Various plastic substances produced by insects, certain trees, and as a by-product of the distillation of petroleum. waxes are characterised by being hard when cold, melting at temperature around that of boiling water, being insoluble in water, and useful to the artist for modeling and as a plasticiser in various paints and pencils, or as the basic ingredient in encaustic painting. beeswax and paraffin wax are the most used types. A type of paraffin wax called Victory Brown is just the right consistency for modeling and replaces the older mixtures based on beeswax which often contained a portion of lead.