From your first layers of wax to a toolkit of techniques
WAX FOUNDATIONS FOR ARTISTS NEW TO ENCAUSTIC
You've got your first layers down. Smooth or not, this is where you learn why.
Next comes the fun part - texture and mark making, embedding objects into the wax, layering colour, and adding a touch of gold leaf for richness.
And underneath all of it, you'll understand what the wax is doing and why.
I'll show you the mistakes on purpose. So if a panel goes wrong, you'll know why and how to fix it without starting over the next time.
More than 900 artists have learned encaustic with Jane Ā· Brand Ambassador and Certified Teacher for R&F Ā· Represented by KOYMAN Galleries
Following along is one thing.
Doing it on your ownĀ is another.
Maybe you started encaustic this week. Maybe you've tried it before and it never came out the way you hoped.
Either way, you might have picked up a technique or two. A layer of wax, one bit of texture. What you don't have is a sense of where any of it goes. What belongs underneath, what goes in between, and what sits on top.
Colour, texture, embedding, gold. Each one depends on what's already underneath it.
So you follow along with a video and your panel looks fine. Then you stand in front of a fresh panel on your own, and you're guessing what to do next.
Nobody showed me the steps either. I worked them out panel by panel, so you don't have to guess.
Introducing Wax Foundations
Wax Foundations is a five-week course that takes artists new to encaustic from a bare panel to a finished piece, one layer at a time.
I've been teaching encaustic for five years, and this is the course I wish someone had handed me when I started.
Most teaching hands you techniques without telling you which level they belong to. That's why you can follow along fine and still freeze in front of a blank panel.
We go from the bottom to the top. Week 1 is your base. Weeks 2 and 3 are everything that goes in between. Week 4 is the surface. A toolkit of techniques, and you'll know where each one belongs.
The lessons are pre-recorded and arrive in your inbox every Monday at 10am ET. You can watch when itās convenient for you, in one sitting or over a few days.
You'll have me for the full five weeks. It starts with a welcome call, then live Q&As right through the course. Bring your questions and whatever isn't working. Can't make one? The recording will be waiting for you.
By the end of five weeks, you'll be able to:
- Get the surface you want, smooth or textured, on purpose.Ā Both are choices, not accidents. You'll learn to control the wax to get the results you want.
- Know how much working time you've got.Ā Read the heat while you're working, so you're not rushing a layer or fighting one that's already set. You'll also learn what makes wax chip or lift months later.
- Add marks, pattern and shine.Ā Mark-making, inks, embedded objects, inlay, image transfer. What each one does to a panel, and how to layer them without undoing what's underneath.
- Fix a panel instead of scraping it back.Ā Bubbles, pits, waves, a layer gone wrong. You'll learn what happened and how to correct it.
- Buy the right things once.Ā Which supplies matter, how much to use, and how to save what's left.
And here's how you'll learn all of it.
During the course Iāll make the mistakes on purpose.
A layer that didn't fuse, colour gone muddy, a panel that bubbled. You'll see each one happen, then see the fix.
Most teaching only shows you the version that worked. So when your panel comes out wrong, you have no idea why.
"She's a brilliant teacher. You feel for her when something goes wrong, but you love it too, because she's not afraid to show you. That's how you learn, you see why it happened and how to fix it, so it doesn't throw you next time."
Alce Hartfield, Professional Artist
Here's how we'll spend our five weeks
YOURS THE MOMENT YOU ENROL
First Layers Wax Workshop Lessons
Three lessons. Set up your space, prep your panel, put down your first layers, and add one bit of texture.
Took the free workshop? The lessons are here if you want to go back to them.
Didn't get through it? Start right here. You'll be set up and laying your first layers before Week 1 opens.
WEEK 1 -Ā OCTOBER 12TH
Two panels, side by side. One fused right, one fused wrong on purpose
Fusing bonds each layer to the one underneath. Get it wrong and the layers pull apart weeks later. Most teaching only shows you the panel that worked. You'll see both.
- The ways to fuse, and when to use each
- Heat gun versus flame torch
- Fusing mistakes made on purpose, then fixed
- What goes under your wax, and what to avoid
- Base layer patterns, drawn, painted and block printed
- Adhering papers, and which ones hold
WEEKĀ 2Ā -Ā OCTOBER 19TH
Get the colour you pictured, not mud
Now we mix things up with encaustic paints. You don't need every colour in the rainbow. You need five to start.
