Wax painting

I have been working with the new medium, encaustic or wax. I use a small stylus that melts the wax as I dip it into the various colors. One issue is that it is difficult to keep the small cubes of wax clean when working with them so impurities develop. Will have to find a solution. Another problem is in going over a darker color with a lighter one, the darker one underneath melts at times and the light is not as pure either. Overall though, I find the technique relaxing and not tedious and I'm happy with the results. Have done two small landscapes and a face from my life drawing sessions. Am satisfied with the landscapes and here is one of them, a Grand Canyon scene.

A final step is a light buffing with a soft cloth although here too, buffing too firmly results in colors mixing too much. The textures produced are superb and the buffing gives a luminous glow, like varnishing an oil painting. A final drawback is that I have to work small as larger works would take too much wax to apply with a stylus. You can melt wax in pots and apply it with brushes but this requires a well ventilated studio which I don't have at this point. This work is 5 x 7 inches.