Making progress

The substrate is gessoed--3 times actually since it still seemed a little rough after the second coat--and the frame is on (how to build substrate here).

Dry gesso, dry!!

I actually didn't have enough screws for the frame and needed to run to the hardware store to pick up some more. My husband suggested I put the too-long screws in a vice and grind them down. Yes, maybe if I didn't have access a car and need 20 of them, and if the cost was going to be $50 vs. $1. I'll kill the 20 mins round trip, thank you, and drive myself to the store.

I've started working on the background using Caran D'ache crayons and India ink. As you can see I've left some spots blank. The thing with wax is it makes paper transparent or semi-transparent depending on the paper color and thickness. If I were to color the entire background blue and then layer on the face, I'd be looking at a blue face, so luckily I've spent time considering how the print elements will be layered in the wax--so no goofs yet. (In previous works I have managed to scrape color off gesso after cutting and peeling away layers of wax, so goofs can be fixed with some patience, wax, and a steady hand when using the heat gun.)

No wax has been applied to this work yet, but hopefully tomorrow. After spending two hours heating up my wax supply, I noticed little bits of funk in it from an old brush, so now I need to cool it in tins and scrape the funk off that settles (like when I make encaustic medium). Then reheat and try again.