Egg tempera
Designation
Egg tempera technique
Features
The term tempera appeared at the end of the 19th century, from the Italian tempera meaning ‘to soak the colours’. The term tempera covers mixtures with aqueous binders, most of which are among the oldest painting processes. Tempera actually encompasses different types of tempera, the glues of which are emulsions. The type of tempera should always be specified: egg tempera, casein tempera, skin glue tempera, etc. The various temperas using natural emulsions were the dominant techniques in the Middle Ages. In the 15th century, with the ‘new oil painting’ attributed to Van Eyck, a tempera enriched with oil and varnish appeared: this is known as fatty tempera.
Egg is a glue that contains a certain fatty substance alongside a lean sticky substance.
Materials & Equipment needed
Ingredients: egg yolk, distilled water, pigments of your choice
To one volume of egg yolk, when making a fat tempera, you can add 1/2 volume of cooked linseed oil or 1/2 volume of dammar resin.
Tools: colander, container, brush or flat brush
Surfaces: canvas, paper, but also walls and wood (artistic and decorative painting)
Application
Composition: egg yolk is made up of half water, up to 30% oil and a sticky substance.
Quality: the yolk dries by evaporation of its water and very slow oxidation of its oil, becoming insoluble in water. It remains supple and never cracks.
Recipe: for the whole egg: scramble it lightly, pass it through a very fine sieve to remove the germ and skin adhering to the yolk, put it in a bottle and shake vigorously.
For the egg yolk only, after separating it from the white, place it on absorbent paper and pierce the top of a container. Grind the pigment with water to make a very thick paste. If necessary, add a drop of alcohol to disperse the pigments. Mix one part of this paste with one part egg yolk. The paste liquefies strongly but can be diluted a little with water.
Be careful, this paste does not keep, so use it quickly.
Many recipes suggest adding vinegar, white wine or lemon to this base to make it more fluid, reduce the greasiness and act as an antiseptic, but the acids they contain can interact with certain pigments such as ultramarine blue or zinc white.
Recommended Book
Peinture recettes maison de Marie Vanesse, Editions du Bec en l’air
Manières de peindre de Jean-Pierre Brazs, Editions Notari
Ecrire une icône : initiation aux techniques de René Léaustic, Editions Mediaspaul