It is mine. I painted it in around 1955. It is a portrait of The Queen.
It was never hung but eventually stored in our attic.

At the time I was painting quite a bit but could not afford a decent
surface. I recall that this was on a piece of corrugated cardboard from
the side of a Players' cigarette packing case. I used Dulux undercoat to
surface it I recall.

I think that I gravitated towards egg tempera because it meant that the
brushes could be cleaned with water.

I would now like to restore it and give it to one of my patriotic
daughters now living in abroad. I think she would be the one that would
most appreciate it.

So I retrieved it only to find that it had warped and that one 'streak'
of the paint had cracked revealing a bit of a mess. The dark background
has also faded on one side.

I plan to glue the whole thing onto plywood to keep it flat and then to
restore the paintwork. The problem is that egg tempera is not stocked
anywhere nearby but most shops sell acrylics.

Could I use acrylic for this?

Sorry to be so long-winded.

On Thursday, 14 November 2019 10:30:17 UTC, pinnerite wrote:
It is mine. I painted it in around 1955. It is a portrait of The Queen.
It was never hung but eventually stored in our attic.

At the time I was painting quite a bit but could not afford a decent
surface. I recall that this was on a piece of corrugated cardboard from
the side of a Players' cigarette packing case. I used Dulux undercoat to
surface it I recall.

I think that I gravitated towards egg tempera because it meant that the
brushes could be cleaned with water.

I would now like to restore it and give it to one of my patriotic
daughters now living in abroad. I think she would be the one that would
most appreciate it.

So I retrieved it only to find that it had warped and that one 'streak'
of the paint had cracked revealing a bit of a mess. The dark background
has also faded on one side.

I plan to glue the whole thing onto plywood to keep it flat and then to
restore the paintwork. The problem is that egg tempera is not stocked
anywhere nearby but most shops sell acrylics.

Could I use acrylic for this?

Sorry to be so long-winded.

Can't you make or mix your own using eggs, I saw someone do this on the Repair shop, it does take a bit of skill obviously but if you;re an artist it shouldn;t be too difficult to get a reasonable result.

Perhaps you can look through some episodes to find similar restores.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08l581p

Failing that email or ask the repair shop to take it on.

On 14/11/2019 12:53, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Thu, 14 Nov 2019 10:30:13 -0000 (UTC), pinnerite
wrote:

It is mine. I painted it in around 1955. It is a portrait of The Queen.
It was never hung but eventually stored in our attic.

At the time I was painting quite a bit but could not afford a decent
surface. I recall that this was on a piece of corrugated cardboard from
the side of a Players' cigarette packing case. I used Dulux undercoat to
surface it I recall.

I think that I gravitated towards egg tempera because it meant that the
brushes could be cleaned with water.

I would now like to restore it and give it to one of my patriotic
daughters now living in abroad. I think she would be the one that would
most appreciate it.

So I retrieved it only to find that it had warped and that one 'streak'
of the paint had cracked revealing a bit of a mess. The dark background
has also faded on one side.

I plan to glue the whole thing onto plywood to keep it flat and then to
restore the paintwork. The problem is that egg tempera is not stocked
anywhere nearby but most shops sell acrylics.

Could I use acrylic for this?

Sorry to be so long-winded.

My late wife was a well-qualified artist and would have been able to
answer your question. I recall her mentioning egg tempera occasionally
- she may even have used it - but mostly she painted in oils or
acrylics.

Egg tempera is made from egg yolks, and unless a preservative is
added, it goes off fairly quickly. But I guess you know that. ET
paints are very easy to make at home, but you do need the right powder
pigments, which you may not have, but I guess you know that as well.
Examples of 'how to do it' : https://ampersandart.com/egg-tempera.php
https://www.earthpigments.com/artists-egg-tempera/
http://www.alessandrakelley.com/egg/eggmedium.html
http://tinyurl.com/wapc9r3

My wife used to get her artists supplies from Fred Aldous, and from
Dryads; I don't know if either still exist. She used Rowney and
Windsor-and-Newton paints, some of which she ordered directly, some of
which she got from a local art shop, but I think they were mostly oils
and acrylics.

Fred Aldous is still going strong and is online and now has part of the
store upstairs. It used to be down dodgy stairs in the dark cellars
under Lever St in Manchester. They also have a shop in Leeds.

https://www.fredaldous.co.uk/collect...gment-and-inks

Not sure if they have anything suitable for egg tempura.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On Thu, 14 Nov 2019 05:11:28 -0800 (PST), whisky-dave
wrote:

On Thursday, 14 November 2019 10:30:17 UTC, pinnerite wrote:
It is mine. I painted it in around 1955. It is a portrait of The Queen.
It was never hung but eventually stored in our attic.

