Egg Tempera Painting I Workshop

A comprehensive 5 day workshop covering all aspects of egg tempera painting, taught by Koo Schadler. It is open to all levels of painters, from beginner to advanced.

Day 1: The instructor will present a history of the medium, followed by a detailed description of materials and a painting demonstration. After lunch students will work directly with egg tempera paint. Koo will provide each student with a panel and a series of exercises designed to introduce them to various methods of working with egg tempera.

Day 2: Traditional gesso, made from rabbit skin glue and chalk, was used by virtually all painters prior to the advent of acrylic gesso. On the morning of day two students will learn how to make homemade gesso starting from scratch, with each student creating a panel of their own. Students will also learn about other supports and grounds for egg tempera. In the afternoon students will continue to experiment directly with tempera paint.

Days 3-5: Students will design a painting, learn how to transfer their drawing to a panel, and then execute the piece in tempera for three full days of painting. Throughout, students will receive individual instruction and critiques. Additionally, Koo will give several painting demonstrations, and discuss some of the design principles of Renaissance painting.

Day 5: The final day will conclude with an explanation of the various ways to finish an egg tempera painting, including how to work with oil over tempera. Sources for tempera supplies and recommended readings will be discussed.

Demonstrations presented in this workshop include: gesso panel making * painting portraits in egg tempera * rocks * decorative patterns * oil over tempera * tile floors * skies * lettering * powdered pigments * and more

Egg Tempera Painting II Workshop

A workshop that covers in-depth work in egg tempera painting, taught by Koo Schadler. It is open to all levels of painters, from beginner to advanced.

This course offers the opportunity for in-depth work in egg tempera: students will spend five full days working on a painting of their own design. Koo will provide on-going discussion and critiques; give painting demonstrations; and discuss the important elements of old master painting.

NEW! The Still Life in Egg Tempera

With its ability to render fine detail, create different textures, and build up countless layers of glazes and scumbles, egg tempera is beautifully suited for still life. In this five day workshop you learn how to create a luminous egg tempera still life painting from start to finish. You begin with the set-up: how to design a still life taking into consideration the essential visual elements of values, light, warm and cool, shapes, textures, and edges. While developing your piece, Koo will work on a painting of her own, so you can see firsthand how she develops an egg tempera still life. In addition to painting demonstrations Koo provides ongoing individual instruction and critiques. You may work from either life, your own photographs, or from photos of still lifes provided by Koo. Open to all levels of painters, from beginner to advanced. A demonstration on the essentials of working in egg tempera will be provided for beginning students.

NEW! The Portrait in Egg Tempera

Egg tempera is renown for its luminosity, making it an ideal medium for rendering the human face. This portrait workshop begins with a photography session. You will learn how to light and pose a model, to create visually strong photographs that already look like beautifully designed paintings. You spend the remainder of the week developing a portrait in egg tempera, with ongoing individual instruction and critiques from Koo. Koo also will work on a painting of her own, so you can see firsthand how she develops an egg tempera portrait. You may work from your own photographs, from photos supplied by Koo, or from a copy of an Old Master egg tempera portrait. Open to all levels of painters, from beginner to advanced. A demonstration on the essentials of working in egg tempera will be provided for beginning students.

Old Master Painting Design Workshop

A workshop on the design principles of old master painting taught by Koo Schadler. It is open to all levels of painters, art historians, and anyone who have ever wondered about the differences between modern and old master painting.

Does the “secret of the old masters” lie in the materials they used, or in their methods? Not necessarily in either. The design principles that underlie their paintings are one of the real secrets to their mastery.

Just as words are the media of writers and notes are the media of musicians, the visual is the media of painters. There are two important skills a painter must have. The first is technique, the procedure with which one applies paint. The second is design, how one conceives of and organizes the visual elements. Of the two, design is generally more difficult to do well – and most important.

The old masters were masters of design. Despite their preference for realistic subject matter, their paintings are full of abstract visual principles. In this workshop, through study and discussion of paintings old and new, students will learn to recognize the visual elements that are essential to beautiful painting. Practical experience is gained through a score of hands-on exercises. Students also may bring work of their own for discussion and critique.

Visual elements and principles to be studied include:

Light * Shadow * Values * Volume
Color * Chroma * Key * Temperature
Positive Shapes * Negative Shapes
Massing * Edges * Line * Paint Characteristics
Imagery * Content

Comments from Past Workshop Participants

"It has been less than a month since your excellent introduction to egg tempera painting, and I want to thank you for the best workshop I’ve ever taken. I really appreciated your individualized approach to instruction. I learned more about painting in that one week than in all of art school."

"I want to thank you again for everything. I thoroughly enjoyed the course and your patience. I also appreciated the time you took to critique my work."

"Not to sound melodramatic, but your workshop has totally blown me away... thank you again for a truly wonderful week."

"The class was one of the most memorable and fantastic weeks of my life! I only wish I could have learned this stuff years ago. Thanks again for being so generous with your knowledge."

"Thank you soooo much for the fantastic workshop. I am very inspired and... have a feeling that the week I spent [in your workshop] will be a pivotal one. I am treasuring the whole experience."

"I really enjoyed this workshop and can’t wait to take my new knowledge into the studio. You’ve given me so much inspiration, both technically and artistically. Many, many thanks."

"Your class far exceeded my hopes and expectations (which were pretty high to begin with!). You gave me the technical information I needed."