17/08/2025
Fruits behind the back. 2025.
Natural pigments egg tempera + acrylic.
I started this painting during French residency. It's my first experiment with making my egg tempera. This type of paint is ancient but is still industry standard for orthodox iconography artists.
My technique was born from murging together the obsession with orthodox iconic symbols, this special paint layering process, and eastern calligraphy (yes, I know, weird mix), therefore it was very important for me to try this ancient paint.
It turned out to be an interesting but not easy media to work with.
Would I use it again? Absolutely, yes. It's natural, ecological, and great consistency paint. Expensive? Oh yes! Very! Natural dyes come from Morocco, and egg tempera only lasts 3 days, so I need to be quick and precise with what I'm doing. Obviously, count in the time it takes to prepare the paint, to match the new batch to the one I run out of, to preserve this very fragile paint with a specific technique of glazing.
The ideal surface for it should be rigid, so count in rough linen from Kazakhstan and 3 days that it takes to cure it.
It is costly media. But I know it's a rare craft that I learned for a reason. I want to preserve this knowledge no matter the financial crisis. This is way more important for me. I feel like it's my mission to preserve and popularise this knowledge.
