Thursday

Gum Arabic - Watercolours and Pastels


Gum Arabic

Previously known as Gum Acacia, from the Acacia tree found in Australia, Africa and Asia. Best from Africa. When dissolved in hot water used as an adhesive, stop out in litho printing, as a size, and more commonly as a binder in watercolours and pastels. Plasticizers added as pure gum is brittle.

Adding gum Arabic to your watercolour has three effects-
  • Slows down drying time of paint giving you slightly longer to work on creating your image or wet into wet
  • Adds further transparency to your water colour and it increases gloss.
  • Watercolour washes will have greater depth and appear more luminous than colour washes alone.
Gum Arabic can be added to your jar of water if you prefer to use it through out the painting.
Gum Arabic should not be used directly from the bottle because thick films will be brittle.

No comments:

Post a Comment