..."Painting in egg tempera is a strict discipline, and discipline in the practice of painting has long been out of style. We still set great store by individual liberty, and still resent any move which threatens to curtail it; but we have begun to recognize that our technical freedom is something of an illusion. We have begun to realize that the canvases and paints and brushes with which the manufacturers supply us dictate our technical operations in no small degree; that mechanization may be as great a tyrant as tradition..." Daniel V. Thompson Jr. about Egg Tempera
Traditional Icon Medium: Egg Tempera
When well executed and skillfully handled every form of visual art and every medium has its own beauty. However, traditional mediums for portable/panel Orthodox icons are only egg tempera mixed with natural pigments and encaustic (painting with colored wax). There are no 'traditional' icons painted with ready-made acrylic or oil paints, just like a canvas painting cannot be called a traditional icon. Make your own egg temperaMaking egg emulsion is very easy: carefully separate egg yolk from the egg white and, holding the egg yolk over a glass container, pearce its skin, let the liquid pour out and discard the skin. Then add equal amount of water and few drops of white vinegar. Mix with a wooden stick slowly, taking care not to create bubbles - this is the basic egg emulsion used to mix with pigments and write icons. The guidance of a master iconographer should always be saughtLearning about the proper consistencies needed for different types of application, mixing the emulsion with pigments and learning various techniques of applying egg tempera without visible brush strokes are difficult aspects of the medium. It takes a long time and a lot of practice to master the technique, so the guidance of a skilled master iconographer should always be saught and welcomed. When mixed with natural pigments, egg tempera requires special preparation, it can only be applied on hard surface, it takes long time to dry, it cannot be allowed to mix with other colors on board and it has to have clearly delineated areas up front (detailed, finished drawing) - there can be no changing of the mind once the work starts. But, once this medium is truly understood by the artist and the iconography techniques mastered, egg tempera works are stunningly beautiful and luxuriant, unlike any of the mass-produced mediums. Well applied egg tempera has clarity, transparency and brilliance that are inimitable. It gives fully rounded and seamless surfaces with rich and finely graduated coloration that is otherwise virtually unobtainable. |
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