Grounds for Egg Tempera by James Eddie

Egg Emulsions | Grounds | Working steps

Grounds for Egg (oil) Tempera
by James Eddie

Ground for Egg Tempera

Material

Support
- Hardboard/Massonite or Medium Density Fiber board (M.D.F.)
- Canvas (two inches bigger than the board all round).
Fluids
- Size : Let soak rabbit skin glue into cold water (from two and a half oz., to a quart of water) and mix it in a sauce prior using. Avoid having the size too hot as it causes air bubbles.
- Gesso : It is a mixture of Rabbit skin glue size (same as above) with whiting and a small amount of Titanium white pigment (about 10% by weight to whiting). The mixing of the size to the whiting has to be done very carefully to avoid air bubbles.
- "imprimatura" That is a colored wash, using a size of egg yolk (1 yolk to a pint of water) and a toning color depending on the tonality of the finished painting. One often use ochre or raw umber.

Process

Give a coat of size to the board and to the canvas.
When dry stick the canvas to the board using rabbit skin glue size. Remove all air bubbles using a squeegee roller. Make sure that the two inches of canvas all round is firmly attached to the back.
Allow to dry and give the canvas one or two coats of rabbit skin glue size.
Once dry and before giving the coats of gesso, it is a good idea to make the size coating partially waterproof. To do so, spray a 4% solution of formaldehyde. A mask should be worn when doing this to avoid breathing it in, also it should be done near an open window. Whilst the panel is drying one should withdraw from the room.
Apply five or six coats of gesso, each coat at right angles to the previous coat. The dried gesso is eventually smoothed down with fine sandpaper or garnet paper. Lastly, the surface is gone over with a damp cloth pad. It is now ready for painting on.
Nevertheless, prior to painting, it is a good idea to go over the sparkling white surface of the gesso with an "imprimatura". Over this coating its useful to spray again with formaldehyde 4%. DO NOT BREATHE IT IN! The object of this is to make the wash waterproof so that one can work without lifting it.
The tracing from the drawing of the painting subject can be under the imprimatura , so that it shows through the latter. If the tracing is applied on top of it , it will be necessary to "fix"it with a spray of fixative.

Ground for Egg Oil Tempera

Fluids

glue water 70:1,000
Half Chalk Ground : This mixture is composed with

1 measure of chalk or gypsum
1 measure of titanium white
1 measure of glue water 70:1,000
Optional amount, 1/3, 1/2 or 2/3 of a measure of boiled linseed oil mixed in.

It is very important to mix the ingredients in the right order. If one should add boiled linseed oil before the glue was added, the titanium white would form an insoluble mass with the linseed oil. In the half chalk ground, watery constituents (glue size) are combined with oily fatty ones (boiled linseed oil). In this lies the nature of tempera. The ground material must be of a heavy, flowing consistency in order to take the oil, which is stirred in drop by drop, with a brush. Cold , congealed chalk ground is very well suited to the preparation of half chalk grounds.

Process

Apply a coat of size with glue water 70:1,000
Once dry, apply the Half Chalk Ground
Apply the first coat with a brush and scrape off any surplus with a spatula, allow to dry for about half an hour, then continue with other coats again at right angles to each other in order to fill all the pores. Two to four coats should be applied.

For further information on this Half Chalk Ground recipe, see " The materials of the Artist" by Max Doerner.

Wishing you good luck ...

James Eddie

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