Creating Art at Anderson Ranch Art Center: Making a Modern Ivory Type

While at Anderson Ranch, a few of us made Ivory Types, using slightly more modern methods. It is always fun to learn new techniques.

You begin with a hot, clean griddle and a sheet of glass, if you are attaching it to glass and putting it in a frame. If you are not framing it, you can simply heat up a clean griddle.

Now you brush on a small bit of melted encaustic wax and lay down a black and white image that has been printed on Japanese Rice paper, though I think parchment would work as well. Make sure the right side of the image is facing the griddle. Then smooth it out so as to get rid of any air bubbles. I used a scrap piece of matt board to do this. You could use an old gift card as well. Next, bush on more of the encaustic wax, making sure to go onto the glass. If you are not mounting it on glass, put a thin coat of wax on the back of the image and then remove it from the griddle, holding the corner. I used tweezers for this part.

Once that is cooled, match up the waxed image with the garishly colored background image. (It was really pretty silly and fun to make this part of the image.)

At this point the finished image can be framed. If you are doing it without glass, you can attach the two layers together on one side, such as the top, to keep the pieces lined up.

Here is Hannah's Ivory Type:

I've got more art to share with you, but I also have a meeting to prepare for, so it will have to wait until later. Thus, I leave you with a little fun -
Here are a few videos for your enjoyment: