Egg Yolk Tempera Paint

Egg yolks have been used in paint since before the Renaissance. Egg Tempera is simply egg yolks, a little water, and pigment. The egg yolk acts as a binding agent. It fell out of favor in painting as it is difficult to mix colors as opposed to oil based, but you can see it's durability in centuries-old paintings.

I went for an all natural approach using my spice cabinet. You can experiment with different spices for colors, or simply use some drops of food coloring. I opted to just use egg yolk and spices, no water was needed in my version as I didn't want it to be too thin and I didn't mind that my spices were clumping a little. This is a great fun and simple project for an art history lesson after eating some egg white omelets. :)

For an added art lesson, check out the article "Egg Yolk Gives Tempera Paint Its Enhanced Coverage and Spreadable Properties" by Elizabeth Gamillo on the Smithsonian Magazine online.

Egg Yolks

Paper

Paintbrush

Small pots/containers

Spices: Turmeric, mustard, paprika, cocoa, coffee, beetroot powder, etc.

Water to rinse brush

Fork for mixing

1/4 Teaspoon measuring spoon

Crack your egg and separate into the yolk and the white. We will just be using the yolk so use the white in your favorite cooking application. I used two egg yolks, beat them a bit with a fork, then split it between three small shallow bowls as I was doing three colors. If just doing a few colors and one or two paintings, you can probably get away with one yolk, but I wanted to be sure there was enough to play with.

Add your colors/spices 1/4 teaspoon at a time and mix well. For the cocoa powder I used a1/4 teaspoon, for the paprika and mustard I used 1/2 teaspoon. This is the time to experiment! You will have some clumps and graininess depending on the fineness of your chosen spice pigment. Paprika was my grainiest while cocoa was smooth. Experiment with different spice for different colors, or even try some drops of food coloring. If your spice dissolve well in water, you may also try a putting your spices in a very small amount of water to mix, then adding it to your egg yolk.

Using your brush and rinsing it between each color, paint to your heart's content!