Egg Tempera Painting

We are studying the Renaissance in History. A large part of this discussion, naturally, deals with artists of the time. We've also been learning about their tools, the patrons who supported them, and the training of the artists. Some Renaissance artists worked in fresco (painting on wet plaster), some thought of themselves primarily as sculptors (Michelangelo), and some mixed paint with different materials. One of these was an early Renaissance painter, Giotto, who mixed color with egg.

We decided to try this! First, Gracen had to mash up chalk into tiny pieces. (That's the first picture and apparently was much harder than I thought it would be!)

Then, she mixed the crushed chalk with egg yolk that had been mixed with about 2 teaspoons of water.

Then, her favorite part--the painting! She first did a picture just with the colors she had made, pink, blue and yellow. Then she began mixing the colors a little and experimenting.

We were both surprised at how shiny the pictures were after they dried. The crushed chalk also gave the pictures an interesting texture. She said that her paintings were "abstract".