Realistic Art in Egg tempera   

Realistic Painting Tutorial in
Egg Tempera

Simply put, I am a realist artist.
 
I have been working professionally with realistic art as my focus since 1980. Strongly influenced by the paintings of Andrew Wyeth, I began working in egg tempera around 1989 - 1990, because I admired the way he could capture light in the tiny bits of detail possible with this medium.  I have several art degrees and a sound appreciation of contemporary and abstract work, but my creative temperament just isn't satisfied unless I'm working with the subjects and themes that I can relate to in a very tactile way.  I've had  personal experiences with  many of  the places  and  things that I've put into each of my paintings. Recreating them in my art brings them back to me, and egg tempera paint handles best for what I wish to do.

Thinking of Ireland
18" x 24"

The Egg Tempera Process

One of the first things to realize about egg tempera is that, except for the binding agent, it isn't essentially different from most any other kind of paint. It seems like it's a more exotic medium because so few artists work with it these days, but it's actually a fairly basic material, and was in fact used to create the great frescos like the Sistine Chapel ceiling. It is an essential  mixture of pigment powder for color, a binder (egg yolk in this case) to make it stick, and a thinner to make it - well - thinner.

It is, however, distinguished from other paints in its unique handling properties.  It is a light, thin paint, the most delicate and quick drying of all opaque paints, that must be applied in numerous layers or glazes.

The binder

Start with an egg.

The goal is to separate the yolk form the white and the sack, and then mix it with water in a roughly 50/50 blend; this is the binding medium which you will in turn mix with the powder pigment to make paint. There are different ways to do this, but I simply break the egg  cleanly in half by tapping it around the center with a knife, splitting it in half, and then draining off as much white as I can from the shell. Next, I gently pour what's left of the white and the yolk sack on a paper towel. Rolling the yolk (just as gently) around on the paper towel will further separate the two elements, until you can suspend the portion of the towel with the yolk sack over a

Then you just add in distilled water to the yolk making a roughly,  50/50 blend and mix thoroughly.   You are ready to create paint.

Take a Short Cut

At this point, there is an easy, short cut method to trying out egg tempera for yourself to see if it's right for you.  You can simply add the egg yolk medium you've just created to almost any water based paint that comes in a tube.  Watercolor, gauche, even acrylic paint will work for this experiment, even though I personally prefer watercolor because it mixes more easily. 

 You just squeeze a small portion of the selected paint into the well of a watercolor palette and then add the medium in a blend of roughly three parts medium to one part paint, mixing until you get a material that has a consistency a little thicker than cream. This mixture will handle very much like the real thing, though I suggest you only use it for small, test pieces.  At this point, you will be using a paint with two binding agents and the durability of the finished artwork over time is questionable. You will, however, be able to experience the quick drying, delicate aspects of this paint to see how you like its handling properties. If you are as attracted to the amazing effects and clean images you can achieve with egg tempera as I was, then from this point on it's a few easy steps to working with pigment powder and beginning your own egg tempera paintings the time proven way.

The next chapters take you there.

All Paint Starts as Powder Pigment