Very interested in the follow up to this video. I have been having a hard time finding information on making proper binder. I have found all sorts of conflicting information saying things like 50/50 binder to pigment ratios, all the way up to 20:1 binder to pigment ratios. All the paints Ive made so far have come out brittle or syrupy or crack/shrink in the pans. I've used many types of pigments so far and many ratios of binders/additives and the results are generally bad no matter what I do. My main question, like in your description, is how can I tweak my binder to fit the pigments im using, whether it be a natural pigment or otherwise? (I just got a bunch of pigments and most are natural mineral pigment, but I am interested in both natural and artificial/synthetic pigments too, all of which behave differently with respect to the binder.) What can I do to prevent or reduce cracking in watercolors that I put in to pans? For instance I used a Pozzuoli Red and that made a paint that panned well and re-wets really nicely, just works all around well, but then I used the same recipe for verona green and the first attempt made a greasy mess, then upon tweaking the recipe, I ended up with a brick, and then just a bunch of broken paint chunks that will not re-wet at all. I figured at first I had too much binder, so I added more pigment and then water, and it went all to hell after several iterations. I just dont know what im doing wrong here. Out of about 50 paint pans, only about 8 of them turned out, and it's really frustrating. I am not sure if my ratios are just off or if I am not mulling properly, or what. Any direction would be helpful. Thanks.
It might be late... But it will be great if you talk more about preservation methods, Everytime I make these binders the mold, and it happened once when I made the watercolour!!
@@marziehkaviani5536 As a point of discussion, I have heard that an amount of clove oil (a few drops seems to be the consensus) will extend the life of a gum arabic/binder soluton, as will refrigeration. That's just my understanding, hopefully someone else chimes in.
Quick tip for another time, you can put the arabic gum in an old cloth and smash it with a hammer ! You will have a fine powder in 1 minute only and avoid a tendinitis :D Cheers from one alchimist to another ;)
I sort of do the same; I place mine in a high thread-count pillowcase, then have a go at it with my fathers old carving mallet. Takes no time at all, and I stop once it’s well broken down - just before it hits the powder stage I dump it out into my stone mortar & pestle for really fine particles. ☺️👍
Oh god thank you xD I don't mind once it's into the smaller nuggets but I messed myself up worse than you might expect trying to beat up those first big chunks, haha.
I only recently found your channel. Thank you explicitly explaining the ingredients needed to make your pigments. I have other recipes they never tell you why you use the honey and all other ingredients. Thank you doing the research and experimentation and finding the correct measurements required.
It's so rare to find a channel that shows the ins and outs of paint making. Most hide their recipes or their methods so finding you was like striking gold :). Keep up the good work and I cant wait to see more. . . . . weird question but... is gum arabic edible? It kinda looks delicious i don't know why.
Yes Arabic gum is edible! Surprise surprise! :) It can be use for allergy, problematic digestive system, have high contains of calcium also can be use to loose weight! It's very common in my country to consume Arabic gum as supplement since it's organic but make sure to seek for food grade one ;))
I'm looking at recycling my old eyeshadow powders into watercolour paints, is it possible to use them as the pigments? Love your tutorial, I'm a scientist and love the detail you go into as to each ingredient and why you do things the way you do. Brilliant! ETJ from the UK 🇬🇧 ❤️
Could you comment on how much clove oil should be added as a preservative? I'm counting your 22g gum arabic as one part, so based on this amount, would you add, say, ten eyedropper drops, etc.? I surely don't want to add too much. With the clove oil, how long would you expect the binder to stay fresh enough to use?
Hello from Oregon! I’m new to your channel and I must say this is the best tutorial I’ve ever seen. Thank You so much! You have a very intriguing and attractive teaching style and I found it very easy to follow and understand.
super cool! I was curious how cobalt pigments are made, since they are so expensive. I usually paint in oils, but sometimes give watercolors a go. You're also super cute 😍
If you first mix the gum with glycerin, then add it to the hot water, it will not form lumps. I do this all the time when dissolving certain gums. Also, anytime you add water to a formula, it will need a preservative to prevent microbial growth.
