Outline

Pigments and Tempera Paints Outline
What’s That Stuff? Tempera Paint & Pigments
I. Introduction:
-Artists have used all different types of mediums for centuries. There’s charcoal, oil paint, even photography. One medium that’s popularity has gone in and out through the ages, however, is tempera paint. Created with pigments and a mixture of egg and water or casein tempera paint has been a convenient medium used by artists for years.

II. Chemistry of Pigments
-Pigments are perceived as different colors
-Elements absorb lights that have color and let off another color
-Different elements create different colors
-For example, the pigment “Cobalt green” is created when one gram of cobalt(II) chloride and five grams of zinc(II) oxide are mixed together and heated
-The color “Emerald green” was created in 1808 but then found to be too toxic for use and was discontinued in the 1960s for causing deaths.

III. History
-Pigments have been used for centuries starting in the Paleolithic ages.
-Pigments at that time came from natural sources and mixed with spit or fat
-A monk in the 12th century used casein tempera paint
-Egg tempera was the primary medium for Italian artists in the 14th century
-Pigments were not only mixed for paint but also used as chalk
-In recent years pigments have began to be artificially created
-In 16th century popularity of egg tempera died down as pigment mixed
with oil became more popular
-In late 19th and 20th centuries artists studied paintings of the past and egg tempera regained its popularity
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IV. Binders
-Binders are used in paint to make the pigment stick to your canvas.
-This works because most binders are something called a polymer.
-Binders can be many things including milk, fat, oil or egg.
-Have you ever tried to wash your plate after having an egg for breakfast and find that it is a bit difficult to wash off? This is because egg sticks well and dries fast making it an ideal binder for paint.
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V. Tempera Paint vs. Oil
-Tempera paints are thinner then paints such as oil
-Multiple layers must be applied
-Egg tempera dries very quickly therefore layers can be applied one right after another
-Oil, however takes much longer to dry and sometimes artwork using oil paint is murkier then the bright and luminescent quality egg tempera paintings come up with