Egg and Pigment. There have always been discussions about the traditional mediums artists use. For example, artists use wood when creating relief prints as a form of printmaking. Artists learn about how different methods of printmaking exist because of unique tools. There are also ways in which medium can help artists express the concept of their artwork. I have also seen artists, such as Marcello Barenghi, draw by using a combination of tools. He uses pencil to create an outline, then layers watercolor, airbrush techniques, colored pencil, and marker to create hyper-realistic drawings (see images below). Egg and Pigment. Tempera paint is used by combining egg yolk and powdered pigment. After attending school for 16 years of which art was a constant in the curriculum, I never knew what tempera paint was made of until I did research on my own. I began to question what many of the different mediums are made of that I use in my work, and what my future students use in the classroom. I knew that wood came from trees, but I never knew what made tempera paint different from acrylic. Oil paint I assumed had oil in it, but I was never taught much else. I soon discovered many new variables in the art world.
Images below provided by YouTube.
Use of paintbrush and watercolor to create a base layer. (Above)
Use of Mylar, exacto knife, and airbrush to create shadows on egg shells. (Above)
Use of white colored pencil to add highlights and other details. (Above)
Use of Copic Marker to add subtle shadows inside the egg shell. (Above)
Finished product of the drawing/painting with the use of many mediums. (Above)
As artists, we commonly overlook ways to help students understand the mediums they work with. We often tell students that media selection is an important role in increasing the concept of a piece, and in some cases, it is the main meaning of the piece. Without explaining a mediums own making, students are missing out on other conceptual opportunities. Taking the perspective of an environmentalist, it is important to address the difference between tempera and acrylic paint. Acrylic paint is a paint made of pigment suspended in acrylic polymer emulsion. Acrylic paint contains plastics which are not generally safe. On the other hand, tempera paint is made of pigments mixed with egg yolk. It is a safe paint for people to use and for the environment.
Artists can paint unimaginable things simply by starting with a blank canvas. I recommend teachers educate their students on the process of creating their own medium for further understanding of the tools they use. This includes the ways in which paint brushes are made as well. At the elementary level, art teachers can demonstrate how tempera paint is made to aid students and their understanding of art materials. To create tempera paint, you can use a chalk pastel which you grind into a fine powder. Chalk pastels are primarily composed of pigment. This can also teach students that chalk pastels use pigment in a dry compressed form. Then, you crack an egg and remove the yolk from the egg white. Lastly, you beat your egg yolk in a small container and add as much yolk to the pigment necessary to create a more transparent or opaque paint.
From this small example, it is easy to tell that students can learn more about their materials and their relationship to the environment. Additionally, they can explore new vocabulary such as transparent and opaque. Learning about media composure is an effective way to prompt students of other unique mediums they can create. The world has many different objects that can be utilized when making artwork. Settling for the mediums traditional artists have used limits the possibilities for new mediums in the art classroom. Art educators need to continue to promote creative thinking in all areas of the art making process as a responsibility to their profession.
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