Been having a great time...

...with this encaustic wax painting with the iron.
Practising a lot with the iron trying to get different strokes and effects. Suddenly an hour or so ago, I was holding the iron differently, just by accident. Instead of putting it pointy end first forwards across the card, I pushed its rear end first across the card with the melting wax on its sole plate. Then I found I could do it so much easier, and I was able to create all these wonderful effects without having to try hard.

I am having a whale of a time doing all these blue effects.

Then I was running out of blue wax crayons. So then I thought, why not play with the reds and oranges. I am not particularly a red and orange person for painting in pictures, although I love orange as a colour for clothes and on my interior walls!!!

So, because I was not worried about conserving the oranges and reds I was going mad flicking the iron this way and that, and not even trying to create a painting. Just carefree gay abandon. Having lots of fun!!!

Suddenly I realised I was running out of reds and oranges. I was having so much fun. Then I had to stop and make a cuppa and look at them. And I realised a lot were actually acceptable as finished paintings.

Here are 3 of the red ones. Not one of these did I try and make into a painting. They appeared themselves as I was swishing the iron this way and that.

The top left one which I surrounded in purple for a contrast has what looks to me like fantasy castles in the centre. The iron stuck a little as I was swishing it sideways across the paper creating that effect. So I put the paper in portrait mode and squished some purple round the edge. Then with my little screwdriver, as a scratching tool, I scraped out half a dozen windows in the 'castles'. I would love to do some more fantasy castles like these.

The one top right, I was using the rear end of my steam iron sideways, flicking the paint up the paper. Suddenly I realised I had fantasy trees and a fantasy forest. This is an effect I had been trying to get and failed. And when I am not trying and just playing with the paint, it appears!!! So I flicked a bit of purple paint up the sides of the card with the rear end of the steam iron and hey presto two more trees. The reason I hadn't used the rear end of my steam iron before now, was that it has a very rounded rear end and not a square angular one. But it is perfect for me. (For those of you who have only read this post and not those leading to this, I did get a proper encaustic iron for wax painting, but after a couple of days it bit the dust, blowing my electric fuse box. I just couldn't wait for the time sending it back and getting a new one, so utilised my steam iron, and it works!)

The trick is actually in the flick of the iron as you apply the waxed iron to the card. But I find it is the way you hold the iron too. I have arthritis and couldn't control the iron the way I needed to on the card, until I held the iron back to front and used it that way. I suddenly was able to spread the melting wax over the card much more easily.

Now I am thinking bigger, and have just tried a couple of A4 sheets instead of all these smaller A6 sheets I have been doing. I didn't think it would be possible to do larger. I am enjoying myself so much, I do not want to stop.

The picture at the bottom turned into a landscape and I quite like it. This is so addictive. I didn't like red as a colour to do painting in, but I do now.

So, this is my contribution for my pic every day challenge to myself for a pic every day in 2017.

I have to be out all day tomorrow, can't wait to get back home to start "ironing" again. This is a person who has had a lifelong hatred of ironing, and not used an iron for over a decade or more. Any clothes that needed ironing after washing ended up at the charity shop. Now I am in seventh heaven ironing these encaustic wax paintings :)