November 20, 2009
by leah
Making Egg Tempera Paint is so easy
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Tempera painting actually came before oil painting as the most favored medium and is very unique in its characteristics. It produces a crisp, luminous and almost linear effect that’s different from oil. Using egg yolk as the binder, this ancient technique makes a water-soluble paint that dries quickly allowing for overpainting with more tempera or other mediums. It’s a very permanent technique.
Basic Recipe: Egg Yolk, water, dry pigments
Just like oil paints, the recipe is a simple mixture of the binder with the pigments to produce the proper consistency. The first step is to properly separate the egg from the white. Break open an egg, cleanly separating the yolk from the white. Keeping the yolk whole, dry it by passing it back and forth in the palms of your hands, drying the palm with each pass (or roll it on a papertowel). The yolk must then be removed from the sack. This is easily done by holding the yolk over a dish or jar with your thumb and forefinger, piercing the sack to allow the contents to flow out. Discard the empty sac. The yolk itself can then be mixed directly with your dry pigments using water to lengthen. A drop or two of Clove Oil can be added to slow spoilage.
Just like oil paints, the recipe is a simple mixture of the binder with the pigments to produce the proper consistency. The first step is to properly separate the egg from the white. Break open an egg, cleanly separating the yolk from the white. Keeping the yolk whole, dry it by passing it back and forth in the palms of your hands, drying the palm with each pass (or roll it on a papertowel). The yolk must then be removed from the sack. This is easily done by holding the yolk over a dish or jar with your thumb and forefinger, piercing the sack to allow the contents to flow out. Discard the empty sac. The yolk itself can then be mixed directly with your dry pigments using water to lengthen. A drop or two of Clove Oil can be added to slow spoilage.