Egg Tempera Painting Course
Please contact us for dates and times

A 5 day course to introduce the materials and techniques of egg tempera painting.

Egg yolk has been used as a ‘binder’ or medium for paint for centuries. It was the main medium used by artists in Europe until oil paint became the more popular and predominant medium from the 15th century. For many centuries prior to this white of egg was used to make paint for manuscript illumination and yolk of egg used to make paint for altarpieces. The Church was the main patron for the arts in medieval times and eggs also held a symbolic significance for the painting of religious imagery as they represented purity and new birth.

Egg tempera is a very beautiful medium; paint prepared with egg yolk has a semi transparent/translucent quality which cannot be gained from alternative media. It is water based and presents a permanent and beautiful alternative to acrylic paints for artists who prefer to work with water based paint. It has the advantage of acrylic paint in that it dries quickly and no solvents other than water are necessary for their mixing and application but unlike acrylic paint however it cannot be applied in thin washes or in thick impasto strokes – the paint must be applied in thin hatching strokes and can be difficult to master but the result is well worth the effort!

As egg tempera paint is translucent and applied in thin layers it is usual for it to be applied over a very smooth, white surface (traditionally a chalk or gesso ground would have been used) so that the light passing through the thin paint layer is reflected back to the viewer giving a shimmering sparkle to the paint. It is this quality plus the use of gold leaf that gives the early altarpieces their jewel like appearance.