The Art of Egg Tempera Painting

Egg Tempera painting was popular in Europe in the Middle Ages through the Renaissance, gradually falling out of fashion with the advent of oil painting. It possibly goes further back in time, to the Egyptians.

 

In all paint there are basically three elements; powdered pigment, a binder that holds the pigment to the surface being painted, and a solvent. Egg Tempera paint consists of powdered pigment, often made into a paste so as not to deal regularly with the powder (which may be toxic), the binder, which is egg yolk, and the solvent, which is water. Because of the egg yolk, the paint must be made each time you paint.

 

Egg Tempera must be done on a rigid surface that is absorbent. Traditionally, the surface was a well-dried wood panel coated with a number of layers of gesso (Gesso - made from rabbit skin glue and chalk or marble dust). My paintings are on Baltic Birch panels which I coat with seven or more layers of gesso. Do to all the above, there is a certain craft element involved. 

 

Unlike oil paint which can be applied thickly and blended, Egg Tempera is done in many, many thin layers, eventually taking on a unique luminescence.  The blending is the result of the many layers. A painting may consist of a hundred or more layers. My paintings are labeled “Egg Tempera and True Gesso on Baltic Birch Panel”.