WHY TEMPERA?

Now in my LuRomArt studio , when buying paints for children, parents ask me: why tempera? After all, acrylic is very popular today! Someone more daring paints with oil or watercolor. And I adore tempera! And here's why. First of all, it's because of its natural pigment, which gives an unsurpassed color and ensures environmental friendliness and durability. Secondly, tempera is diluted with water and if clothes get dirty, it is easily washed off. This is important when working with children. Then I adore this paint because tempera does not dry very quickly, like acrylic. And it does not dry slowly, like oil paints. And lastly, this paint is my favorite, because it is the oldest paint in the world, and when I paint with it, I feel as if I am touching ancient art. Did you know that tempera is one of the oldest paints in the world, with a history of over 3,000 years? Due to its stability, brightness and quick drying, it has gone from tomb paintings to classical icon painting and modern design. Tempera paints are an ancient material (based on egg yolk or emulsions), which is distinguished by its velvety mattness. Due to its high covering power, tempera is ideal for various genres. The oldest examples of tempera were found on sarcophagi and mummies of Egyptian pharaohs. The technique was actively used in Ancient Greece and Rome to create frescoes and paint wooden boards. Tempera became the main material for easel painting and icons in the Middle Ages and Byzantium. Masters of Byzantium and Kievan Rus painted with tempera on wooden boards covered with levkas (a special soil) - most often chicken egg yolk diluted with water, which ensured durability and color saturation. In icon painting, this is a traditional technique where tempera has been used for centuries to create the faces of saints on boards. Interestingly, the color retains its brightness for centuries!

All the masterpieces of the early and High Renaissance in Italy were created with tempera. Botticelli, Giotto, and Fra Angelico worked in this technique. Later, in the 15th century, artists began to use tempera as a base layer (underpainting), on top of which oil paints were applied. An example is the famous fresco "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci, where tempera was partially used.

In the 19th century, ready-made factory tempera appeared in tubes, to which oil, wax, and casein began to be added.In the 20th century, #Sennelier egg tempera appeared, which recreated the authentic recipe of the old masters for modern artists. Due to its matte velvety surface and environmental friendliness, modern tempera (in particular casein-oil and polyvinyl acetate) is actively used in decoration, design and easel painting.Of course, I paint with modern tempera paints in tubes. Unfortunately,

I did not find real artistic tempera in Halifax NS, so I have to order it from Europe. But I know how to prepare tempera paint according to old recipes of masters. My goal is to popularize the tempera technique.Here are examples of paintings painted with tempera. These are paintings by old and modern masters and, of course, mine.

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