Mediums: Arabic Gum and Ox Gall Liquid

Last session, we were a small group and worked with the theme 'bridges'. The results were seriously impressive - but no one finished and we will continue next week! I have not taken pictures of the work so I am not able to post about them and comment, but instead I have written this piece about two mediums that I recently used! One is Gum Arabic and the other Ox Gall liquid. Both were really old and never used, but that will change!

We know Gum Arabic from when we used it with pure pigment - and our Winsor and Newton paint also has it as an important component (tubes a bit more than pans). Gum arabic is a binder for watercolor paints. As a medium, it helps slow down the drying time of paint, giving you more time to work with your wash. In my case, I wanted to paint a light, wet background around my 'Blue Balls' and it needed to be smooth. No way I could get that done in South of France temperatures, on a painting of 80x60 cm... But with the Gum Arabic I could keep it wet and work slow and precise around the spheres.

Fab! I am going to order it for the Aquarellistas soon, we need this stuff too. By the way it should also increase the transparency and gloss of your colours.

You use it by putting your Arabic Gum in the painting water. 20 drops in 250 ml water. Use the Arabic Gum-water exactly the same as you would otherwise use your paint-water.

With Ox gall liquid you improve the flow of your watercolors. Same recipe as Arabic gum, 10 drops in 250ml. The colors soften a bit and blend better. It is supposed to let the paper better absorb the colours and makes it harder to lift them. So, very good if you want to work with several layers. Ordering that too for us, I imagine we can really use it and get new experiences with it!

The painting 'O of Oxygen' which was made with the help of Arabic Gum (the background) and Ox Gall Liquid (the spheres)