Encaustic Painting on Papyrus

Encaustic Painting on Papyrus

Video by Vladimir London

In this video, I will test my theory about hot beeswax painting on papyrus by making this artwork.

Here's the A4 size pad of natural papyrus sheets. They are hand made the same way as two thousand years ago. This material is flexible, semi-opaque and non-porous. It is an ideal support for ink writing and drawing. However, I want to test how it works for hot beeswax painting.

To keep this sheet clean, I will transfer the design instead of drawing directly on papyrus. Although the surface is smooth, its natural fibers would not take extensive erasing and redrawing. So, I will use a tracing paper cartoon for this job. Two sheets are fixed together with the pieces of masking tape at one side, so I could open the page to see the transfer progress. All I need to do now is to accurately outline the design without missing a line. The glossy papyrus surface takes graphite marks well. Of course, graphite was not known to ancient Egyptian artists, but for the purpose of this experiment it does not matter. It is not about drawing, but painting. Here is my transparency chart of DIY encaustic paints. Let's begin with the opaque very dark, almost black paint.

For painting, I will use this Vladimir London Encaustic Bristle Brush. It is very compact, but powerful. It can be heated to any temperature from 50 to 500 degrees Celsius with one-degree precision. I designed various working tips for this brush. As I expected, the hot tip does not damage the papyrus sheet surface. Hot encaustic paint grips to it nicely. It is actually a very pleasant experience to feel the texture of papyrus under the brush. It is not smooth, but firm. The beeswax paint is flexible and sticks to papyrus well. Let's buff it up a bit to get higher gloss. I do it with a soft microfiber cloth. You can see how shiny the painted area became. Rubbing and flexing the papyrus sheet does not damage this encaustic paint whatsoever. I like the result a lot. On the reverse side, we can see the painted area not because hot encaustic penetrates through the sheet, but because this support is semi-transparent. This is a very good start and it promises that the experiment will go well to the end. While I am painting, I will tell you a few words about the history of encaustic and why I test wax paints on papyrus.

As the painting medium, encaustic was developed more than two thousand three hundred years ago in ancient Greece. It is not known who was the inventor, but beeswax paints were so popular at that time that the same word was used to denote beeswax and paint. Because beeswax is solid at room temperature, it has to be heated to become liquid and then be applied on the support. Such a process is called encaustic, which means to burn-in. The old books tell us that ancient Greek painters achieved great success and their artworks were highly valued at that time. Encaustic art reached its peak during the Hellenistic period in Greece. At the same time, Egypt went under Greek rule. The dynasties of Greek kings, who nominated themselves as pharaohs, helped in spreading Greek culture to Egypt. The encaustic painting tradition found its way to North Africa that way. However, at the turn of millennium from BC to AD, Greece became a part of the Roman Empire. Egypt was conquered by Rome as well. New Roman elite adopted the Egyptian tradition of mummification instead of cremation. This brought a new need in decorating mummies with portraits. Such portraits were painted in the hot beeswax medium, encaustic. I have to say that only the wealthiest people could afford such luxury portraiture and the majority of mummy portraits were done in less expensive tempera. Nevertheless, we know that the encaustic medium was used because many mummies were discovered with beautifully painted portraits. Such artefacts were found in Fayum and later in other regions of Egypt and for this reason they are called Fayum portraits. I have seen numerous Fayum portraits in museums around the world and was fascinated how realistic and beautiful those works of art are. At that time, paper was not invented yet and papyrus was the material of choice for writing and drawing. Thousands of papyri were used for keeping accounting, writing orders and letters, archiving information, and so on. Practice of writing on papyrus sheets and scrolls was so popular that this material was even recycled for making cartonnages, stucco casing for mummies. Despite such extensive use of papyrus, I have not heard about a single ancient papyrus that would be identified as a support for encaustic. So, my question is: was it because papyrus is not suited for hot beeswax painting or maybe tools of that time were not good enough for painting on such support. There is also a possibility that encaustic on papyrus was not practiced because the process of burning-in hot beeswax paints is too laborious for that matter.

This experiment goes well and I can already say that with the right equipment, writing and drawing on papyrus is rather simple. You can see how easily I can draw thin lines with precision on this surface. Hieroglyphics writing in encaustic would be totally possible in ancient Egypt should such tools be invented at that time. I understand that use of electricity would come in two thousand years, but ancient painters had a suitable tool, called cauterium, which is essentially a bronze stylus that can be heated over fire. Such cauterium was used for painting Fayum portraits, so the technology of applying thin lines of eyelashes and other small details was known to the ancient artists. Nevertheless, encaustic in Egypt was found only on wooden panels; no other support like gypsum stucco, stone, or linen canvas served for hot beeswax painting purposes. It might be that such artefacts are not discovered yet or maybe researchers did not examine the paint binder of every artefact. Whatever the case, I want to test the feasibility of encaustic painting on papyrus.

Papyrus is a grass plant of the Cyperaceae family; it grows along the Nile delta in Egypt. Its stalk is straight and its central part can be cut in thin strips. Such strips are soaked in water and depending on timing, their color would change from light yellow to brown. You can see that the sheet I use has different shades of yellow and brown. After soaking, strips are placed next to each other in one layer and the second layer goes on top in the perpendicular direction. After pressing and drying, sheets become smooth and thin. I have seen the process of manufacturing papyri at a small factory near Cairo in Egypt; they use the same technology as two millennia ago. Papyri sheets are semi-transparent and flexible. They can be rolled in scrolls or kept flat. Papyrus is a good support for writing because it is light and smooth. However, not all sheets were made equal. Pliny the Elder, a Roman author and commander, wrote in his books that there were six types of papyri available at his time, grading from firm, smooth and white to coarse and rough, not suited for writing. In the dry climate of Egypt, papyrus could be stored for a very long time, but because its cellulose absorbs moisture, eventually this material will rot and disintegrate. I think this disadvantage can be cured with treating papyrus sheets with beeswax-based ganosis, but this would be the topic for another experiment.

The cultural exchange between Egypt and Greece went both ways. Greek brought to Egypt the know-how of encaustic painting, while papyrus found its way to Greece and the Roman Empire. This brings a question whether papyrus was used for encaustic writing and painting in Greece. We might never know the answer because no beeswax artworks made in Europe survived to our time, but the feasibility of such use can be tested today, which is exactly why I'm making this picture.

The encaustic medium has many advantages over other paint binders used in ancient Egypt and Greece. Animal or plant glue can be mixed with pigments to obtain paints. Egg yolk is another good binder for water-mixable paints. Such paints are easy to apply; they are fast drying and permanent. However, beeswax paints come with unique characteristics and give results that are not achievable with other media. The medium made of beeswax mixed with resins stick well to almost all surfaces - from stone, wood and canvas to glazed ceramic and glass. Because it is water-resistant, it protects the support from moisture and humidity. Beeswax keeps its qualities for a very, very long time. Encaustic paints do not fade or disintegrate over time.

I spend hours and hours in museums looking at Fayum portraits done in encaustic. Every detail interested me from how thick the support is to the brushstrokes and painting style. It seems that all ancient encaustic portraits have one thing in common - their brushwork is rather pronounced. It is not impasto as such, but the extra thickness of beeswax paint would make it brittle. In this test, I apply a very thin coat of encaustic, spreading the paint as thinly as possible. It is no greater than a well-diluted gouache or tempera. That is why the paint layer remains highly flexible after solidifying. And by the way, it solidifies very quickly. It takes under three seconds for the beeswax binder to become solid on the cold papyrus sheet. This is another advantage of writing or painting in encaustic. You do not have to wait till the paint dries to apply another coat on top. Blending neighboring colors is very easy even after the paint dries. It instantly melts again with a touch of the heating tool. That is why I call encaustic the "Always ready" medium. It can be reworked at any time in the future as if it was painted just minutes ago. No other medium has the same quality.

