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Verf Met Geklaard Eiwit, Arabische Gom en Eigeel

This document provides instructions for mixing glair and watercolor paints using traditional medieval recipes and materials. It defines key terms like pigment, binder, and tempera. The recipes describe how to separate egg whites from yolks, froth the egg whites to create glair, and mix pigments into the glair or egg white using a seashell. Instructions are given for making black, white, red, blue, green and yellow pigments from natural materials. The document concludes with resources for purchasing pigments and bibliographic references on medieval painting techniques.

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Auk van Hilten
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181 views3 pages

Verf Met Geklaard Eiwit, Arabische Gom en Eigeel

This document provides instructions for mixing glair and watercolor paints using traditional medieval recipes and materials. It defines key terms like pigment, binder, and tempera. The recipes describe how to separate egg whites from yolks, froth the egg whites to create glair, and mix pigments into the glair or egg white using a seashell. Instructions are given for making black, white, red, blue, green and yellow pigments from natural materials. The document concludes with resources for purchasing pigments and bibliographic references on medieval painting techniques.

Uploaded by

Auk van Hilten
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Mixing your Own Glair and Watercolor

H.L. Willoc mac Muiredaig


[email protected]

Known World Heralds and Scribes Symposium 2013


First, some definitions:
To Temper: to mix ground pigment with a binder
Pigment: the source of color in a paint. Most are mineral-based, from metal oxides, crushed precious stone,
and colorful clays. Some were lead or mercury-based, and care must be taken, but most are safe if not
swallowed. Some are organic-based, primarily cochineal, redwoods, and indigo/woad.
Binder: the medium that affixes the pigment to the background. Common binders are:
- Gum Arabic flexible when dry
- Egg whites remains soluble in water.
- Egg yolks dries quickly to waterproof.
Types of tempered paint:
- Gesso layer of rabbit glue + chalk + limestone, used to fill in the pores of a surface.
- Gouache pigment + whitening + Gum Arabic.
- Watercolor pigment + Gum Arabic
- Tempera pigment + egg yolk. Waterproof upon drying. Dries fast, mix in small amounts.
- Glair - pigment + egg white. NOT waterproof can rewet & rework. Can be brittle.
Classical pigments:
Blacks: Charcoal, Lamp Black, Bone Black.
White: Chalk, Gypsum, Lead White
Yellow: Yellow Ochre. Orpiment+, Yellow Lead+, yellow vegetable (?)
Red: Red Ochre, Cinnabar+, Dragons Blood, Red Lead+, Red Lake+ (Madder & Kermes in gypsum & lime)
Blue: Azurite+, Egyptian Blue*, Indigo Lake (vat skimmings)+
Green: Malachite+, Verdigris+, Terre Verte+
Purple: Tyrian Purple*+
15th Century Pigments:
Yellow: yellow vegetable (?), artificial Naples Yellow
Red: Stick Lac Lake (Lac), artificial Vermillion (8th C), Crimson Lakes (Cochineal, Brazilwood)
Blue: Azurite, Ultramarine (Lapis Lazuli)
Green: Malachite, Verdigris, Terre Verte, Verdigris in pine balsam
Modern/Niche culture Pigments:
White: Zinc White, Titanium White
Yellow: Chrome yellow, Cadmium Yellow
Blue: German Blue, Cobalt Blue, artificial Ultramarine, Cerulean Blue, Blue Verditer/Bice
Green: Veridian, Cobalt Green, Green Verditer/Bice
Bolded colors were specifically mentioned or used in that time period.
*Starred colors are no longer easily available
+Plussed colors were mentioned by the Natural History of Pliny the Elder (A.D. 77-79)

Mixing your Own Glair and Watercolor


Process:
Until the 14th century, most illuminations were painted with glair. Later, it was often mixed with gum Arabic.
It was a common practice to mix the paint in a seashell. (The seashell was supposed to provide some trace
element, which improved the paint.)
Recipe for Medieval Paints:
Equipment:
A coffee grinder or equivalent
A sea sponge or loufah (look in the bath
section of the grocery store)
A bowl
A small sealable container for the egg weep
A small eyedropper/medicine dropper
A paintbrush

Supplies:
Good paper that doesnt bleed
1 seashell per pigment
Eggs (start with 4)
Pigments (see below for suggestions)

1. Separate the egg whites and yolks.


2. Use the sponge to froth the egg whites until the bowl is full of foam.
3. Let the egg white sit overnight, then carefully pour the liquid at the bottom (the weep) into
the sealable container. It can be saved indefinitely experts say egg weep improves with
age. (But it can smell pretty bad youll want to keep the container sealed!)
4. Grind the pigment fine somewhere between the consistency of sugar and flour. If it is too
coarse, the grains will clump on the page. If it is too fine, it will be too watery. Experiment
each pigment has its own perfect consistency.
5. Put a little pigment in the shell, then a drop of egg weep.
6. Mix it with the end of a paintbrush & test. If it is too thick, add another drop of egg weep.
7. Add a drop of water to either use immediately, or allow it to dry. Add water to use it as a
watercolor. Add egg weep to use it as a glair.
To make your own Pigments:
Black:

Collect soot from lamps, bottom of cookout pots,


Put bones or grapevine in a sealed container with a single hole, toss in fire. (Anaerobic)

White:

Ground egg shells for pure chalk.


Grind gypsum (stone).
Burn bone until white ash.

Red:

Gather red clay.


Create madder/cochineal dye with alum, precipitate with alkali (chalk)

Blue:

Use skimmings of indigo pot),


Grind azurite (dont grind too fine)

Green:

Vertigris (leave old pennies in vinegar for a week, let the solution crystalize),
Gather Terra verte (green clay)

Yellow:

Gather yellow clay

Other ideas:

Find colorful dry substances such as coffee grounds or dried peas. Use Easter egg dyes
to dye eggs, then grind the eggshells.

Mixing your Own Glair and Watercolor


Resources:
Natural Pigments. (323 661-9471) http://www.naturalpigments.com. Also sends out a great newsletter.
Griffin Dyeworks. www.griffindyeworks.com
Earth Guild. (800-327-8448) www.earthguild.com
Aurora Silk. (503-286-4149) www.aurorasilk.com

Bibliography:
Yabokchi, Karen. Medieval Pigments and Modern Alternatives. Aethelmearc Academy, 1999.
(Author has granted full permission to copy Wendy Otte, 281-316-0764, has a local copy.)
Theophilus. On Divers Arts The Foremost Medieval Treatise on Painting, Glassmaking, and
Metalwork. Dover Publications, Inc., NY. 1979. ISBN: 0-486-23784-2
Boucher, E. Scribal Writes 7: Is that Egg on Your Face? Posted 1997.
Ioannis Karapanagiotis and Sister Daniilia. A COMPARISON OF THE ORGANIC DYES USED
IN ICONS AND TEXTILES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN AREA IN THE BYZANTINE AND
POST BYZANTINE PERIOD. International Meeting, ICONS: APPROACHES TO RESEARCH,
CONSERVATION AND ETHICAL ISSUES, Athens 12/2006.
Laurie, Arthur Pilans. Ancient Pigments and their Identification in Works of Art. Archealogy 64,
1913. References Die Maltechnik des Altertums by Earnst Berger and Greek and Roman
Methods of Painting by A. P. Laurie

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