Watercolor and egg yolk

Recently an art magazine had an article/tutorial about an artist who
adds water and egg yolk to his tube watercolor paints.  When the
painted section dries, he will then glaze on another layer.  His
reasoning was that he could make many layers of glazes and the dried
paints would become set with the egg yolk and would not re-wet.

I have students asking about this technique.  This is the first I
have heard of it and am concerned about the longevity and
lightfastness of one of these paintings.

I also would like to know if this paint could crack and fall off the
watercolor paper in the future.

Any insight as to if this is an archival method of painting would be
appreciated.

Carol Wickenhiser-Schaudt
Scientific illustrator and watercolorist
Nautilus Fine Art Studio
Katy, Texas USA


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 17:56
                 Distributed: Friday, February 20, 2004
                       Message Id: cdl-17-56-020
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