Following Musselman's technical embrace of the demands of scratchboard illustration, and trompe l'oeil painting style, in the late 1960s and 1970s, he took on a new challenge: Egg Tempera.
As defined by Wikipedia, egg tempera, is a permanent fast drying painting medium consisting of colored dry pigment mixed with a water-soluble binder medium (usually a glutinous material such as egg yolk). Tempera also refers to the paintings done in this medium. Egg tempera paintings are very long lasting, and examples from the first centuries AD still exist. Egg tempera was a primary method of painting until after 1500 when it was superseded by the invention of oil painting.
As employed by Musselman, egg tempera is a very demanding medium. Using very small brushstrokes, and mixing small batches of paint at a time, Musselman would sit for hours at his drafting table, defining the most minute details.
Inspired by the clarity of vision of Musselman's comtemporary Andrew Wyeth, he painted the portrait of his then 19-year-old son "Steven" in 1973.
(Shown on the home page, with a detail noted here.)
Note the detail of the handwork which builds to make the whole.