Thanks, I like the background, but the face is so ….. emotionless so that part I am not fond of. Maybe technically ok, but I think more emotion is needed. Just a little.

Ann

Thanks so much! No more wine, vinegar, or vodka in the egg yolk then. I have never paid attention to the amount of water to add to the egg, but now I’ll go read that article that was just published on that. Thanks for your input, and your irises are lovely!

Ann

BTW, that is a very beautiful icon! Brava!!

Hi Ann,

I once added alcohol to my egg oil emulsion. It definitely lasted much longer, but it curdled the emulsion over time. So no, I don’t add a preservative to my egg oil emulsion. It doesn’t last very long without a preservative – maybe a week (if refrigerated overnight). But I find it very fast and easy to make, in about 2 minutes, so…

Read more

Hi Koo,

I didn’t have time earlier to give a full response. First of all, thank you so much for all the detail you shared about how you make an egg emulsion, as well as all the historical context—which I didn’t know anything about.

I’d also like to ask how long you keep the egg emulsion after you’ve made it. I used to keep mine for months: I’d mix…

Read more

Thanks so much for your notes. I originally studied at the Prosopon school, where the recipe was to add a little wine or vinegar to the mix. Since I like to create a first chaos layer (Roskrysh) I’m going to stick to just water, as it requires a rather thin mixture of egg and water…. This one is from about 10 years ago, but the background…

Read more

Hi Ann,

I agree with George about vinegar and mastic – neither are necessary nor good.

I make a simple egg oil emulsion by measuring an egg yolk (one yolk usually equates to one tablespoon). Then, in a small bowl and using a mini whisk, I gradually add (drizzle in) slightly less than one tablespoon of a drying oil (I prefer sun thickened…

Read more

It is possible they used egg yolk in the gilded areas, but I am not knowledgeable about Spanish polychrome statutes. However, I know Sylvana Barrett, who taught gilding workshops at the Getty. She is featured as the painter in the video.

Thank you! Just egg yolk and distilled water it is. I was watching this video on how those spanish statues were made with the sgraffito all over the cloth, and it looked like all they used was egg yolk.

This is neither a historical recipe nor a good idea. Two reasons why: vinegar and mastic (or dammar) resin. May pigments are sensitive to acetic acid in vinegar, and resins become brittle and darken as they age.

I was looking at Fr. Gunin’s icons, and I saw he uses this recipe for Egg Emulsion… good idea? bad idea?

Thanks, Ann

• Egg emulsion medium: egg yolk (1 part), water (2 parts), white vinegar (1.5 parts), several drops of gallipot mastic. I use Mastixfirnis by “Schmincke”. But it is not necessary, you can easily replace it with dammar varnish,…

Read more

thats so useful thank you sir!

I am new to tempera,but I have studied it from many sources and have never heard about the oil factor,could please elaborate? Thank you.

Hi George,

I’ve always heard that ultramarine blue is susceptible to acids, so I warned against using acidic substances as preservatives in egg yolk medium. However, reading your post on Ultramarine Blue, it says ultramarine is susceptible to mineral acids. Is it correct to say that organic acids do not affect ultramarine, only inorganic…

Read more

Would you be interested in sharing your recipe for egg-oil tempera?