This looks amazing and I am so excited that I learned how to make the binder but I definitely will be buying it because this is way too much for me to tackle
Different amounts of humectant (honey / glycerine) are required for different pigments. The amount you suggest wouldn't be effective on many pigments. It's more sensible to add humecants separately depending on the pigment characteristic.
The balance between different pigments, humicants and gum Arabic is the essence of watercolour making. It’s not really fair to foreground a recipe, at the start, with way too much honey and glycerine for most pigments in this way. This would work with Indian Yellow Tartrazine…probably, but little else. Yes, this balance is addressed at the end but almost as an afterthought and very unscientifically. There really are absolutely strict ratios that must be observed or one will produce paint that never hardens or cracks terribly. How one can work these ratios out is a sine qua non and this should be stated right at the start.
@@rickh3714 wow. This just blew my mind. Fruit tree resins: cherry, peach, apricot seem to make binding water soluble resins that have been used for centuries
Hi, thank you for the great tutorial! I have one question: is there a risk in pouring water that is too hot over the gum arabic? Is there a maximum temperature that should not be surpassed? Thanks.
Using really hot water wont have a negative effect on the gum arabic, its only a problem if you were to heat on a stove or something like that and it began to cook.
When there is honey in my watercolor, the bugs eat the paint off of the paper. Is there anything else other than honey that is good to use in the watercolor binder?
You have supported me with your knowledge in my efforts to create natural art supplies. I would like to sign up with you on Patreon and to purchase some watercolor paint as a gift for an artist friend living in Quebec Canada. Where can I buy your watercolor paint in your hand made boxes? Thankyou for your great instruction in this video. So much appreciated.
incredibly helpful video, i wanted to make my own watercolors but did not know how to do it, all other videos say the materials you need but not the amount of each ingredient, btw in the video was mentioned the use of clove oil to avoid mold, how much clove oil would you use for the amount of binder you made in the video?
Thank you! I usually add around 3-5 drops of clove oil to a batch of around 50-100mls of binder. I have a short online course linked in the description of this video if you need extra help in your watercolour making journey.
Amazing video! I would like to ask you for meterials/books in which I could learn more about watercolor and other inks making. I found it hard to get cool books about :)
Great video! How do you keep the solution from growing mold after bottling? I've heard people suggest to use a few drops of Clove Oil as a preservative. I've done that, but mold still grew! I've also read about old recipes using Ammonium Carbonate as a preservative, but I'm not sure if that would work either.
Ultimately, you can't. Like most other organic substances, when you combine it with air and water you'll eventually get mould on it. Keeping it in the fridge can help, so does the clove oil and honey. I'm doing some experiments right now with freezing it, too
Hello from France ! For preservative you can use sodium benzoate or borax at 1/1000 or thymol in alcohol at 2% Some people use formaline or even mercury II chloride but i don't advise them for safety reasons
Fine! I froze it for a week, no difference, a month, no difference, then I put some back in and forgot it for... a while xD like maybe a year IDK a long-ass time. Consistently it's been the same, it separates and goes weird when it freezes, but so long as you re-heat it and re-mix it it's fine. Kinda like using defrosted milk@@ekozoidmajiker6186
Hi I love your video its helped a lot i'm new to making watercolors. Just wondering if you ended up making a second video. Id love to learn more from you but didnt see a new video on your page! thanks!!
Personally in the limited trials I have had. Yes it helps depending on the binder to pigment ratio etc. but filling them in layers is your best bet. Ones I don’t crack. But I also live in very hot humid Florida. I have read that I need to add more glycerin possibly when mixing.
I dought I will get an answer now lol it's been quite a while since this was posted, however! How many half pans would this amount of binder make? How much pigment should be mixed into it? what should I do if I put too much pigment?
