I started doing gravestone cakewax rubbings when I lived in Boston. There are so many beautiful old headstones in the cemeteries and some of the engravings are spectacular, especially for rubbing. A few years ago I was really into taking crayon rubbings of textures – mostly stamps and stencils. If you use the side of the crayon, and a heavy hand, you can get really nice wax coverage to reveal the pattern, then overpaint with acrylic for a cool resist. You can even iron off the original wax for another effect. Why rub? It's just a way of making your own collage elements. The additional bonus is that once you start doing it you will start seeing interesting patterns and textures everywhere. Don't you love that? A simple case of heightened awareness and suddenly you see your surroundings differently. In these samples I show both current and archived rubbings, some with painted layers to demonstrate the resist. I also include some journal pages that show how you might incorporate a rubbing.
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