Gesso

Includes several good articles on egg tempera and related techniques, including Why and Why Not to Use Egg Tempera; Panel Prep, Part 1: Rabbitskin Glue; How to Make Chalk Gesso; Panel Prep, Part 2: Gesso Priming; How to Make Egg Medium; Preparing Pigments and Making Paint; and Tips for Painting.

All the tastes and purposes that medieval painting served made the use of metals an integral part of its technique. Of all metals used in period illumination, gold was the most significant. Not only for its associations, its power to suggest richness and splendor, not only for its color, not only for its luster and permanence, but for all of then together.

The full text of the English translation, featuring recipes for artists' supplies, and instructions for techniques.

The only way to achieve a mirror polish with gold leaf is to apply something on top of your paper or vellum to smooth out the surface so that the gold leaf will not mimic the imperfections. Gesso is a time proven way to do this.

See how a 15th century Italian altarpiece was made. This interactive website discusses the making of an altarpiece by the Florentine artist Rosello di Jacopo Franchi.

Includes recipes and instructions for drawing charcoal, gesso, a gilder's pad, glair, gum ammoniac, gum arabic, hide glue, iron gall ink, lampblack ink, shell gold, slaked plaster, and walnut ink.