DISTEMPER IN ART Distemper is one of the earliest known mediums of painting. It was used extensively by the Greeks and Egyptians. It consists of a mixture of powdered colour with size and it differs from tempera in which process egg is the medium used. The French call all such mixtures detrempe but in England the egg mixture is known as tempera and the size mixture as distemper.
The colours are first ground in water and then mixed at the moment of use with size kept liquid in a bain-marie. This prac tise is necessitated by the fact that the proportion of the size required varies according to the nature of the powder used.
The method is useful for quick work as it is fluid and dries rapidly. It is durable though soluble in water. At the present day it is used chiefly by scene-painters but certain French artists, such as Degas and Vuillard, have made good use of it.