An Active Day In Art History

When a first or second year student thinks of an Art History class, what most often comes to mind is memorization of long dead artists and works that can only be seen online or in museums. However, Marywood recently took learning about Art History a step further and decided to bring the art to life by allowing students to make their own egg tempra paint, Early Italian Renaissance style.

Egg Tempera is a paint that not many students have experience with, and so to allow them to delve in to a medium that is foreign to them is a lot of fun. This paint is something that anyone can make and is a bit different from Acrylics and Oil paints that are traditionally used in most classrooms, as it dries quickly and requires one to think ahead.

While the smell may take some getting used to, the act of mixing this paint is a blast so you can enjoy the prep of painting along with the action as well. To make Egg Tempera all you needs is egg yolk and pigment, which can be made from almost anything. Crushed flowers, rocks, charcoal, chalk pastels and so much more to add a burst of color to your work. You must simply separate the egg white and yolk and rest the yolk in a bowl or cup, pierce the sac and then add yolk to the pigment until they get the desired consistency.

With Egg Tempera artists can work in ways they never before imagined and may even feel inspiration to make works a little more classical than modern. So why not try it out and see what masterpieces you can make with your own Egg Tempera day!