History of Egg Tempera

Egg Tempera paintings have been known to be around since about 400 AD.  This technique was used by the Egyptians, Greeks and Russians.   It remained in practice until oil paints were perfected in the 16th century.  Oil paints quickly took over as the medium of choice due to ease of use and transportability.  The techniques of egg tempera were nearly lost, if not for the icon painters of the Orthodox church keeping the traditions of their ancestors in tact and passing knowledge on to future generations.

Tempera Today

Even today the methods of Egg Tempera painting are rarely used.  The artist's preparation before a painting session begins is enough to discourage most modern painters.  With this method, you can see beautiful, pure, clear color and translucency that is difficult to duplicate with other mediums.    Egg tempera is painted on real gesso panels home made from recipes dating back more than 500 years.  These grounds or supports are not flexible, making for a lasting finished product.    

Andrew Wyeth – is a well known contemporary American egg tempera painter.

Techniques of Tempera Painting

Pure pigments are either mineral (metal) or organic (hydro carbon) each of these can be natural or manufactured.   Mineral pigments can contain manganese, cobalt, zinc, iron, titanium as well as other metals.  Pigments and are found all over the world and is what provides color in paints.  Pictured are containers of Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Red, Hematite, Cold Glauconite, Yellow Ochre, Permanent Alizarin, and Cadmium Yellow.  Some pigments are considered hazardous materials and must be used with extreme caution.

Powdered pigments come in a variety of granular sizes and shapes.  They can agglomerate and must be ground with small amounts of water in a circular motion to evenly break down the particles into very fine granules to paint with.  A coarse flat stone is used (here an unpolished marble slab) with a glass muller.  The paste is stored for future use.

Immediately before each painting session is to begin; a fresh egg yolk is separated and mixed with equal parts water.   Small amounts of pigment paste (only the amount you will use for that session) are added to a dish.  The egg yolk mixture is then added by a dropper.  Egg yolks act as an emulsifier binding with the pigment particles to create paint.

Once the egg and pigment paste are mixed together a simple test is required.  “Tempering” is a term that refers to the right amount of egg (oil) for the type of pigment.  This can be tricky.  Each pigment requires a different amount of egg yolk, so it is trial and error until you get the feel of it!   Once the paint is made, a test stroke is painted to determine if you have tempered correctly.  Not enough egg and it will appear dull, and paint will flake off, to much and it looks greasy and will not cure correctly.  

Now we are ready to paint.  Painting is completed on specially prepared grounds usually called "gesso panels" made of wood with several layers of special chalk/whiting and rabbit skin glue.

Once the painting begins, as many layers can be applied to the painting as necessary.  Some areas of my paintings have as many as 100 layers of paint providing depth and luminosity.   

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