FreeShip- Gum Arabic Powder- (Prompt rebate on orders with 3 or more FreeShip items!)

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Note: Please go to the bottom of this description to see formulas for watercolor binding solutions using gum arabic.

Currently we carry 3 tree "gums" ("resins" or "rosins"). They are: Pine rosin, dammar gum, and gum arabic and are all derived from the sap of trees. Gum arabic is unique in that it readily dissolves in water (if you are using a water based solution long term, it can spoil; use 1 gram of sodium benzoate to one liter of solution as a preservative, or keep your solution in the refrigerator.

Gum arabic comes from the sap of trees in the acacia tree species, especially the senegal acacia. Over 75% of gum arabic comes from Sudan although the trees grow all over Africa and parts of India. The greatest percentage is used in food as an emulsifier, stabilizer, and thickener (ours is not food grade). It's a mixture with many constituents, including rhamnose, arabinose, galactose, and glucuronic acid.
It's usage in the arts is broad and ancient. Some uses are paint production (the binder in watercolors), in printing (lithography), calligraphy (inks), ceramics (a stabilizing agent in glazes), one form of historical photography, glues, as a coating on paper, cosmetics, textile sizing, pharmaceuticals, and fireworks (the last few uses rely on its property as a binder).
Painting is the most well known use, but it's important to emphasis that gum arabic is not a paint medium, it's a paint binder. It finds use in both watercolors and (less so) in gouache which is related to watercolor (sometimes called "opaque watercolor").

The greatest amount of information on gum arabic is it's use as a binder in watercolor. What it does and how it can be used is not always agreed upon. One view: { http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1446372 }
"Gum arabic is designed to glue individual pigment particles to the surface, usually paper fibers. The gum actually is absorbed into the paper, leaving the pigment particles on the surface, almost like pastels. With gesso the gum arabic cannot be absorbed. This means you end up with a "film" of paint, which will tend to crack.
In oils, acrylics, tempura, the medium is a "layer", a paint stroke is a film with pigment suspended in it. It is the main ingredient in our paints, but medium means "means of expression", and our medium is water.
You notice in oils or acrylics, the focus is on how the acrylic or oil medium handles, in watercolor each pigment handles differently, almost as if they are different mediums.
Gum arabic is not elastic, if you have it thick (remember on gesso it's forced to be a film and not absorbed into the paper), in a film it will crack as it dries.....to make it elastic you need a plasticizer, various substances can help with this, I think glycerin."
Another bit:
{ https://www.artistsnetwork.com/art-mediums/watercolor/the-secret-of-gum-arabic/ } :
"Adding gum arabic to paints will have several effects: It will slightly extend the drying time of the paint, it will make the colors seem more vibrant and transparent, and it will increase the gloss of the dried painting....
You can use this substance in two ways: Add it to individual colors as you’re mixing them, or add it to the water that you’re mixing with your paints....
It’s hard to be precise about how much to add, since it depends upon whether you’re making large pictures or small ones, how much paint you’re using, and how big a jar of mixing water you have. You’re going to have to experiment."
And one more:
{ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gum_arabic } Gum arabic is used as a binder for watercolor painting because it dissolves easily in water. Pigment of any color is suspended within the acacia gum in varying amounts, resulting in watercolor paint. Water acts as a vehicle or a diluent to thin the watercolor paint and helps to transfer the paint to a surface such as paper. When all moisture evaporates, the acacia gum typically does not bind the pigment to the paper surface, but is totally absorbed by deeper layers...
If little water is used, after evaporation the acacia gum functions as a true binder in a paint film, increasing luminosity and helping prevent the colors from lightening. Gum arabic allows more subtle control over washes, because it facilitates the dispersion of the pigment particles."

Historically, gum arabic use goes back to the time of the Pharaohs { https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11224050 }
"In the days of the Egyptian Pharaohs, gum arabic was essential to mummification, and since Biblical times, it has been used to maintain the integrity of paints....
It's a natural emulsifier, which means that it can keep together substances which normally would not mix well. Pharmaceutical companies use it to keep medicines from separating into their different ingredients, and a dab of gum arabic makes newspaper ink more cohesive and permanent.....
CAMEO: { http://cameo.mfa.org/wiki/Gum_arabic }
"The earliest known inks consisted of gum arabic and lampblack....Gum arabic is completely soluble in hot and cold water, yielding a viscous solution."
Wikipedia: { https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gum_arabic }
"Gum arabic has a long history as additives to ceramic glazes. It acts as a binder, helping the glaze adhere to the clay before it is fired, thereby minimising damage by handling during the manufacture of the piece. As a secondary effect, it also acts as a deflocculant, increasing the fluidity of the glaze mixture...
The gum is normally made up into a solution in hot water (typically 10–25 g/litre)....and then added to the glaze in concentrations from 0.02% to 3% of gum arabic to the dry weight of the glaze."
Photgraphy:
"The historical photography process of gum bichromate photography uses gum arabic mixed with ammonium or potassium dichromate and pigment to create a coloured photographic emulsion that becomes relatively insoluble in water upon exposure to ultraviolet light. In the final print, the acacia gum permanently binds the pigments onto the paper."

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Mixing Instructions for gum arabic in the watercolor arena:

A) Powdered gum arabic for artists, one part gum arabic is dissolved in four parts distilled water to make a liquid suitable for adding to pigments.

B) Winsor & Newton recommend making up a solution of 10% gum arabic 90% water and use this with your colours as you would water alone.-

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Reviews

Reviews (44)

Average:

Jan 21, 2024

arrived on time as described

Michelle Rhodes

Dec 9, 2023

This was carefully packed. Arrived quickly & exactly as described. Thank you

Deb Mensinger

Oct 2, 2023

Great product and quick shipping! Thanks so much!

Alexandria

Sep 14, 2023

Mila Kunt

Jul 6, 2023

Joseph