[Ann]

Thanks so much, George!. Being a member of the this group is the best thing I ever did.

-Ann

[Ann]

All right then, there they go into the trash…. Thanks!

Ann

[Ann]

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

[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

[Ann]

Thanks for the tip!

[Ann]

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 up a batch, put it in a bottle with a dropper, store it in the fridge, and keep using it. But that was when I was making the egg emulsion with vinegar or wine as a preservative. I don’t have much experience actually creating the traditional egg‑tempera‑based skin in icons. I’ll put on a base coat, but then I often end up switching over to oils, which may not be a good idea on top of egg tempera.

Do you also do gold leaf? I’ve done quite a bit of it, but I feel I don’t have a great formula yet. Sometimes the clay layer will start to peel off the underlying base, as if it hasn’t adhered properly—maybe because there wasn’t enough glue. The recipe I was taught used a bottled hide glue, which I now suspect wasn’t ideal.

Given your experience with egg tempera, I’m asking these additional questions because you clearly have much more knowledge in this area than I do.

Thanks so much,

Ann

[Ann]

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 and the edge all all that roskrysh layer with some additional toning layered in.

[Ann]

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. https://youtu.be/9Wb-T1F033Q

[Ann]

Thanks, I know I have to use the Schminke medium instead of linseed, but I’m assuming also that it’s OK to use the linseed in the underpainting if I leave it to dry first.