Latest Experiment: Old Lady with a Cat

In my quest to learn more about egg tempera, I ended up doing this hybrid of egg tempera and gouache:

Old and Cat 8 x 10
egg tempera and gouache on illustration board

In my research I found some basic things about egg tempera:

1. Egg yolk is used as the binder so you have to separate the white from the yolk and then carefully puncture the membrane so the liquidy part of the yolk will come out.

2. Really, you are supposed to use dry pigment powder. Then its just a matter of mixing the pigment with the egg yolk to a smooth consistency. You just use water as a thinner. Paint it on in numerous thin, transparent layers.

Since I didnt have any dry pigment and didn't want to invest any more money at this point, I had plenty of gouache tubes on hand and discovered that really the only difference is the gum arabic binder that they use.

I mixed the egg yolk with the tube gouache. My assumption was later verified by a artist who uses egg tempera and on his website he suggested this as a way to test it out.

In progress

details of the painting including an actual  hair on the last one

What I have learned:

I have always liked the results using gouache but have been very frustrated in the actual painting process because of its tendency to lift off when layers are added. This is because it is water soluble and just melts when it is re-wetted with fresh paint. The best solution I have found is  Acryligouache which is a gouache with some acrylic added to it so it doesnt melt quite so easily. I think I like this even better, though. I can use regular (cheaper) gouache and just add egg yolk. When the layer is completely dry the egg forms a sturdier layer which holds up better to new layers. I also used egg yolk as a sort of gloss varnish over the whole thing.

I'm sure its not exactly the same as real egg tempera.  I used plain gouache for the final details because it was more opaque so I know it behaves differently than real tempera. I like it though so I guess its time to buy some dry pigment.

Nan and Grampa

This will be a journal of my new project using the mische technique. This is the process I used on "See my gerbil" ( check 2 experiments if you want to see details on that technique) It is based on a picture of my Grandmother and Grandfather. I say based cause I doubt it will turn out looking much like them.
Here is the photo:

As you can see it is in pretty bad shape. This is after I fixed it up on photoshop. Its quite faded and beaten up but this is how I remember them best. Circa 1971 or so, when my cousin and I would sleepover and play dress up with my grandmother's nightgowns and jewelry.

So here is how I started:

ink on gessoed panel

Then, as the process goes, I covered it with a layer of red oil paint:

red oil paint

I let it dry for about a week and then began to paint in the light areas with the egg tempra (made with the egg oil emulsion):

red covered with white egg tempera

I can see that both faces will have to be readjusted (the faces are the hardest part for me) but there's going to be so many layers on here I will have plenty of time to change it.

And the final result: