Tempera Paint

There is a big difference between Egg Tempera, Poster Paints, Washable Paints and Tempera Paints.

Egg Tempera is NOT what we teach in Elementary School, but it is very interesting and it is where the tempera paints we do use came from. So, you can check this out or skip down to what we do use today in schools.

Egg Tempera has been discovered on early Egyptian decorations and was used throughout the Byzantine and Renaissance periods. Wooden panels were covered with layers of gesso (made with gypsum mixed with animal glue and worked into a thick paste). The final gesso layer was polished until smooth. Artists mixed egg yolk, a bit a water, and pigment which would dry super fast. It was almost impossible to blend, so they painted a solid color and then with tiny brushes added thin lines of paint to create the illusion of curves in a form. This is a great video from the Khan Academy about the history and technique for Egg Tempera
Tempera Paint (Khan Academy)

Famous Artists that used Egg Tempera were:

Leonardo da Vinci (1452 - 1519)

Edvard Munch (1863 - 1944)
Giorgio de Chirico (1888 - 1978)
Andrew Wyeth (1917 - 2009)

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Today in Elementary Schools:

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, students currently use washable paints, poster paints, or tempera paints. I tested several to see if there was a differences and there definitely is huge a difference in the quality.

The first two, washable paints, were very inexpensive ($2.00 - $5.00 for a six to eight pack). The quality was poor, and not very opaque. The Poster paint was more expensive at $5.00 per 4 oz. tube, but not worth the extra cost. What most schools use is the Student Tempera Paint from Blick, with the cost getting lower per ounce when purchasing in bulk. The final, also from Blick is the Premium, and is only marginally more expensive, but the quality seems about the same as the student version. Basically the opacity is much better with the Blick products.

Materials needed:

tempera paints
paper towels
water
various brushes
paint palette
heavy paper (80lb +)

Strengths and Weaknesses

Working with tempera paints is a lot more fun than I remember. It can be worked wet or dry or a combination. Because it is so opaque, it can easily cover dry areas. The only real limitation was that if overworked while wet, it can reactivate the color below. It goes on very smooth and dries quickly, but not super fast. It has a lot of the same qualities as watercolor, gouache, and acrylic. I think it is a great medium for children, even younger ones because it cleans up with water and is non-toxic. I have seen middle school students 'drink' it with no ill effects, except they had to write a reflection piece about why they would 'drink' tempera paint and what the experience taught them. It works well for very fine detailed work as well as very loose expressive strokes. It can be blended on the paper, but I found it is better to blend on the palette with only minimal blending on the paper.

I feel very comfortable working with and teaching tempera paints. I know there are lots of fun techniques that it will work with, like scratching off the top layer or dipping a sponge or crumpled paper in some paint and applying to a surface, or even using objects like Legos dipped in paints and applied for some fun textures. You can wet a painted area and wipe it with a paper towel to remove some color. Because it is safe and cleans up so easily, I'm sure it will be my 'go-to' medium for painting with Elementary students.

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Videos:

Tempera Paint Techniques by Jackie Ruzika

Tempera Paint Techniques by Allison Platz

My Explorations: