Egg tempera is a painting method thousands of years old and made simply of ground up pigment glued together with the yolk of an egg and water. Laid down on an absorbent ground, usually plaster-based, board, they dry into a durable, brilliantly colored, tough film which can demonstrably last for millennia essentially unchanged. It is the oldest painting medium in existence. According to some reports, there are caves in France and Spain thousands of years old filled with paintings that were as bright and colorful as the day they were painted. It is the quintessential painting medium and the main one used by Andrew Wyeth who painted most of his significant works in egg tempera describing the method as “having no limitations.”

Egg tempera is a wonderful medium with many advantages:

• It is water-based, non-toxic (depending on which pigments you use), and permanent.

• Unlike oil paint, there is no yellowing, changing of color, or transparency over time; and no toxic paint thinners or solvents are used.

• It has a proven track record going back hundreds of years, unlike acrylics.

• It shows the beauty of pigments off to great advantage and the colors are vivid, clear, bright, and pure

In this eight-hour workshop, you will complete an 8 x 10 egg tempera painting. The board and dry pigments are included in the workshop; students will need to bring watercolor brushes (#4 and #8). Synthetic or sable are fine, but bring at least one brush with a good point to allow for fine details.

If anyone is interested in a great reference book, Chryl recommends “The Luminous Brush: Painting with Egg Tempera” by Altoon Sultan.

Note: This class may not be advisable for pregnant women as a surprising number of common pigments have been shown to be hazardous. (http://www.alessandrakelley.com/hazards.html)