Egg Tempera Technique
About Egg Tempera Painting
Egg tempera painting can be traced back to pre-history, when artists learned to mix raw pigments with egg yolk, as an emulsifier. and used the concoction to paint cave walls and temples in ancient Egypt. The golden age of egg tempera painting occurred during the periods of the Renaissance and the great German Masters.
Since the 15th Century, love of the newer technology of oil painting brought the artist out of the studio and all but killed the use of egg tempera as a medium. However, a few die hard egg tempura artists kept the medium alive into the 20th Century. The most notable modern egg tempera artist is Andrew Wyeth.
Arguably one of the more difficult media to master, it perhaps comes closest to pure drawing and lends itself to those individuals who love drafting with a pencil. Artists who enjoy working in watercolor find an easy transition to egg tempera for the concept of work from light to dark is a hallmark of the medium.
Click above to view a short movie of Bob Rowland at work (3.3 MB)
The Process
The Painting Surface
Because egg tempera is not flexible like oil or acrylic paints, the surface must be rigid. This usually takes the form of a panel, or a wall in the case of a fresco. Renaissance and Dutch artists used wood panels constructed from oak or poplar planks. This was a very time-consuming process that took an apprentice years to master. Wood alone has some major shortcomings such as the tendency to warp and split, or for the grain to become raised. Gesso does little to prevent the damage to wood brought on by moisture and atmospheric changes.
Fortunately, Masonite, a 20th century product, has proved to be a very stable surface to work on. However, there are two types of Masonite—tempered and un-tempered. I prefer to use the un-tempered variety when I can find it. Unfortunately, un-tempered is not always available, but I have used both successfully. The problem is that coatings, especially aqueous coatings such as gesso, are likely to bond poorly with the oil-impregnated surface of tempered Masonite. That is why, when using tempered Masonite, it is imperative to fully roughen the surface with 200 grade sandpaper and an electric sander, removing as much of the tempered surface as possible. The surface must be completely dull, without any shine.
Preparing Gesso
Gesso for egg tempera painting must be specially prepared, not bought from an art supply store. Most, if not all, gesso bought in today's stores is latex-based and is incompatible with egg tempera.
The first step is preparing a gelatin or rabbit skin glue. I prefer rabbit skin glue mixed with water at a weight ratio of 16 parts water, one part glue. This is done with a double boiler, with care taken not to boil the glue.
When the glue is warm and completely absorbed into the water, the whiting should be added at an approximate ratio of 1 to 1, by weight, whiting to the water-glue mixture. You must carefully stir the mix so as not to create any air bubbles while the heat is low, and never allow the gesso to boil. The whiting is simply marble dust that can be bought at most artist supply stores. Some artists prefer adding a 50% ratio of titanium white but since all the gesso of my paintings is covered with egg tempera. I see no reason to go to that expense.
The Sketch
Once the panels have been produced, the drawings begin. For many years I would prepare pencil drawings on paper before transferring them to the panel, usually by way of a grid format. Then I started to draw full-size drawings and transfer them to panel by using a charcoal rubbing on the back of the drawing.
Finally, it just became easier to draw directly on the panels with pencil cross-hatching and burnishing, as necessary to achieve the desired detail. Here, I begin the process of developing the dark tones, middle tones and highlights. As an artist this is the most creative part of the work.
It is important to be careful not to rest your hand on the panel because the oil from your skin may prevent the water-based medium adhering properly.
Gouache
Once the drawing is complete, the panel is fixed with a workable fixative and the gouache under-painting is started. As before the process further refines the development of the dark tones, middle tones and high lights. The under-painting can be done either monochromatic ally or in full color. I prefer a simple black and white rendering.