Layering Egg Tempera Paint: How To Paint With Egg Tempera, Part IV
This is the final post in this series on how to paint with egg tempera, and here we’ll be looking at the painting progression of another three paintings in egg tempera.
Egg Tempera Painting of “Norton Down Church Window”
Below is a slide show movie showing the window being painted, click here to see it if it doesn’t appear in your rss feed or reader.
Below are a progression of still shots to show the top half of this painting in more detail. To see larger, click on the image.
#1 in progress series of egg tempera painting "Norton Down Church Window"
First I put on the dark grey shades.
#2 in progress series of egg tempera painting "Norton Down Church Window"
Then I added lighter greys and started working on the rusty coloring.
#3 in progress series of egg tempera painting "Norton Down Church Window"
Then greens were added to the wall and the window. As I mentioned in one of the earlier posts, I try to paint all the objects on the painting that require a given color all in the same session. This promotes speed, but it also means that I minimise how often I have to create the same shade and consistency of color during another session.
#4 in progress series of egg tempera painting "Norton Down Church Window"
Lighter colors and highlights are added.
#5 in progress series of egg tempera painting "Norton Down Church Window"
And here’s the finished painting, well, the top half of it.
Egg Tempera Painting of “Jura Butterfly”
An example of a different subject is this painting of a butterfly shown in the slide movie below, click here to see it if it doesn’t appear in your rss feed or reader.
You can see how the different colors in the greenery are added layer by layer until the desired effect is arrived at.
Egg Tempera Painting of “Aguille du Midi, Chamonix”
Here’s a completely different subject: the Aguille du Midi, Chamonix, the mountains that rub shoulders with Mont Blanc in France.
Stage 1 of painting "Aguille du Midi, Chamonix"
Below is a slide movie showing the progress of painting these mountains. This slide show is a little different in that it shows close-ups of the first third of the painting from beginning to completion in the first three slides, then the second three slides show the middle portion of the painting from beginning to completion. The last slide shows the completed painting in full, click here to see it if it doesn’t appear in your rss feed or reader.
If you’d like to see the complete finished painting in larger format, click on the image below.
Finished painting "Aguille du Midi, Chamonix"
Painting with egg tempera can be time-consuming because it does need to be applied thinly and it dries almost immediately after it’s applied. But it is possible to go fairly fast, if you move your paintbrush in quick repeated strokes to spread the paint to a wider area before it dries.
Another factor which influences the time required to produce a painting is how many layers are applied. A beautiful painting can be created with surprisingly few layers of egg tempera paint, so it’s a question of what effect is wanted. If time is taken to paint many layers, the payoff is that it’s like building a crystalline gem that reflects brilliant colors.
It’s a very rewarding, hardy and long-lasting medium – just think, every surviving panel painting by Michelangelo was painted in egg tempera. If you’re thinking of having a go at painting with egg tempera, I hope you have loads of fun and that these posts have been useful.
If you have any questions or comments, I’d be pleased to receive them.
Related posts:
- Painting Sky And Water With Egg Tempera: How To Paint With Egg Tempera, Part III
- How To Paint With Egg Tempera, Part II
- How To Paint With Egg Tempera, Part I
- Lighted Windows Egg Tempera Painting
Tags: advantages of egg tempera, Art, Egg Tempera, egg tempera painting, how to paint with egg tempera, Painting, painting with egg tempera