- Mix a full palette from five paints
- WarmĀ vs. cool, and why your whites and blacks matter
- TransparentĀ vs. opaque, and what each does once layered
- Glazes for depth, and which medium to use
- Locking colour in, so it doesn't bleed or go muddy
- Inlay, and how to carve clean lines
WEEK 3Ā -Ā OCTOBER 26TH
Put things inside the wax, not just on top of it
This is the part people don't expect. Wax holds things. A leaf, a washer, a scrap of paper, a printed image. Layer over top and it sits inside the piece instead of stuck onto it.
- Embedding dried plant materials
- Embedding washers and small metal objects
- Thick versus thin, and what fabric does
- Embedding papers
- Image transfer on wax with a toner printer
- Hand-drawn image transfer on tracing paper
- Leaving it on the surface or locking it in
WEEKĀ 4 -Ā NOVEMBER 2ND
Texture on purpose, not by accident
Now we build the surface up. Three ways to make texture, plus the colour that makes it show.
- Raised stencil layering
- Mark-making with various tools
- Accretion three ways
- Pigment sticks, and how they differ from paints
- Blending medium, to extend colour or remove it
WEEKĀ 5 - NOVEMBER 9TH
Your Bonuses
Bonus 1: All Things Gold
Real gold leaf versus imitation, two ways to apply it, and how to work with metallic foils.
Bonus 2: Texture Inspired by Nature
Create a shallow transfer with a leaf or other plant material (can use faux) on your wax surface.
Bonus 3: Beyond the Basics
A visual showcase of advanced techniques and large-scale pieces, so you can see where this goes next.
+ Closed captions & transcriptions in multiple languages
AllĀ Wax Foundations lessons come with closed captions and transcriptionsĀ also in French, Spanish and GermanĀ ā watch and learnĀ the way thatĀ worksĀ best forĀ you!
Every week you'll also get:
A weekly recap, live Q&A with recording, and an assignment to try on your own panel.
Enrolment closes October 8 at 8pm ET
Hi, I'm Jane
I've been working with encaustic for six years. I show my art in a gallery, I sell my work, and I still get panels wrong. There's a stack of them in the corner of my room right now, half-finished and scraped back.
I tell you that because no matter how long you've been doing this, things go wrong. That part never stops.
What changes is that you know why.
For years I taught encaustic the way many teach it. A technique in one lesson, another in the next. But a technique or two isn't a practice. It doesn't tell you what the wax is doing, so the minute you're on your own in front of a blank panel, you're guessing.
So I built this one differently.
We start with how the wax behaves, and why your first layers decide whether the piece holds up. Then the techniques on top of that. The fun stuff.
I'll show you everything I do, including the parts where I mess it up. That's usually where the real learning is anyway.
I'd love to have you join us.
"Jane is amazing at explaining the technicalities of encaustic in detail. I love her teaching style. She just seems to hit the nail on the head with things that can be confusing.ā
Faith Welsh, Mixed Media Artis
Everything you need to work along with
Your resource library, yours the day you enrol
A complete supply list
What to buy, what to skip for now, and where to source it. You'll have it before the course starts, so you're ready on day one and not spending money on things you won't use now.
Assignments for each module
Something to actually make each week, so you're not just watching.
The Encaustic Quick Start Guide
My free starter guide lives here too, so it's easy to find.
Ā A plain-English glossary
Every term you'll hear me use, explained without assuming you already know it.
The First Layers Wax Workbook
The workbook from my free workshop, so you've got the setup basics whether you were there or not.
The Wax Foundations AI assistant
Need an answer at midnight? Ask it where something was covered or what a product does, and it'll point you to the right lesson.
A little something extra
THREE BONUSES INCLUDED
The finish people always ask about, how to add texture using things in nature, and a look at whatās possible with encaustic.
Bonus 1: Texture Inspired by Nature
A leaf pressed into warm wax leaves every vein and crack behind. Build from there, layering in stencils and colour until it's a finished piece.
- How to press a shallow transfer using a leaf or other plant material, real or faux
- Adding detail on top with stencils
- Choosing contrasting colours so the impression shows
Bonus 2: All Things Gold
Gold changes a panel more than anything else you'll put on it. It's the one people always ask me about.
- Real gold leaf versus imitation, and when to use each
- Two ways to apply it, with heat or with size (a gilding glue)
- Metallic foils, the colours they come in and how to apply them
Bonus 3: Beyond the Basics
There's so much you can do with encaustic, and this is a look at where it goes once you've got the foundations down.
- A visual showcase of advanced encaustic techniques
- Large-scale pieces
- Ideas for where you might take your own art from here
Is Wax Foundations right for you?
