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Penny Gunderson

Betty's Beach Birthday Portrait


Betty’s Beach Birthday

I and two friends visited Haida Gwaii. While we were there Betty had her birthday. We agreed to let her set the agenda for the day. Betty chose to spend her birthday, beach hopping and exploring Graham Island the larger northern island.

We stopped at a colorful school bus that served huge cinnamon buns and had a wonderful lunch. At one of the beaches I was able to take a sundrenched photo of Betty looking very content with her special day.

When I was painting this encaustic portrait I used several techniques. The waves have fine patterns on them from a shellac burn as does the beach. This is accomplished by painting the clear shellac over the upper layer of wax and letting it dry some then you heat it with a heat gun. You begin to have holes and small cracks in the surface.

I was happily painting away and decided to use the iron on the face since I had so much success doing Kevin’s portrait that way. I used a smaller iron and it was too hot. Unfortunately, I burned her face right off! One of the good things about encaustic is that you can always scrape back to the wood substrate and start again. This time I fused the wax with a heat gun set on a lower temperature and quiet blowing speed. So this completed portrait has a brand new face that I like even better than the first one.

The best way to view this portrait is from 4-6 feet away where you can really see the sun drenched effect of this beach portrait. Happy memories Betty.

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