Artist, Cathy Nichols fell in love with the encaustic process and used it to do many of her paintings in the past until she moved to Manhattan and became pregnant with her first child. The switch from sunny, outdoorsy L.A. to NYC left her with insufficient ventilation to continue with encaustic, so she invented a way to mimic what she loved best about the process using acrylic-based paints, scrap paper, a sharp sculpting tool and lots of gel medium. We asked about her process, here's her explanation, following the images:



"So, first I sketch out the painting in pencil and sometimes watercolor. Then I draw it onto wood (this piece of wood is hand-cut by my fiance, Christophe -- my wood-cutting assistant!). Then I start painting and glue paper down as I'm inspired. To glue them down, I use acrylic gel medium on the back and set the paper using a printing brayer rolled over wax paper. When I reach a certain point, I layer a whole bunch of heavy-bodied, clear acrylic gel medium over the whole piece and quickly etch in fine-lined details using my sharp metal sculpting tool. (Continued below the images).



"Then, once the acrylic gel dries completely, I'm ready for the funnest part. I layer acrylic paint over the whole thing, then wipe it off. It sets in only where I've etched the lines. It's quite cool! For "Wedding Day," I used transparent raw umber because it contrasted nicely with the blue/green tones of the painting. Finally, I paint and apply more cut paper for contrast and depth. Then I add another. And, yes, all of my paint is non-toxic if inhaled as I use only acrylic-based products. Considering my huge belly and visiting 18-month-old, this is essential for peace of mind!"





The final piece is for sale at Cathy's Etsy shop, or you can visit her table at Poppytalk Handmade here, and etsy shop here.

Thanks Cathy!