Casein v Egg Tempera

Get help and framing advice from the framing community
Post Reply
Benhen
Posts: 127
Joined: Sat 09 Jan, 2016 10:41 am
Location: Argyll
Organisation: Ben Henriques
Interests: Fine frames

Casein v Egg Tempera

Post by Benhen »

Asking about the genuine articles rather than synthetic equivalents.

Do you have experience of the media?
vintage frames
Posts: 1349
Joined: Tue 12 Jun, 2012 6:05 pm
Location: West Wales
Organisation: https://www.dermotmcardle.co.uk/
Interests: Making picture frames
Contact:

Re: Casein v Egg Tempera

Post by vintage frames »

I've used both when applying glazes to finished gilding. Casein makes a good binder for watercolour paints in that you can paint on several layers without disturbing the underlying dried paint and allows you to paint on a variety of finishes without the paint beading. The finished effect is very flat and is in effect a dried glued on film of pigment - the casein has no obvious optical contribution to the appearance of the paint. A thin top coat of matted varnish however can bring out the brilliance of the pigments.
Egg tempera is a more interesting binder in that you can again use it with watercolour paints but you get the added advantage of having an oil varnish in the mix which can enhance the finished colours. You can even add a little bees-wax to give the paint some body and even polish up the dried paint when finished. Egg tempera will dry more permanent than casein.
Apart from making casein with ammonium carbonate, you can buy a concentrated binder made by Schminke that doesn't go off after a few days.
Egg tempera keeps a bit longer in the fridge.
Affordable Gilding Course for Professional Framers-https://www.dermotmcardle.co.uk/
https://www.instagram.com/dermotmcardle/
Benhen
Posts: 127
Joined: Sat 09 Jan, 2016 10:41 am
Location: Argyll
Organisation: Ben Henriques
Interests: Fine frames

Re: Casein v Egg Tempera

Post by Benhen »

Thanks Dermot, most interesting. Would you say casein is more brittle? I want a crisp effect. Perhaps like a layer has broken off, like one might find on an old frame. Frustratingly Cornellissen only supply casein powder by the 1kg bag — I have lots of pigments and a sack of lime in the farm shed and only want to experiment.
vintage frames
Posts: 1349
Joined: Tue 12 Jun, 2012 6:05 pm
Location: West Wales
Organisation: https://www.dermotmcardle.co.uk/
Interests: Making picture frames
Contact:

Re: Casein v Egg Tempera

Post by vintage frames »

Yes, casein is a very brittle medium. It's only good for painting on boards and not canvasses. It is also a very strong glue, so if you wanted it to de-laminate you would need to isolate each layer with a varnish and wax. I know a kilo of casein powder seems a lot, but it's usually the ammonium carbonate that costs the most. As I mentioned, Schminke do a liquid casein that doesn't deteriorate with age. £15 or so.
Affordable Gilding Course for Professional Framers-https://www.dermotmcardle.co.uk/
https://www.instagram.com/dermotmcardle/
Post Reply