Liquid gum Arabic from Windsor and newton should be ready to just be added to pigment to make watercolor, but you can add honey or glycerine if you choose to, but it's not necessary. This video is more about making a watercolor liquid gum Arabic which the Windsor and newton liquid gum Arabic already is.
For synthetic pigments is it possible to add the ox gall at this point? Instead of at the mulling, if I know how much is usually needed for my synthetic pigment?
Question: is t 44 GRAMS of water like it says in your description Or 44 MILLILITERS like you say in the video? Thank you so much for the great video I just started experimenting with making my own watercolors and this helps answer a lot of my questions ^_^ 😘
I know I’m super late to this comment, but water weighs 1g per ml, so 44 grams is exactly the same as 44ml. Weight measurements are often used when precision is needed as it’s a more accurate form of measurement :)
Hi, I tried to follow the instructions, but my gum fluffs kinda like flour, did I received the wrong thing? or what am I doing wrong it doesn't mix with water like yours do. Read another comment where you mentioned that it can cook up. Am i putting to hot water on it? Any tips.
Hi thank u for ur video, i have a question… is there any difference between using liquid gum arabic or solid gum arabic? Here we can buy the liquid one…
Ciao buongiorno 😊 grazie mille 🙏 Vorrei chiederti se possibile un consiglio ...mi è scivolato nel mix per acquerelli troppa acqua di miele ...hai un consiglio su come rimediare per non buttare via il medium? ( Medium : gomma arabica , glicerina, acqua di miele ) grazie 🙏in ogni caso
Please post your questions below and I will do a follow up episode next week to answer all the questions.
Very interested in the follow up to this video. I have been having a hard time finding information on making proper binder. I have found all sorts of conflicting information saying things like 50/50 binder to pigment ratios, all the way up to 20:1 binder to pigment ratios. All the paints Ive made so far have come out brittle or syrupy or crack/shrink in the pans. I've used many types of pigments so far and many ratios of binders/additives and the results are generally bad no matter what I do. My main question, like in your description, is how can I tweak my binder to fit the pigments im using, whether it be a natural pigment or otherwise? (I just got a bunch of pigments and most are natural mineral pigment, but I am interested in both natural and artificial/synthetic pigments too, all of which behave differently with respect to the binder.)
What can I do to prevent or reduce cracking in watercolors that I put in to pans? For instance I used a Pozzuoli Red and that made a paint that panned well and re-wets really nicely, just works all around well, but then I used the same recipe for verona green and the first attempt made a greasy mess, then upon tweaking the recipe, I ended up with a brick, and then just a bunch of broken paint chunks that will not re-wet at all. I figured at first I had too much binder, so I added more pigment and then water, and it went all to hell after several iterations.
I just dont know what im doing wrong here. Out of about 50 paint pans, only about 8 of them turned out, and it's really frustrating. I am not sure if my ratios are just off or if I am not mulling properly, or what. Any direction would be helpful. Thanks.
As an aside, I'd love to see you make pigments in the quinacridone family.
It might be late...
But it will be great if you talk more about preservation methods,
Everytime I make these binders the mold, and it happened once when I made the watercolour!!
@@marziehkaviani5536 not too late I should be filming the follow up later next week
@@marziehkaviani5536 As a point of discussion, I have heard that an amount of clove oil (a few drops seems to be the consensus) will extend the life of a gum arabic/binder soluton, as will refrigeration.
That's just my understanding, hopefully someone else chimes in.
Quick tip for another time, you can put the arabic gum in an old cloth and smash it with a hammer ! You will have a fine powder in 1 minute only and avoid a tendinitis :D Cheers from one alchimist to another ;)
I sort of do the same; I place mine in a high thread-count pillowcase, then have a go at it with my fathers old carving mallet. Takes no time at all, and I stop once it’s well broken down - just before it hits the powder stage I dump it out into my stone mortar & pestle for really fine particles. ☺️👍
Oh god thank you xD I don't mind once it's into the smaller nuggets but I messed myself up worse than you might expect trying to beat up those first big chunks, haha.
