I subscribed to the Indie Arts DVD magazine from issue 1 but let my subscription lapse so I have now re-subscribed and caught up with the back issues and all I can say is that they have just got better and better.Issue 7 – Spring 2008 is fantastic.
Apart from the interviews and the gallery shows there are two mini-workshops in this issue.
One is on Encaustic Wax techniques with Mixed Media artist Daris Judd which is amazing, and another of my favourites is the painting demo with Michael deMeng.
This is the blurb on the back cover:
Micheal shares information on painting techniques and shows ways of making things look old and blending objects together in assemblage art. He also gives tips on how to paint plastic and metal.
He does a wonderful section on how to mix acrylic paints to get various effects which is where I saw him demonstrate how to achieve his favourite colour that he calls ‘UZZH’.
It’s a mix of Goldens' Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold with a spot of black. The result is a gorgeous 'old gold' colour.

Always wanting to try new things, I thought I would have a go with the wax painting technique.

You really should use wood or some other solid background as the wax cracks if there is too much movement but I thought I would use an old canvas just to try the technique out.
I painted over the top of this with Paynes Grey and Red Iron Oxide fluid acrylics trying to get a sort of rusty feel.
You can see on here where I had used the canvas before - it was my Andy Warhol style Kylie pictures I had printed on tissue paper and was going to do something amazing with, but never quite got around to.

I had some beeswax already in sheets like this. Maybe its not the right sort but it seemed to work O.K.
I broke it into pieces and melted it in a batik wax pot. Daris Judd uses wax that has been coloured with pigments, so has different containers with her waxes in, kept at the right temperature on a hot plate. I gave the canvas a coat of wax, let it dry and then attached some old dressmaking tissue paper using a second coat of wax.
When that was dry I then put on another coat of wax.
After this coat had dried I used a blowtorch to melt the layers of wax into each other. Great fun I thought until I held the nozzle too close and it started to burn, so be warned. Evidently, according to Daris this does happen sometimes and like she says, thats fine if its the effect you are after - so I'll go with that :)
You can see how the colours underneath start to show through once you have used the blowtorch. It was still very dull though so I used a bit of elbow grease to bring the shine back up.
Undeterred by this one I decided to have another go.
I still didn't use a solid base because I intended to do something else at the end so I used a piece of fabric I had previously painted with acrylic paints.

I gave it a coating of wax then two more coats with dressmaking tissue paper on top and a blast with the blowtorch. I deliberately burnt the edges of the tissue paper this time to give it a ragged look.
Once it had dried I crumpled it up as much as I could. The idea was to load it with acrylic paint which would seep down in between the cracks in the wax.
It certainly did what I had intended but some of the paint also stayed on the surface even though I rubbed over with kitchen towel. I thought the wax would resist the paint but evidently not - and this is the result.
It looks and feels lovely, like old worn leather. I'm very pleased with how it turned out.In this (not very clear) close up you can still just about see some of the wording on the tissue paper.
I shall be experimenting more with this technique, I really like the results and the beeswax smells delicious, my husband thought I had been polishing the furniture - as if :))