Egg Tempera Demo by Alex Garcia

[AlexGarcia]

I put together a basic demo of egg tempera for another website and would like to also share it here.

http://www.alexgarciafineart.com/fin...mpera-demo.asp

[RobM]

Great demo Alex..........

[Dennis H]

Alex,
That looks great. Let's do a book!
Dennis

[PhilS]

Nice job, Alex!
One suggestion: I used to use dry pigments until I realized that it is almost impossible to mix them without generating dust. I could wear a mask when mixing my paints, but the easier solution is to store the pigments in paste form in airtight containers (i.e. baby food jars). Mix enough to last for a couple of months, otherwise there is a tendency to mold. The exceptions are titanium white and ultramarine blue, which harden under water.
Good luck with your endeavor!
Phil

[AlexGarcia]

Thanks guys. A book? That certainly would be a fun project. I think between you, Rob and Phil we would have a winner.

Phil, thanks for the suggestion. I have enough baby food jars so maybe I will give it a shot.

[ChrisM]

thank you so much for the demo. It is very helpful to me and I know I'll be referring to it often. Christine

[AlexGarcia]

Chris,

It is my pleasure to share my little bit of info.

Alex

[jpohl]

This really is a wonderful and very clear demo. Thank you so very much.

I was surprised that you didn't mull the pigment. Is there a good rule of thumb to tell if you should mull or not mull? It's the first i've heard of being able to skip that step, but anything that speeds up set up time has to be a good thing. Luckily I have a huge collection of baby food jars I've been saving up ... although I'm wondering how many I should keep around (storage space is pretty valuable here.) Thanks so much for this again.

[jpohl]

Originally Posted by PhilS

Nice job, Alex!
One suggestion: I used to use dry pigments until I realized that it is almost impossible to mix them without generating dust. I could wear a mask when mixing my paints, but the easier solution is to store the pigments in paste form in airtight containers (i.e. baby food jars). Mix enough to last for a couple of months, otherwise there is a tendency to mold. The exceptions are titanium white and ultramarine blue, which harden under water.
Good luck with your endeavor!
Phil

Does this mean you can't get titanium white dispersions? I had thought I had read you could. With the little ones around I'd thought I'd use more dispersions at first, and invest in a good air cleaner for more exotic pigments... apparently the honeywell tru hepa cleaner is the best value for the money.

[DLH]

Sinopia http://www.sinopia.com has dispersions (they call them color concentrates) in their printed catalog but it seems that they are not on their website. However, dry titanium is one of the easiest mixing pigments there is. Dump it into egg/water and it melts into the mixture with gentle stirring. I transfer the pigment to a jar and take what I need with a palette knife each time I make paint. Virtually no airborne dust is generated. Titanium is non-toxic. It is used in toothpaste. Baby powder is more dangerous.