This is for you if:
- You signed up for the free workshop, whether you got to it or not, and now you want a finished piece you'd actually hang on the wall.
- You took Intro to Encaustic and you want more techniques, plus the why underneath.
- You've got supplies sitting there unopened, because you weren't sure where to start.
- You haven't bought anything yet, because there are too many options and you don't want to end up with a pile of things you didn't need.
- You can get a layer down, but the next one is guesswork.Ā
- You want to know why the wax did what it did, not just how to scrape it back and start again.
- You want the techniques down before you start making pieces you care about.
You won't be doing this on your own
Weekly live Q&A with me
Every week during the course I go live on Zoom and in the private Facebook group to answer whatever is coming up. Bring your questions and share what isn't working. If something went wrong, all the better that we're looking at it together. That's usually when it clicks.
Private Facebook group, just for this course
You won't be the only one figuring this out. From the day you enrol you'll have a group of fellow students to share your panels with, ask questions in, and get inspired watching what everyone else is making. No pressure to post. It's there when you want it.
And a team behind me
Community Manager
CHRISTEEN
I'm Jane's Community Manager. My role is to help you find the resources you need, guide you through the platform and answer any questions you might have.
Admin Assistant
VERONICA
I'm Jane's Administrative Assistant. I'm here to assist you with any tech-related issues you may experience. And answer any course- related emails you submit.
Enrolment closes October 8 at 8pm ET
"Jane is my favourite teacher for online encaustic. She does a lot of the experimenting so I don't have to. She'll try stuff and then say, yeah, don't do that. Let me save you the time and money. That's huge to me."
Sandy Chapman, Mixed Media Artist
Here's everything you get
- Five modules, twelve pre-recorded lessons you can watch whenever you like. A new module opens each Monday at 10am ET (Toronto time), starting October 12th
- The free workshop lessons, yours the moment you enrol
- A welcome call and five live Q&A calls with me on Zoom, all recorded
- Three bonuses: All Things Gold, Texture Inspired by Nature and Beyond the Basics
- Email reminders with the weekly recap and workbook assignments
- The resource library, including your full supply list
- Ā A Private student Facebook group, with one year access
- Closed captions available inĀ four languages: English, Spanish, French and German
- Printable transcripts for every lesson
- Lifetime access to Wax Foundations 2026
When I started, I bought three kinds of wax before anyone told me I only needed one. A shelf of colours before anyone told me five would do.
Nobody had shown me what I actually needed, so I bought everythingĀ just in case.
That's a big part of why I built this. You'll get the supply list before we start, so you're buying what you'll use and nothing else.
Ā Introductory price
Ā
PAY IN FULL
Ā 1 x $Ā 549Ā (USD)
OR PAY IN THREE
3 x $Ā 199Ā (USD)
Doors for enrolment close in:
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Try Wax Foundations for seven days
Wax Foundations is backed by a seven-day money-back guarantee.Ā Youāll have a full week of the course, starting October 12. If it isn't right, email us by October 18 and we'll refund your payment.
"I've taken a lot of courses, and they're not all like this. Jane teaches things other teachers don't. And it doesn't matter that our styles are different, the way she explains still makes it click."
Patricia Urdapilleta, Past Intro to Encaustic Student & Mixed Media Artist
Questions you may have
How is the course different from the First Layers Wax Workshop?
I already took Intro to Encaustic. Is this the same thing?
Will I learn to develop my artistic style?
Is encaustic safe? What about the fumes?
I don't have much room at home. Can I still do this?
What do I need to buy, and what if I can't get supplies where I live?
How much time will this take each week?
Do I have to watch the lessons live?
When are the live Q&A calls, and what if I can't make one?
What if I fall behind on the lessons?
So. Now what?
You've got wax on a panel, or you've got a box of supplies you haven't opened, or you've got a few pieces that didn't come out the way you saw them in your head.
All of those are good places to start.
Five weeks from now you'll have worked through a set of techniques. Colour you mix yourself, texture, pattern, embedded objects, inlay, image transfer and gold. And you'll know what the wax is doing underneath all of it, so when a panel bubbles or a layer separates, you'll know what caused it and how to fix it.
You don't have to wait to begin. The workshop lessons and your resource library are open the moment you enrol.
I hope you'll join me.
Ā A five-week course for new encaustic artists
Ā $549 introductory priceĀ ā¢Ā Enrolment closes October 8Ā at 8pm ET
Still have a question?Ā Email us at [email protected]Ā and weāll get back to you. If you're wondering something, chances are somebody else is too, so ask away.
