
7. From small pile of stones use iron edge through the waxed tissue SLOWLY, to put in grasses / reeds.
8. Add a couple of dragonflies (double Decker birds with a slightly curved body in a different colour!) - try not to create "stereo-types" where the angle and size is identical for the dragonflies - vary their size and rotation.

Wax colours to use are:
- this No10 Ultra Marine Blue is more liquid than the darker No18 Prussian and mixes well with the No12 Red Violet for this image.

Method Notes:

1. Form a zigzag landscape and TRY TO MAKE ALTERNATE BANDS OF LIGHT & DARK as you work down the card (hills / valleys). Ideally the top of the land mass (distant horizon) will be paler than the bottom (foreground).
2. Add a castle into a dark foreground area. MAKE SURE THE SAME COLOUR WAX IS USED SO THAT THE CASTLE APPEARS TO “GROW OUT OF THE LANDSCAPE” - they are welded together and the castle form "emerges".
3. Add a small version of the same element (castle) on the horizon, again ensuring that the colour used to weld it into the landmass is the same hue as the point where it is sited. Ideally this more distant and smaller castle will also be paler in hue. * Repeating an element in a smaller version helps depth and gives the illusion better perspective. Remember, build the castle using the colour it rests on.
4. Insert a path / road way with the scribing tool. Make sure scraping is done in line with the horizontal edge (parallel with the base edge of the card). Work down the card, starting from the distance & getting bigger (wider) as you get “closer” to the foreground. It is much easier working this way than in reverse. Same is true for the castles - put in the largest foreground one first!

Wax colours to use are:

Method Notes:

1. Load wax colours across the iron in mirrored bands. Middle No.8 Blue green, Next bands No. 12 Red violet, Outer bands No.18 Prussian blue.
2. Spread and smooth off the colour onto card moving the iron parallel to card edges.
3. Gently smooth in-line over the wax always watching for an effect that could be developed into an image. Use a light stroking movement for best resultant effects.
   GO online to see a VIDEO CLIP FROM QUICK CARDS - PLEASE BE PATIENT
   
   EXPLAINED FURTHER: Smooth over in-line to warm the wax ~ PREPARE FOR THE NEXT SMOOTHING ACTION BUT THIS TIME BREAK THE SUCTION AT THE BACK END OF THE BASE-PLATE BEFORE STARTING TO PULL THE IRON OVER THE WAXED CARD. A “TRAILING” EFFECT SHOULD BE PRODUCED BECAUSE THE BACK EDGE DOES NOT SMOOTH OUT THE IRREGULAR TRAILS OF WAX THAT NOW “DRIBBLE” OFF THE UNDERSIDE OF THE IRON.
   • Fast = texture
   • Slow = smoother
   • Drag & lift = Dribbled textures and effects
4. When a good effect appears, stop iron work and use the scribing tool to develop the image OR use the stylus to put in details like flowers & dragonflies etc.

Colours Used:

1. Make a stamp / other black graphic image on your painting card. Choose a subject that suits an “ambient” environment i.e. fish because they live in a blue undefined surrounding, fairies because they fly in the air, etc.
2. Use a good quantity of clear transparent wax to mix and dilute the colours. Over-paint with any translucent waxes but NOT OPAQUE COLOURS (don't use white, pink, grey, or any white + ? mix)
3. Having achieved an environment add details to it but avoid dark wax buildup over the stamped image area.
4. To make the image totally wax oriented use the stylus to over-paint the stamped image with wax that suits the subject - e.g. Black / White for the Whales or brown / green for a tree.

NOTE: Floating or flying subjects are easiest because they do not have to be tied so visually carefully into the image. A standing graphic, like a tree or a horse, MUST HAVE SOME DARKER COLOUR THROUGH ITS FOOT AREA to anchor it to the ground and to create a solid surface on which to stand

Colours Used:

Method Notes:

1. First create your sky using No.10, 24 and 16 together - try to create realistic light in the sky area
2. Now add mountains but use a mixture of the above sky colours with enough pink and blue in the white to make a colouring that looks like snowy mountinas when applied. remember to load the front triangle of your iron & position it at the left of card(right handers) as if to make grasses with the edge. Then as wax dribbles down onto the card move slowly across towards the right and with a gentle and “jerking” manner move the iron up and down as if drawing a cartoon graph. The aim is to produce “peaks and valleys” which resemble high alpine / rocky mountain horizons.
3. Get as piece of tissue ready in a rough pad form so that you can grab it quickly when you will need to in a minute.
4. Smooth over the bottom of the mountains and do a quick bit of dabbing.
   NOW ~ Whilst still warm .....
   Place the warm card flat on the table, take the rough tissue pad and quickly but carefully wipe through the soft (still molten) wax, keeping the wipe parallel to the top / bottom of the card. This gives a good quick water effect for very little effort. Don't be tempted to wipe off all the wax as this then looks like a wiped off card! Leaving a few trails of colour parallel to the bottom of the card makes a more realistic water effect.
   GO online to see a VIDEO CLIP FROM QUICK CARDS - PLEASE BE PATIENT

Your example does not have to be identical to the one shown, but please concentrate on getting good light in the sky (get this part right adn the rest is much easier), a clean horizon shape, effective water that is done by applying wax like a sky, but this time underneath the land mass. Finally work to achieve good colour harmony and balance in the image, so that when it is polished you look at it and think "That's good".

Colours Used:

1. Carefully ensure the work area is clean ~ bigger work requires a more organised approach
2. Turn the iron up to make it a little hotter. Load the iron for the sky with as much white wax as is safe and then add the bands of colour. Spread this onto the sky area (TIP:stand and pull the iron from an outstretched arm towards your body) IF THERE IS NOT ENOUGH WAX TO COVER THE SKY AREA SIMPLY RELOAD AND START THE APPLICATION WHERE THE LAST ONE RAN OUT.
3. With the iron still a little hotter than usual, re-work the whole sky area very lightly trying not to over-mix the colours. When it looks OK stop! If it gets muddy you can always reapply a little more of the light colours – just very lightly float them over the existing ones
   NOTE : THE QUALITY OF LIGHT DETERMINES THE FINAL QUALITY OF THE PAINTING, NO MUDDY SKIES!
4. Load and apply the horizon being mindful to make the best of your sky & it’s light. Choose the brightest part of the sky and direct the observer’s attention to that by the way you build the rest of the image - don't recklessly iron mountins through the nicest light in the sky!
5. Work down the card with hills and put in a line of dabbed effect to represent trees.
   BIG CARD TIP:clamp the top edge ot the painting card close to the table edge (lay your waste pad on it) so that the land mass area that you need to dab it hanging over the table edge without you needing to hold it. Now you can get your free hand under the card to support it as the iron dabs on and off, thus creating foliage effects without getting iron marks showing.
6. Add ironed water. To do this load the iron exactly as for the sky but this time turn the card the other way round and apply the wax to cut through the base of the dabbed trees, just as if applying a sky. KEEP STROKES PARALLEL TO THE BASE OF THE CARD. Go over this a couple of times and the result should look like a reflection of the sky in water.
7. Dab on a foreground (see above TIP) remembering to use strong colours that reflect those used in the sky (the colour of the light) to create colour harmony.
8. add a few details to finish it off if desired, but don’t over do it!