In comments, Mae writes,
i have just bought pigment powder and am preparing wood (with gesso) to make an icon type painting…can you give me any tips on mixing egg tempera…the type of oil etc.
Prepare pigments as follows: while wearing a dust mask, use a palette knife or spoon to transfer each pigment to a small glass jar (baby food jars work great if you first boil them for 20 minutes to remove bacteria). Add distilled water. Put the cap on the jar and shake. You now have a pigment paste. Take the mask off, since there isn’t any more pigment dust to worry about.
Separate an egg yolk into another jar. Add about a teaspoon of distilled water and mix. To make egg tempera paint, mix about equal amounts of the egg mixture with pigment paste.
This is classic egg tempera of the sort that is used to make ikons (I’m pretty sure about that, but I am no expert on ikon painting). You can add other substances to it (oils, resins, etc.), but I suggest you learn to paint with just yolk, water, and pigment before you try to experiment with more complex mixtures.
Have fun.
thanks so much David, thats great and happy st patricks day from the streets of dublin
You’re welcome. Boy, do I miss Ireland.
I would love to find out the best place to buy egg tempera—-am starting icon painting v. soon. P.
Penny,
Although you can buy tube paints that are labeled “egg tempera,’ I have not found them satisfactory. Real egg tempera is composed of egg yolk, pigment powder, and water. If you tried to put it into a tube, it would go bad very quickly. Commercial tube egg tempera is an oily approximation of the real thing.
You can buy pigment powder in many of the larger art stores. You can also get it online from places like Williamsburg and Sinopia. I use the method described in th post above, keeping my pigments in jars mixed with water. Others like to mix powdered pigment with egg medium as they use the paint. Either way, it must be mixed up fresh and any unused paint discarded at the end of the day. This sounds like a lot of trouble, but it’s really a matter of just a few minutes work at the start of a painting session. Pigments may seem expensive, but two ounces will last for many paintings.
You mentioned mixing dry pigment with water in baby food jars. I’ve heard a couple of colors, ultramarine blue and titanium white, will harden if pre-mixed with water in jars. Do you know of any others that should not be pre-mixed?
The other question I had is should one use a lot of water and less pigment? I assume the pigment will settle to the bottom of the jar and separate from the water. Or should there only be enough water to create a gummier paste after shaking? I want to mix pigment with water for more convenient use, but I don’t want to create problems for myself by using too little or too much water.
Now that you have a baby you’ll be set for life with baby food jars. I have two large boxes of empty baby food jars in my attic from when my daughter was a baby.
Scott
Scott,
Ultramarine is a bit of a pain, as it does harden when mixed with water. I keep it as a paste anyway, digging it out with a knife when needed. Titanium white doesn’t get hard in the same way; it annoyingly chunky. If I didn’t have a squeeze bottle of titanium white dispersed in water (from Robert Doak), I would mix the dry pigment fresh each time.
In terms of how much water to mix, it’s really a matter of experience with each pigment. Some stay in solution; some separate. My default with a new pigment is to mix in just enough water to make a workable paste, with the jar about 2/3rds full. A couple of days later, I add more water or more pigment if that seems like a good idea.
But really, there is a wide margin for error. I’ve never had to throw pigment away because it was mixed with too much water. Any reasonable ratio of water to pigment will work until you figure out how what is optimal. It’s not something to get particularly concerned with.
And yes, I have plenty of jars now.