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Painted Hood
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Reptile Vivariums are the most basic component of any reptile housing one may set up. Since the vivariums are where your reptile will spend most of its life, it is very important to make sure you purchase a high-quality housing unit (vivarium) for your pet. Fortunately for you, I have had the experience buying and trying out most of the brands and types of vivariums sold in both America and the UK, so I can easily explain to you which reptile housing units have the highest-quality for the lowest-price that you can buy painlessly on the Internet.

Different Types of Vivariums

1. Most plastic vivariums are much too small for adult-sized reptiles. If you would like to house a small reptile in an enclosure for the minimal cost to you, buying a plastic vivarium is a fantastic idea...if the reptile wont outgrow the cage itself and is still comfortable within it if the reptile does grow larger.

2. Glass vivariums are perfect for animals living in habitats filled with water, such as turtles or fish. This type of enclosure always has either a removable wire mesh top or a ventilation hood to provide just that - ventilation. The ventilation hood may also include a light/heating unit that is necessary to monitor (a very easy task) in order to be certain that your reptiles/animals do not overheat. Since glass vivariums are see-through, it is important to provide a small shelter within the vivarium where the reptile can go to hide or to escape to in times of feeling stressed from seeing something moving outside of the cage that may scare them.

3. Wire reptile vivariums can be bought to house reptiles such as chameleons or bearded dragons. This cage is usually made out of wire mesh crafted around a wooden frame. Since the wire mesh is not the best type of insulation, it can be difficult to maintain a certain temperature necessary to simulate the reptile's habitat. Fortunately though, your reptile will get plenty of fresh air with a wire vivarium because of the many natural holes in the cage's walls. This type of enclosure will also offer you a greater view of your reptile over what a wooden cage will provide for a view. Make sure you buy a wire vivarium that has tightly-woven wire mesh so that your reptile cannot escape, but will still get great enough air ventilation. One very-high quality cage I have personally bought and tested can be found here: Extra Large Screen Reptile Habitat Cage - U.S.A. made..

4. The most popular type of lizard enclosure is the wooden vivarium. The popularity is mostly due to the fact that since lizards are agoraphobic, or fear of a difficult escape from an enclosure, the visible walls of a wooden vivarium will prevent your lizard from running into them like lizards in glass vivariums frequently do. Because of this and since wood is part of their natural habitat, most reptiles in wooden vivariums feel more comfortable and relaxed. Buying a wooden housing unit for your reptile could make a huge difference in its personality when it is both inside and outside of the reptile vivarium.

Wooden reptile vivariums are also very good insulators as compared to a wire mesh or glass cage. More insulated housing means lower electricity bill since the wooden vivarium's heater works much less to keep the cage warm for your reptile. Need I say more?

5. Melamine is another type of vivarium which is made out of wood painted with a finish resembling plastic. Usually, a melamine vivarium has a glass front with three side walls and a bottom made of melamine. This type is very innovative because it provides the insulation of a wooden vivarium and the ability to see your pet as with a glass vivarium, all the while still providing the reptile with its own privacy. Melamine vivariums are great at resisting water and absorbing heat.

Rick Wrangler, an internet-renown expert on over a hundred different types and brands of reptilian vivariums brings you this article about none other than what he is most experienced with; reptile vivariums.

He owns and constantly improves the website: http://www.ReptileVivariumShop.com, which is a fantastic review site that compares and contrasts different reptile vivariums and tanks. On the website, you can find high-quality, low-priced products he has researched to direct you to places on the internet to buy the lowest-price reptile vivarium!

Reptile Vivariums

Encaustic Painting

History

Encaustic is considered one of the most ancient painting mediums in the world. The word "encaustic" comes from the Greek encaustikos, "to burn in," referring to the process of fusing the layers of paint together. The oldest surviving use is the famous Fayum portraits painted on tombs from Roman Egypt around 100-350 A.D.  After disappearing for much of history, it was revived in the 1950s by Jasper Johns, who is often considered the father of contemporary encaustic painting. He used the medium most famously in his Flags and Target paintings.

Materials and Tools

Encaustic paint is usually made from beeswax, damar resin, and pigment. The beeswax has a relatively low melting point, approximately 150F, and is strained multiple times to remove impurities.  Because of this low melting point, damar resin is added, which serves both to raise the melting point to about 165F and to act as a hardening agent, so the encaustic has a slightly enamel finish when cool.  

Beeswax, being both a sealant and a preservative, allows for various materials such as paper to be collaged into the work.  As long as the paper is completely covered by the paint it will not degrade because the wax seals it off from oxygen.

