One of the first paints to be used was Egg Tempura. Egg tempura started out as paint made from egg-whites with pigment added. Later the yolks of the eggs were used, mixed with natural pigments and dyes. Today you can find recipes for Egg Tempura Paint online, but it is a complicated process, and requires the egg yolks to be removed from the yolk sacs, pigment, and an emulsifier added to help the pigments mix with the egg yolk. Not only can the pigments be hard to find, but the whole process of getting the yolk out of their sacs seems difficult for the unexperienced. So, here is a recipe for egg white paint. It's easy to make!
Ingredients needed:
- 6 eggs (separated)
- food coloring
- cups, jars, or styrofoam egg carton
- paintbrush
- paper, or other eggs to decorate
- water (or sink close by)
Directions: Seperate 6 eggs. Discard the yolks. Beat the egg-whites a little to help break up their "blobs" and stringiness. Pour the egg-whites into seperate containers, or into the sections of a styrofoam egg carton (only about 1-2 tablespoons for each). Add 6 drops of food coloring to each one. For Red, Yellow, Blue and Green, add 6 drops of those colors. For Orange -4 drops yellow, 2 drops red. For purplish black/grey- add 3 drops red, 3 drops blue. Experiment with mixing the different colors.
After adding the drops of food coloring, mix them well! The egg-whites may still be sort of "clumpy" and it may apear swirly with the colors not wanting to mix in well. Just keep stirring/ mixing. You can blend the seperate parts together better with your paint brush.
Then, when you have all your colors mix, you can start painting! You do not have to add water to the paint, unless you want to. Notice how this paint can be layered, like watercolor. This paint won't "bleed" quite as much as with watercolor.
