How to Make Encaustic Medium

Step 3 Weigh Your Materials

I've made lots of encaustic medium, and my favorite ratio is 10 parts wax to 1 part damar. More damar makes for a harder wax, less damar makes it softer. You'll be able to decide on a ratio for yourself after using it for a while. I've read that it's a bad idea to go lower than 8 parts wax to 1 part damar, but I've never had trouble at that ratio, so there's probably some adjustment there.

WEIGH your wax and damar out. There's no way to do this reliably by volume (damar is a plant product and varies quite a bit). My kitchen scale cost $4 at K-Mart, and has been well worth the investment. Just make sure you use the 'tare' feature to get the most exact measurement possible. In my demo I used 50 grams of wax to 5 grams of damar. That'll give you 2 or 3 'mini muffins' worth, and that's plenty to do a smallish first painting.