Product Description

An unabridged reprint of the 1936 work. It is the text book on all aspects of Tempura painting.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #233344 in Books
• Published on: 2000-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 141 pages

Customer Reviews

Essential
Daniel Thompson's book was written in the 1930's and was based on the earlier writings of Cenini( C16th?), and because of this, it has been held up as the definitive book on painting with egg tempera. It isn't. What it does do, however, is desribe a methodology that had it's roots in the Renaissance. Mr Thompson describes how to make the correct grounds for this type of painting and the unique properties of this paint (good and bad). There is also some useful information on gilding. Where the book is not so accurate is in the emphasis on a monochrome underpainting. Modern analysis of early renaissance paintings show that very few had such an underpainting. Mr Thompson's directions would also have you believe that the medium is inflexible and only a highly systematic and controlled approach will work. This is too dogmatic and a weakness of the book. Overall, though it is a marvelous description of how to paint with egg tempera, and considering the price, a bargain. If you are interested in egg tempera, get this book and also Robert Vickrey's "New techniques in Egg Tempera" (Watson Guptill). This book gives a good overview to a much more improvised method and has lots of colour pictures (unlike the Thompson book). It is out of print but easy to find via Abebooks. Get them both.