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Diary of egg tempera artist Linda Paul
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November 5, 2009 The
Painting is coming along very nicely. It
has the feeling of movement which I wanted to
capture. All of the plain red leaves in
the picture (left) have a red egg tempera
base and are awaiting to receive their 24 k gold
or copper layer |
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October 23, 2009 Egg
Tempera Painting Part Begins I decided to paint
the sky in layers of pale ocher and soft
apricot so the color of the leaves would really
pop. I have blocked in the bit of landscape
at the bottom but won't be revisiting that until
I figure out where I am going with the colors of
my leaves
Each of the maple leaves will be either 24
karat gold or copper leaf which I will patina
before applying. I
put an underlying layer of red under the gold
and copper. The two leaves on the far right are
the 24 k gold over the red base. The three
leaves on the left have started to get their top
layers of egg tempera paint. |
I have a very unique technique when
it comes to egg tempera painting. I learned egg
tempera on my own and never studied the few books
that are out there on it. When you don't know the
rules, you are free to break them!. Traditional egg
tempera is strict in its methodology and very time
consuming (not that I am a fast painter by any
stretch). To my knowledge I am the only artist
in the world to ever combine egg tempera painting
with bas-relief sculpture. Read more
About Egg Tempera
click picture to see larger image |
October 16, 2009 The
Bas-relief sculpture This week I
created the bas-relief sculpture part of the
artwork on the board. I individually drew and sculpted
each leaf. The relief of each is
only about 1/8", but it adds such incredible
texture and life to the artwork.
I am starting to think about color. I may do
an underlying layer of 24 karat gold and copper
on some of the leaves. I may have to do a little
study painting to figure out where I am going with this
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October 11, 2009 Working on
the board For my egg tempera paintings,
virtually nothing comes from the art supply
store except my paint brushes. Egg tempera
paintings require a rigid base to work on.
Historically this has always been board of some
sort. For this painting I have cut a maple board
to a 30" x 40" size, then I have built and glued
a crib of wood supports on the back of the
board. This will support the sculpting that I
plan to do for the leaves of the artwork
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October 6, 2009 The Sketch
Begins So I have done an sketch based on
my initial inspirations. I like the feeling of
the sketch a lot, but I think I want to extend
the height to add more leaves. So the
painting will be mostly falling, colorful maple
leafs and just a bit of a country landscape and
possibly a red barn and pumpkin patch at the very
bottom. Back to the drawing board! (literally) |
Linda's pumpkins and maple tree
maple tree starting to turn color |
October 1, 2009 -
Inspiration Its
an inspirational, breezy fall day here in
Colorado. Signs of autumn are everywhere;
pumpkins in the fields, turning leaves and
an edge of
winter chill in the air. Time for a new painting!
I love the autumn for its whimsical quality and last
bloom of real warmth. It reminds us to enjoy
life and give thanks to the earth for what she
has provided us before mother nature blasts us
with winter and reminds us who is boss. In my
painting, I want
to capture both autumn colors and the feeling of autumn, so to me, that
also means capturing movement and change.
In autumn the fall leaves in the mountains
are gorgeous. I am inspired by the two autumn
blaze maple trees at my
studio that put on a spectacular display of
color every year, and also by the pumpkins that
we grow in our garden. We like to grow the "cinderella"
ones for purely for their shape and amusement.
So its time to take all these inspirations and
create a sketch
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Watch this page to see this painting develop from a
simple sketch to a finished work of art
here is how my last egg tempera painting was created
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The Sketch
I begin my sketching out the main elements
that I want
I wanted to play off my last painting,
Angels in the Vines. with a similar
window, surrounded by grapevines, with a
view of a vineyard in the background. |
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Sculpting
This stage I sculpt in bas-relief the grapes and vines.
Once it is sculpted , I can not change the
location of any items. Sculpting is always slow, but lots of fun |
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Painting begins
The painting part begins! I am starting to
lay down my base color. Even though this is not a
very pretty stage of the artwork, its very important
because the base colors I start with set the mood
and direct the color palette that I choose for
subsequent layers. I speak of layers because
an egg tempera painting is layer upon layer of thin
color washes. It is the exact opposite of a oil
painting created with thick color and a palette
knife. By sculpting the artwork first in bas-relief, I add incredible texture and a tactile element to
the painting |
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I have started to work on
the background landscape of the painting and have
added a bit of color to the sculpted grapes around
the window. I am creating terraced vineyards
and a road leading to the fields. I have developed the vineyard landscape to the point
that I can start painting the sculpted grapes and
leaves around the window. I still have more
work to do on it though. I really love the
colors of a vineyard in fall, so I will carry that
theme throughout the artwork. I plan to paint the
grapes in shades of amethyst purple, green and
raspberry merlot and
the leaves in both green and turning leaf fall
colors |
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I am working on the grapes and leaves
that surround the window. I work from light to dark
(the opposite of an oil painting) so the leaves
start out yellow, then I layer spice colors of oranges
and golds, and
finally the greens. Then I take off some off the top
color to reveal the light underneath ( I like
complex layered color). Finally I will
deepen some areas to make the colors pop. I
still have not decided whether I will darken the
background behind the grapes. Painting is a journey
that only creates magic when you go with the flow
and let it draw you in a direction |
see all
original paintings by artist Linda Paul
Want to tell me what you think of the new
painting?
email Linda
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