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Chapter 5: Creating Illusions of Sand and Sea
Egg Tempera as Water Media
A Stand of Aspen
Watercolor has always been one of my favorite mediums. It's probably my impatient nature. Like an old joke, I have spent time in places where there was little to do but watch the paint dry, and I itched to move on. Add a proclivity for delicate detail work and realistic paintings, and you do not end up with an oil painter - at least not the plein-air type. You get an artist who craves adding little bits of highlights or dark embellishments with equal aplomb, and a total disregard for smearing around the layers of paint underneath.
Small wonder I became an egg tempera painter.
However, long before I investigated the tempera technique I worked with watercolor. I really enjoyed letting the colors flow, and the fact that I could manipulate the blends that give watercolor it's unique appeal.
Detail work, however, was another issue.
Nothing you add to watercolor as white highlights looks right with the other paint, and painting around the highlight areas is just plain a lot of work...when it works at all. So hence, my transition to egg tempera. For a lover of realistic art and intricate illusions, nothing beats egg tempera paint.
Watercolor, however, still feels pretty good too, so I have been using it for the sketches and concept studies to plan my more complex egg temperas for many years, especially my commissions. With one difference...I use egg tempera as my watercolor (or water media) paint.
The advantage is that, with egg tempera you can add white to the watercolor, and it looks like it belongs. Just like in a traditional tempera, you can put a light on top of a dark, so you can add your bits of light detail on top of the watercolor style wash, ending up with a best-of-both-worlds compromise.
The following paintings are examples which I will be using is as the models in our next workshop. Follow with me in the step by step process. You can easily try this on your own, and even if the first attempts are total failures this is a much faster technique, so you are only out a little time and a piece of paper. This is simply an exercise, like a sketch, so give it a try and play with the paint.
To Begin:
Image one
Image two
Start with a sheet of watercolor paper.
The subjects here are old barns, but you can use anything you prefer as the focus of the painting. Aspen trees, a mountain peak, or an old house would work as well. Wet the paper down, and begin with a wet-in-wet technique. Egg tempera paint is water soluble, so you will be impressed at how well it responds to this application.
Then:
Image One
Image two
Add in some definition.
Do NOT get caught up on detail. You can add all the detail and refinement you want later. Even the skies, as much as they appear like traditional watercolor washes, can be adjusted by adding lighter colors over the darker. The paint will be a bit transparent at first, but you can add all the layers you wish, until you are happy with the result. For the mountain in the second painting, for example, the white snow fields are partly the white of the paper having been painted around (just like a regular watercolor) and part white paint added later.
Finally:
Image One
Image two
Finish it off with detail work.
From this point on, you can fill in as much detail as you wish. The samples here are closer to traditional watercolors, with minimal detailing. I added in some highlights on the buildings, and in image 2, I went back into the mountain peaks with clearer snow fields, but other than that I pretty much left them alone. It was good to know while I worked that any mistakes I made while finishing off the focal points I could correct with highlights or lighter shapes, like the woodwork or the roofs. If you study the aspen painting at the beginning of this article, you will see a lot more detailed highlights and intricacies.
If you decide to take my workshop on this theme (or at any time in the future you should wish to pursue this concept further in a different class), I will be happy to work with you to accomplish whatever goals you should like. Remember, your first attempts will likely end in unsatisfactory results. That's OK. Let it happen. Get comfortable with the paint, and then attempt more complex, significant paintings later.
Return to Egg tempera tutorial Chapter 1
Chapter 5: Creating Illusions of Sand and Sea