This artwork is progressing nicely. I use several blue paints for the hairstyle. The square block paints are self-made from natural beeswax and three types of resin and a small addition of linseed oil. This 100% natural binder is mixed with pigments to obtain different shades and tints of colors. The round-shape paints are experimental microcrystalline wax paints made for testing purposes by George O'Hanlon, director of Natural Pigments. These paints are not in production yet. George gave me several pieces for testing and I like this material a lot. Microcrystalline encaustic is smooth and easy to work with. Thank you, George! I will wait when this medium becomes available on the Natural Pigments website.

It's time to paint the face. I make this artwork without any underpainting, which is rather challenging because beeswax paints are semi-transparent and brushstrokes could be visible. Nevertheless, papyrus seems suited well for this purpose. Its natural warm and light color acts as the imprimatura layer in oil painting. It gives an integral hue for this artwork.

I tend to use small size brushes for encaustic, which makes the painting process rather slow, but gives good results. Fine details can't be achieved with wide brushes. Also, I only need a tiny amount of paint to apply a very thin coat of the beeswax medium. Because the brush is made of stiff metal bristles, brushing the papyrus surface is a bit tricky. I take extra care not to damage cellulose fibers, which might become loose due to mechanical rubbing. You may see that the painted surface has luster. Beeswax is matt on its own, but the binder I use contains natural resins. They are glossy and brittle, but in combination with wax these materials adopt good qualities of each other. The melting point of beeswax is raised while fragility of resins is reduced. After buffing the surface with a soft cloth, it pleasantly shines without any varnishing. I like how the encaustic medium looks on papyrus.

You can see that paint blocks are numbered. This helps to cross-reference each color with the transparency chart. By their nature, various pigments have different transparency. It is easy to see if a paint is opaque, semi-opaque, semi-transparent or transparent when such swatches are at hand.

I'm now using an even smaller brush for depicting eyes. The pen is heated to 135 degrees Celsius, but its working tip is about 80 degrees. This temperature is only a few degrees higher than the melting point of the encaustic block. Different paints require different temperatures. That is why it is great to have a tool that can be adjusted with ease.

The ancient painters did not have the convenience of electric tools. Heating a cauterium by eye is challenging to say the least and definitely requires a great experience. I'm almost certain that this obstacle was one of the main reasons why Egyptian and Greek artists did not use papyrus as support for encaustic painting. Although this experiment shows that hot beeswax adheres to papyrus well and it is not impossible to make a work of art in such a way, the lack of technology might prevent ancient artists from such laborious undertaking.

Here's another thought that crossed my mind - until archaeologists and researchers find some ancient papyrus with a beautiful artwork in encaustic, this painting is probably the world's first piece of art made in hot beeswax on papyrus. I have researched this question for some time and could not find a single example of exquisitely made portrait composition in such materials. So, let's say it again, in this video, you see how Vladimir London, a contemporary encaustic artist, creates the World's first portrait in hot beeswax on papyrus. This is an achievement on its own regardless of the picture. You might like or not like this artwork, but the fact is - I wanted to test the feasibility of painting in encaustic on papyrus and this test came out satisfactory.

I like these ancient materials; both papyrus and encaustic paints are inventions that revolutionized art and culture in the ancient times. Manufacturing of papyrus was invented about three thousand years ago and encaustic was known to Greek painters two and a half millennia ago. The advance of Hellenistic painting would not be possible without encaustic. We would also know much less about ancient Egyptian culture without old texts on papyrus scrolls.

This artwork is almost complete. I am glad that I tested my theory and quite satisfied with the results. To see my other paintings in encaustic, visit VladimirLondon.com

I share my knowledge and experience in several online art courses and provide personal tutoring to students around the world by correspondence, teaching professional drawing and painting techniques:

• Life Drawing Academy
• Watercolor Academy
• Old Masters Academy
• Drawing Academy
• Anatomy Master Class

To learn good drawing techniques, enroll in the Life Drawing Academy course: