I think painting is a form of cooking and would see the origins of those two arts together.I discovered this connection from learning the craft of icon painting where natural pure pigment is used with eggs and cooked gelatine.A good painting is like a good feast,a feast for the eyes, not a mental exercise.Art might have got highjacked and diverted by men who want to elevate it into mental consumption and display...but you have to get your hands dirty to realise its about mixing ingredients. So here is my recipe for making an icon.
RECIPE FOR A SMALL ICON IN EGG TEMPERA
Makes 1
Ingredients:
Planed wooden panel 12inch by 9inch
2 pkt edible gelatine (1/3 oz each)
4lb bag white whiting (like powdered chalk)
Range of pure pigment powder
Small brushes 0-5 for detail
8-15 brush for background
Egg yolks, separated but not stirred
Water
Method for Gesso Board:
1) Place one measure of gelatine to 7water in saucepan and heat slowly til dissolved. Stir continuously but do not boil.
2) Brush glue solution over wooden panel, front and back. Leave to dry (2hrs)
3) Prepare more gelatine solution, this time 1:12 water. Remove from heat.
4) Add 2 measures of sieved whiting powder gradually to 1 measure of gelatine solution (use drinking glass as measure). Mix slowly to avoid lumps. Mixture should resemble single cream. This mixture is called gesso.
5) Brush gesso onto prepared board, back, front and sides with decorating brush. Leave to dry 1hr). Apply 12 more coats thinly.
6) After 3hours sand down final layer with sand paper until smooth as glass.
7) Incise your drawing outline into the gesso board with a sharp instrument like a compass point. Incisions should be about 1/3rd mm deep. These are guidelines.
Method for Egg Tempera Paint Layers:
1) Stage one or background colour (“petit lac”/little lake). The measure of egg yolk to water is 1:12,very runny. Mix to pigment gradually. Flood the gessoed panel, using 15brush. Puddles of paint will gradually sink into the gesso evenly (10minutes).
2) Stage 2/3 or successive layers of colour. Proportion of egg yolk to water is 1:6.
3) Nourishing layer. Use egg yolk/water mix of 1:12 and no pigment. Apply with 15brush over whole painting to unify the layers of colour.
4) Stage 4 of final colour layer. Use concentrated egg/water solution of 1:3 and add pigment. Use 000,00 or 1 brushes. Highlights need 1:1 egg/water solution. Add drop of vinegar to solution to preserve colour for up to 5days before egg goes off. (Phew!). Always store in fridge.
5) Finish with a nourishing layer (as for point 3) to bind layers of colour together. Varnish is optional.
6) The method of colour is from dark to light, and from background to foreground.
7) DO NOT EAT!
