Cheryl Kernaghan

Egg Tempera

Technique:

In Europe, prior to the fifteenth century, egg tempera was commonly used for painting on gessoed panels. By the sixteenth century it was replaced by oils and was rarely practiced. Egg tempera is a technique which uses paint consisting of the yolk of an egg, water and ground pigments painted onto a rigid board which has been primed with a gesso made from calcium carbonate and glue. The oily nature of egg yolk is the binding agent that binds the pigments to the board and due to its translucent nature it is commonly applied in layers using a cross hatching technique.

I prepare the board by hand and apply numerous layers of gesso. After the gesso is thoroughly dry I sand with fine sand paper for a smooth absorbant finish. This process takes a week from start to finish. A drawing is then transfered to the board and a colour rough in watercolour when necessary is done first. I use fresh, organic eggs to make the paint and prepare it daily. A painting can take anywhere from two weeks to a couple of months to complete depending on the size and complexity of the work. Some of my larger pieces have taken almost a year to complete.

Egg tempera is fragile at first and scratches easily but as it cures it becomes more durable and water resistant with age. Glass can be put on the painting to protect it as long as the glass is not in direct contact with the paint.

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