There are several tools needed: first is a heat source. This can be as cheap as a hot plate or pancake griddle, or fancy ones can be bought from R&F Paints. Most artists keep the griddle temperature anywhere between 180F and 230F. The paint itself can be bought readymade (it can also be made from scratch, although that is beyond the scope of this article) and comes in blocks.  These are melted down on the griddle in anything metal - old soup cans, muffin tins, etc. New colors can be made by mixing paints together when molten; they don't tend to mix on your ground because the paint begins to harden as soon as it is taken away from the heat source. Colors can also be extended or become more translucent by adding encaustic medium. Medium is just the beeswax and resin without any pigment; it is completely clear in its molten state. 

Encaustic is compatible with a few other mediums: oil paint, pigment sticks, and oil pastels can be added to the painting in addition to the encaustic. Anything plastic or water-based, like acrylics or watercolors, is not compatible. 

There are also particulars to the ground used. The support must be both rigid and absorbent. If it is not rigid (like canvas stretched over stretcher bars) the painting may crack, usually because of the weight of the wax in the middle of the canvas.  If it isn't absorbent enough the encaustic might later begin to peel away from the ground. For this reason, acrylic gesso and oil primer also cannot be used. Some possibilities for supports and grounds: wood panels (luan, birch, plywood), claybord, untempered masonite, hardboard primed with Holy Grail, or raw canvas stretched over board or wood panel.

The final major tool that is needed is something to reheat and bind every layer to the one beneath it. Proper fusion is necessary so that the layers of paint do not separate over time, and so that air bubbles do not form between them, which can lead to chipping. Many different tools will achieve this: tacking irons, propane or butane torches, heat guns, etc. Heat guns are probably the safest and one of the easier tools to use because they don't have an open flame, they often come with multiple temperature settings, and the stream of hot air can be used to blow the paint in various directions. The precise temperature and distance that the tool is held from the surface of the paint can vary and require experimentation. Different temperatures and distances yield different results.  Encaustic cools in seconds, but fusing tool can be used to reheat and rework the painting at any time - even years later.

The paint can be manipulated with anything you can find: palette knives, dental tools, even fingers. Brushes should be natural hair bristles; most artists use one brush per color and keep them lying on the griddle so they stay warm. Encaustic is conducive to heavy layering, so paint can be added and scraped back: it is both a positive and a negative process. 

Safety

Encaustic should never be heated so high that it smokes, which means that it is giving off toxic fumes. Depending on the griddle or hotplate being used, the paint usually doesn't start to smoke until 250F. Below this point, encaustic does have a unique scent. To most people the aroma is slightly sweet, because of the beeswax, but some find that it causes headaches, nausea, dizziness, breathing difficulties and other respiratory problems, although it is not toxic. Your studio should always be well ventilated with exhaust fans or a ventilation hood. 

The flash point of encaustic (the temperature at which the vapor directly above the paint ignites) is 385F. Obviously, the paint should never be heated this high. 

Water should never come into contact with the molten wax because it can explode. 

As oil paint is compatible with encaustic, flammable liquids like turpentine will probably be involved. These chemicals should always be kept far away from heat sources.  The amount of oil paint used should also be taken into consideration. Encaustic "hardens," and oil paint "cures," thus there should not be equal amounts of the two materials or the finished painting will not harden or cure. As long as there is more encaustic than there is oil paint, the painting will dry fine. 

Finally, there are a series of safety precautions associated with dry pigments, which is only used when making your own encaustic paint.

Finished Paintings

Once the painting is considered finished and has cooled, there is nothing more that needs to be done - varnish or something similar is not necessary. The painting can be buffed with a paper towel or a soft cloth, which removes bloom (any impurities in the paint that have risen to the surface during the hardening process), dust, dullness, and restores the surface to a glossy finish. The hardening process will actually continue for a long time and it may need to be buffed every so often to remove any bloom that develops at a later time.

The paint is stable in temperatures ranging from approximately 40F-110F. In cold temperatures it will shrink slightly and if it is very cold it may crack. In high temperatures the paint might soften but there should not be any lasting damage.  Paintings should be hung out of direct sunlight.

 

About the Author

Ariela Steif is an artist and designer who works in encaustic and other mediums. Come visit her website.

Should I get my car hood painted to get rid of minor scratch?

Recently a tree branch fell on my car (2000 Lexus GS 300, GOLD Color) , leaving minor scratch on the hood. My insurance adjuster suggested re-painting hood in repair estimate.
My car's paint is in excellent condition, so I am concerned that painting hood may spoil the look. Is a repaint as good original color? Should I go ahead and get the paint to remove scratches?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Regards.

If there are no dents or deep scratches I would call a local used car dealer and get the name of their paint touch up people. They can usually fix minor paint damage for a very reasonable price. If their are dents and or deep scratches, then it would probably be best to have it repainted. Just make sure you the work done at a reputable business that will gaurantee their work. Good luck.

No law against topless, but ... Keene police arrest protesters
Being bare breasted on the streets of Keene may not be illegal, but breast painting, drinking in public, blocking police cars and harassing officers are all crimes.

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