Tempera Painting

In Tempera egg yolk and vinegar is mixed with oil colors and painted on dry plaster. It is paint made by binding pigment in an egg medium.

In the early days egg yolk and hand ground dry powdered pigments were mixed together to create tempera. Sometimes ther materials such as honey, water, milk (in the form of casein) and a variety of plant gums were added to this concoction. With the invention of oil paint in the Late Middle Ages, tempera was somewhat relegated to the shadows. However it was still used for awhile as the underpainting (base layer) with translucent or transparent oil glazes on top. Slowly but surely oil painting began to replace tempera, and by the 16 th century it was all but forgotten.

Three easy steps of making Tempera

• A small amount of colour is to be placed onto a palette, dish or bowl.
• Equal volume of the egg is to be added and the color and the egg yolk is o be mixed well making sure there are no lumps of pigment. Some pigments require slightly more egg medium, some require less.
• Distilled water is to be added. Traditionally a tablespoon of water is added per egg yolk. Trial and error will dictate just how much water is required.

Voila, your tempera base is ready to be used.