I keep an old electric coffee grinder for the job.
I have liquid anyone know the water ratio I have neon pigments from my nail business
I really like the precision in your videos, it is not something I find a lot on youtube :)
Lot of the big watercolour manufacturers also add ox gall liquid. It helps disperse the pigment better.
I only recently found your channel. Thank you explicitly explaining the ingredients needed to make your pigments. I have other recipes they never tell you why you use the honey and all other ingredients. Thank you doing the research and experimentation and finding the correct measurements required.
I like the fact that u explain the importance of each ingredient
Great share. Thank you. What would be the recipe if we use liquid Gum Arabic?
Thank you friend! You are the best!!!!
It's so rare to find a channel that shows the ins and outs of paint making. Most hide their recipes or their methods so finding you was like striking gold :). Keep up the good work and I cant wait to see more.
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weird question but... is gum arabic edible? It kinda looks delicious i don't know why.
Yes Arabic gum is edible! Surprise surprise! :) It can be use for allergy, problematic digestive system, have high contains of calcium also can be use to loose weight! It's very common in my country to consume Arabic gum as supplement since it's organic but make sure to seek for food grade one ;))
Absolutely it is edible just drinking it after displayed.
I am so inspired by you that I have now made synthetic malachite myself from copper, acetic acid and potasium carbonate🤓🙃
Nice I am working on some videos relating to copper pigments they should be out soon
@@TheAlchemicalArts Animal Glue Tree Gum Natural Organic Glue Was Used as Binder in Peetalkhora Ajanta Caves Painting 🎨✍️📢
I very much like the speed grinding at 5:09 which is very cool... 🙂 These videos are so beautiful. Great work.
Thanks for the detailed post on ratios of ga to honey
I'm looking at recycling my old eyeshadow powders into watercolour paints, is it possible to use them as the pigments?
Love your tutorial, I'm a scientist and love the detail you go into as to each ingredient and why you do things the way you do. Brilliant! ETJ from the UK 🇬🇧 ❤️
Great video! Looking forward to trying your recipe...
Interesting. I didn't know I was going to enjoy this. But I did. I really did. Thanks.
Could you comment on how much clove oil should be added as a preservative? I'm counting your 22g gum arabic as one part, so based on this amount, would you add, say, ten eyedropper drops, etc.? I surely don't want to add too much. With the clove oil, how long would you expect the binder to stay fresh enough to use?
Hello from Oregon! I’m new to your channel and I must say this is the best tutorial I’ve ever seen. Thank You so much! You have a very intriguing and attractive teaching style and I found it very easy to follow and understand.
super cool! I was curious how cobalt pigments are made, since they are so expensive. I usually paint in oils, but sometimes give watercolors a go. You're also super cute 😍
W
Thanks you! Í have some güm arabic and í have not found such a descriptive recipe before. You are awesome.
Thank you for the interesting and informative video!
Good information. Thanks
love it, thank you!! (i already knew the basics -- or thought i did -- but your presentation was excellent and you obviously know A LOT MORE!)
As always great video!!!
Kudos! To your art dedication...putting heart soul and physical labour and precision ❤🙏
Thanks a lot for sharing this, and by the way, a love your sun and moon painting!
Thank you, Thank you - this is such a valuable lesson!
Thank you So much for this video!
So happy I've stumbled upon your channel!!!
Thanks for sharing. Love your video...really inspiring! ❤️
Hey Jeremy I signed up for your watercolor making class. Looking forward to the course!!
Thank you so much, loved to watch and learn, you did a great job 👍
Thank you for all the details, I really liked the video.
Thank you so much for this! You’re a fantastic teacher
If you first mix the gum with glycerin, then add it to the hot water, it will not form lumps. I do this all the time when dissolving certain gums. Also, anytime you add water to a formula, it will need a preservative to prevent microbial growth.
Excellent video! 🙂
An excellent video. Thank you for sharing. You are a real perfectionist!
**********
This video is awesome and I tried it and the results are best. Thank you so much for this video ☺️
Does that golden color effect the final paint? Like does it make everything lean to the warmer end of the spectrum? I'd love to know.
WOnderfully explained. thanks
can you use other types of antiseptic tree resin (such as pine?) that might be easier to harvest locally?
Thank you.
This looks amazing and I am so excited that I learned how to make the binder but I definitely will be buying it because this is way too much for me to tackle
This video was awesome, great explaining🙌🙌
Different amounts of humectant (honey / glycerine) are required for different pigments. The amount you suggest wouldn't be effective on many pigments. It's more sensible to add humecants separately depending on the pigment characteristic.
this is mentioned at the end of the video.
The @@kathrynhopkins
The balance between different pigments, humicants and gum Arabic is the essence of watercolour making. It’s not really fair to foreground a recipe, at the start, with way too much honey and glycerine for most pigments in this way. This would work with Indian Yellow Tartrazine…probably, but little else. Yes, this balance is addressed at the end but almost as an afterthought and very unscientifically. There really are absolutely strict ratios that must be observed or one will produce paint that never hardens or cracks terribly. How one can work these ratios out is a sine qua non and this should be stated right at the start.
عمل جميل شكرا لك
Do you find it can keep without mold?
helllo. i just bought gum arabic resin, and it makes me wonder. would other tree resins be possible to use, once accustomed to the procedure?
A lot of other tree resins are not water soluble so cannot be used unfortunately
Cherry gum from memory. Apparently used for at least 1000 yrs as a binder.
@@rickh3714 wow. This just blew my mind. Fruit tree resins: cherry, peach, apricot seem to make binding water soluble resins that have been used for centuries
@@sophievautour8573
I wondered about plum trees as I have experience of that with several in the garden. There is a small amount of sap from those.
@@rickh3714 I could not find much information yet, but I read "fruit tree resins". Which makes me want to plant an orchard
I love your videos❤
Hi, thank you for the great tutorial! I have one question: is there a risk in pouring water that is too hot over the gum arabic? Is there a maximum temperature that should not be surpassed? Thanks.
Using really hot water wont have a negative effect on the gum arabic, its only a problem if you were to heat on a stove or something like that and it began to cook.
Thank you for sharing this recipe, I have one more question do you have to store it cold?
I tried making a watercolor with honey and pigment only and it turned into a hard chunk. Thanks for the good advice on the gum arabic!
@@ΝικόλαοςΚαλλές yes I did.
What kind of honey did you use ?
@@jennahowell4610 local honey. Clover honey I believe
This is really interesting
And can you say more about moulding and different anti moulding agents?
Clove oil from what I have read. Google is your best friend. There is info dating back 100 years or more.
I’m wondering if the gum Arabic needs to be adjusted to suit the colorants. Seems some colorants May be dryer than others, etc.
than you so much!!! loved it
Can you try doing watercolor paper of Arches quality?
When there is honey in my watercolor, the bugs eat the paint off of the paper. Is there anything else other than honey that is good to use in the watercolor binder?
What about clove oil as a natural preservative? according to your doses how much should I add?
very nice. can we mix mica powder in this then to get a nice shade
Thanks for the education.
You have supported me with your knowledge in my efforts to create natural art supplies. I would like to sign up with you on Patreon and to purchase some watercolor paint as a gift for an artist friend living in Quebec Canada. Where can I buy your watercolor paint in your hand made boxes? Thankyou for your great instruction in this video. So much appreciated.
