Gum arabic

[Danielle123]

Dennis a few months ago I purchased some gum arabic,  it is supposed to keep my w/c from drying while putting  it on my paper . But when I tried it it did not work so well.   Did you ever used it, and is it a good product?

[Val]

Here are directions on how to use gum arabic. These are from Winsor & Newton.  Hope it helps a bit.

  Gum Arabic   
  Adding Gum Arabic to a water colour wash will have the following effects:   
 

• it will slow the drying time of your paint, giving you slightly longer to work on creating your image or working wet into wet
• it increases transparency and gloss to give greater brilliance of colour, giving you luminous colours
• it reduces the staining of pigments, making washes easier to lift

    How is it used?
 Gum Arabic is usually mixed into the water colour wash but can be added to the jar of water if you prefer to use it throughout the painting. Gum Arabic should not be used directly from the botle because thick films will be brittle.   

[dennis]

I personally have never used in all my years of painting. Never felt the need to.

[Danielle123]

  so mush for all the detailled info Val. Much appreaciated. 
  Dennis

[Val]

The Winsor & Newton site has a good reference section for all of the various mediums for w/c, acrylic, and oil. Some even have videos.

[BeaSue]

Danielle,

I just today received a new book I'd ordered, Transparent Watercolor Wheel by Jim Kosvanec, and was reading about gum arabic. This is what Kosvanec says:

Adding gum arabic to a wash tends to thicken it, making it stay put and not creep away. Another benefit is a slightly longer working time, as the gum arabic keeps the wash from drying as quickly as it ordinarily would. Adding gum arabic to paints also makes colors richer and more luminous. A dark color will appear darker, and yet its transparency is preserved. Still another, and to my mind, essential, benefit of using gum arabic in your glazes or washes is that it greatly facilitates lifting color from the paper; with the addition of gum arabic, color doesn't penetrate the paper's surface as much as it would otherwise...

Don't use a brush to drop in gum arabic...(it) will cause the bristles to dry to the consistency of a brick...To drop in gum arabic which has the consistency of maple syrup, I use a pointed spatula knife, although a dropper would probably be a better choice.

[ncwren]

Interesting about making a color darker.

[Danielle123]

 :thankyou:Suzan and Val for all that information.