At the time I was painting quite a bit but could not afford a decent
surface. I recall that this was on a piece of corrugated cardboard from
the side of a Players' cigarette packing case. I used Dulux undercoat to
surface it I recall.

I think that I gravitated towards egg tempera because it meant that the
brushes could be cleaned with water.

I would now like to restore it and give it to one of my patriotic
daughters now living in abroad. I think she would be the one that would
most appreciate it.

So I retrieved it only to find that it had warped and that one 'streak'
of the paint had cracked revealing a bit of a mess. The dark background
has also faded on one side.

I plan to glue the whole thing onto plywood to keep it flat and then to
restore the paintwork. The problem is that egg tempera is not stocked
anywhere nearby but most shops sell acrylics.

Could I use acrylic for this?

Sorry to be so long-winded.

Can't you make or mix your own using eggs, I saw someone do this on the Repair shop, it does take a bit of skill obviously but if you;re an artist it shouldn;t be too difficult to get a reasonable result.

Perhaps you can look through some episodes to find similar restores.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08l581p

Failing that email or ask the repair shop to take it on.

Eggs-actly that. One of the things about egg tempera is making a
lasting pigment out of available resources so mixing it up is just a
matter of following an easy recipe using common things as people have
done for centuries. You've probably already got everything you need.

Don't throw the egg white away! If you are not going to use it to make
meringues or blend it into the icing for the Christmas cake, it will
make an eggs-elent varnish to lay over the tempera. That's the way
harpsichord soundboards were painted and then preserved. And lute
soundboards were simply coated with nothing more than a thin coat of
egg-white.

Nick

I cannot help but wonder if an informal visit to one of the many restoration
companies around might bear fruit. Many are looking for big commissions but
if its just to help an artist fix their own work, you might be surprised how
many will share a few tricks of the trade as long as you are not going to
set up in competition with them.
Brian

--
----- --
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 14 Nov 2019 10:30:13 -0000 (UTC), pinnerite
wrote:

It is mine. I painted it in around 1955. It is a portrait of The Queen.
It was never hung but eventually stored in our attic.

At the time I was painting quite a bit but could not afford a decent
surface. I recall that this was on a piece of corrugated cardboard from
the side of a Players' cigarette packing case. I used Dulux undercoat to
surface it I recall.

I think that I gravitated towards egg tempera because it meant that the
brushes could be cleaned with water.

I would now like to restore it and give it to one of my patriotic
daughters now living in abroad. I think she would be the one that would
most appreciate it.

So I retrieved it only to find that it had warped and that one 'streak'
of the paint had cracked revealing a bit of a mess. The dark background
has also faded on one side.

I plan to glue the whole thing onto plywood to keep it flat and then to
restore the paintwork. The problem is that egg tempera is not stocked
anywhere nearby but most shops sell acrylics.

Could I use acrylic for this?

Sorry to be so long-winded.

My late wife was a well-qualified artist and would have been able to
answer your question. I recall her mentioning egg tempera occasionally
- she may even have used it - but mostly she painted in oils or
acrylics.

Egg tempera is made from egg yolks, and unless a preservative is
added, it goes off fairly quickly. But I guess you know that. ET
paints are very easy to make at home, but you do need the right powder
pigments, which you may not have, but I guess you know that as well.
Examples of 'how to do it' : https://ampersandart.com/egg-tempera.php
https://www.earthpigments.com/artists-egg-tempera/
http://www.alessandrakelley.com/egg/eggmedium.html
http://tinyurl.com/wapc9r3

My wife used to get her artists supplies from Fred Aldous, and from
Dryads; I don't know if either still exist. She used Rowney and
Windsor-and-Newton paints, some of which she ordered directly, some of
which she got from a local art shop, but I think they were mostly oils
and acrylics.

I wish I could be of more help, because it would mean she was still
with me.

--

Chris

On Thu, 14 Nov 2019 14:49:18 +0000, Nick Odell
wrote:

Eggs-actly that. One of the things about egg tempera is making a
lasting pigment out of available resources so mixing it up is just a
matter of following an easy recipe using common things as people have
done for centuries. You've probably already got everything you need.

www.kremer-pigmente.com

sells pigments, dry, with suitability for various binders inluding egg tempera
listed. The most reasonable are a few Euros/quid for a pile, often 100g. They'll
mail to the UK, and there's a UK distributor.

They live off collecting things that are common, but maybe in common in far-off
places, and then selling them. Or things that were once common, like lampblack,
or just finding colorful rocks and ball-milling and sieving them...


Thomas Prufer