Every spring I dye a dozen eggs, and every spring I relearn the same lesson: the colour that matters is the one you leave out. These were dipped once, briefly, with a sponge dabbed on first so the dye could not reach everywhere. The white left behind is what makes the purple look purple.
Four baths, no more
Purple, yellow, blue and a pink that comes from beetroot. Anything more and the eggs start to look like a bag of sweets. Four colours on a ground this green is already a lot of noise; the broken shells are there to give the eye somewhere white to rest.
- A sponge, torn rather than cut, so the pattern never repeats.
- Ten seconds in the bath for the pale ones, a minute for the deep ones.
- Dry on a rack, not a towel, or every egg gets a flat side.
The green paper was an accident. It was the only large sheet left in the studio, and I nearly went out for a neutral one. I am glad I did not.
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