Egg Tempera
Egg tempera is a traditional paint made by combining pigment with an egg-yolk binder and water. It dries quickly in thin layers and is normally used on a rigid, smooth, absorbent ground rather than a flexible painting support.
Painter
Fred Wessel
Fred Wessel is an American painter and printmaker known for carefully layered egg-tempera portraits and still lifes on prepared panels, often combined with gold leaf and Renaissance-inspired compositions.
Fred Wessel quick facts
Explore Fred Wessel's egg-tempera technique, carefully prepared gesso panels, gilding methods, figurative subjects, and years of painting instruction.
| Born | 1946 |
|---|---|
| Died | — |
| Nationality | American |
| Movements | Contemporary Realism · Renaissance-inspired figurative painting |
| Practice | Egg tempera painting, printmaking, drawing, and painting instruction |
| Paint types | Egg tempera |
| Other materials | Gold, silver, and palladium leaf; silverpoint and India ink used for preparatory drawing |
| Painting surfaces | Gesso-prepared painting board · Plywood panels (sometimes covered with linen before traditional gesso) |
| Painting methods | Fine layered tempera strokes, green underpainting for flesh tones, silverpoint and ink underdrawing, and traditional water gilding |
| Common subjects | Portraits, figures, still lifes, flowers, constellations, Renaissance symbolism, and luminous metallic backgrounds |
| Known for | Reviving early Renaissance egg-tempera and gilding methods in contemporary figurative painting |
| Notable works | Becca (Sundial) · Tunic and Pearls · Contemplating Fibonacci’s Spiral |
Sources: Artist website: résumé and exhibitions, Artist website: Renaissance influences, Artist website: painting process, Artist website: Contemplating Fibonacci’s Spiral, Artists Network: egg tempera and gold leaf, Natural Pigments: Fred Wessel biography.
Paint types used
Egg tempera is Wessel's principal documented paint medium. Gold leaf is a separate gilding material, not a type of paint.
Surface types used
Wessel prepares rigid supports with traditional gesso; documented examples use plywood with an intermediate linen layer before painting and gilding.
Painting Board
Painting board is a rigid artist support made from hardboard, wood, or another stable panel material. It may be sold raw or prepared with a medium-specific ground layer.
Plywood
Plywood is an engineered wood panel made from thin wood veneers bonded in alternating grain directions. Its face veneer, edges, voids, and adhesive system affect how paint absorbs and bonds.
Painters similar to Fred Wessel
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Robert Vickrey
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