As I circle warily around this new-found technique of painting in egg tempera, I am coming to realise that there is going to be a lot to learn. For a start, I am far from clear about the range of supports that might be best suited to it. While we confined our attention to ikons, during the course, the decision was made for us….these are painted on gesso-covered wooden boards. My early independent experiments at home, however, suggest that not all supports are suitable. Unless I get some advice on this I could waste a lot of time and material.
My other significant realisation is that colour has to be approached in a different way from that in which it is approached in my favourite medium of pastels. A decent set of pastels will include anything upward of 48 different colours. Both my “Rembrandt” and my “Schminke” sets have 90 colours each, and then there are the numerous other shades I have picked up from time to time, when I thought they looked interesting. I must have well over a hundred to choose from. The set of pigments I have which I expect to provide the basis for my work in tempera has 19. Others are available, of course, but I understand that mixing is likely to create the variety I might need, and perhaps in large measure by superimposing veils of colour rather than simply mixing in the palette.
Unlike oil paint and acrylic, with which I am familiar, the medium used to mix tempera colours is actually the yolk of a hen’s egg. Never before did I imagine that any decision to paint might lead in the first instance to a trip to the farm shop.