How to thicken tempera paints?

Question

I am new to painting, and temperas specifically, but a couple of my paints are too watery straight out of the bottle. How can I go about thickening these (and ideally without a great investment of time beforehand)?

So far, I've tried flour, Boraxo, Palmolive, egg white and salt. Elsewhere on the Internet, I've seen recommended liquid starch or tempera powder, though I haven't tried these yet. The latter makes the most sense, but some of the colors I have in ready-to-use form aren't readily available as a powder (e.g., neon/light green vs. standard/dark green).

Cheers!

Answer 1

Try cornstarch, it's pretty neutral, and easy to find at the grocery store. Personally (as an artist) I would recommend you add matte acrylic gel medium.

Answer 2

Joyfulpaints is right. Use a neutral based (meaning clear) acrylic gel medium. This is what they are designed for.

The problems with trying to thicken tempera with any outside substance is that the substance may work to thicken the paint (like starch or egg white) but it will alter and disfigure the original colors of the paint. So you really need to use either a solid or a liquid neutral medium made from acrylics. Most art stores and arts and crafts stores carry at least several brands to choose from.

Answer 3

How To Make Tempera Paint

Answer 4

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RE:
How to thicken tempera paints?
I am new to painting, and temperas specifically, but a couple of my paints are too watery straight out of the bottle. How can I go about thickening these (and ideally without a great investment of time beforehand)?

So far, I've tried flour, Boraxo, Palmolive, egg white and salt. Elsewhere on...

Answer 5

Something like an acrylic medium should work although you might find that it alters the opacity too much for your tastes. Gum arabic is another good choice because it is usually in the paint to begin with for most brands of tempera. tempera paint is not acrylic based and would not already have that medium in it. Gum arabic is a binding agent used in watercolors, tempera, and gouache paints. Traditionally tempera was made with egg yolks, but thats not the general practice anymore unless you specifically have bought egg tempera that was prepared in a more traditional format.

Answer 6

Use newspaper paper (unprinted) to drain some of the solvent. To keep your tempera 'pure' that is about the only way to do it.

Tempera isn't supposed to be that thick as it tends to clog up on you pretty fast when it gets to thick. At least the real tempera does.

Make sure you mix the right medium with your tempera. On the bottle it should say if it is a true egg based or an acrylic version. True egg based does not mix well with most acrylic mediums.

Answer 7

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Suggestion: Painting in tempera -- let dry for a day -- carefully cover in acrylic gloss medium -- do not drag the brush -- let it float over the tempera -- if paint begins to break up, clean the brush and carefully move the error back in place.-- good luck !!!