Thank you so much 🙏🏼 I have a small question, is gum Arabic archival?
incredibly helpful video, i wanted to make my own watercolors but did not know how to do it, all other videos say the materials you need but not the amount of each ingredient, btw in the video was mentioned the use of clove oil to avoid mold, how much clove oil would you use for the amount of binder you made in the video?
Thank you! I usually add around 3-5 drops of clove oil to a batch of around 50-100mls of binder. I have a short online course linked in the description of this video if you need extra help in your watercolour making journey.
how many drops of clove oil would you add to this ratio? (great video btw!)
2 to 5 :)
Thank you so much!!
At 07:15, Best way to dissolves Arabic gum just soake it 24 in water.
Amazing video! I would like to ask you for meterials/books in which I could learn more about watercolor and other inks making. I found it hard to get cool books about :)
Google is your best friend. There is a ton of information
Hello thank you for this video it is very helpful. But i want to ask one thing, can you used another type of gum like xanthan gum and not arabic gum?
Great video! How do you keep the solution from growing mold after bottling? I've heard people suggest to use a few drops of Clove Oil as a preservative. I've done that, but mold still grew! I've also read about old recipes using Ammonium Carbonate as a preservative, but I'm not sure if that would work either.
Honey is a natural preservative
Ultimately, you can't. Like most other organic substances, when you combine it with air and water you'll eventually get mould on it. Keeping it in the fridge can help, so does the clove oil and honey. I'm doing some experiments right now with freezing it, too
Hello from France !
For preservative you can use sodium benzoate or borax at 1/1000 or thymol in alcohol at 2%
Some people use formaline or even mercury II chloride but i don't advise them for safety reasons
@@bearhugzfam649it's 2023 now, how was it?
Fine! I froze it for a week, no difference, a month, no difference, then I put some back in and forgot it for... a while xD like maybe a year IDK a long-ass time. Consistently it's been the same, it separates and goes weird when it freezes, but so long as you re-heat it and re-mix it it's fine. Kinda like using defrosted milk@@ekozoidmajiker6186
thank you so much for this channel its a massive help ! can i please ask you what sould be the expiry date for it if i want to sell it as a product?
Hi I love your video its helped a lot i'm new to making watercolors. Just wondering if you ended up making a second video. Id love to learn more from you but didnt see a new video on your page! thanks!!
Not yet been delayed but it is in the works.
Does this recipe prevent cracking when the paint is dried please, or do you need to top up when filling pans? Thanks for a great video.
Personally in the limited trials I have had. Yes it helps depending on the binder to pigment ratio etc. but filling them in layers is your best bet. Ones I don’t crack. But I also live in very hot humid Florida. I have read that I need to add more glycerin possibly when mixing.
Could you do another video with liquid gum aravic powder
Thank you for a great video
How do you go with fungi and other infections of this sweet mix. I had a crust appear on some of my watercolours.
I dought I will get an answer now lol it's been quite a while since this was posted, however! How many half pans would this amount of binder make? How much pigment should be mixed into it? what should I do if I put too much pigment?
Thank you!
very good video! Congratulations! Question: how do I distinguish a good crystal from a bad one?
Love it
excellent video
Is the gum arabic used in watercolor the same used for food purposes? (white powder gum arabic)
the very same.
Hi! I have liquid gum arabic by Windsor & Newton. What is the ratio of liquid gum arabic / honey / glyerin / distilled water for watercolor?
Liquid gum Arabic from Windsor and newton should be ready to just be added to pigment to make watercolor, but you can add honey or glycerine if you choose to, but it's not necessary. This video is more about making a watercolor liquid gum Arabic which the Windsor and newton liquid gum Arabic already is.
How would you go about making soft pastels or oil pastels. Cheers!
Hi! will using runny "honey" work?
Does the paint fade or has it got longevity? Thank you for your video.
bro make video on home made best fabric colour binder, for hand painted clothes. love from india
For synthetic pigments is it possible to add the ox gall at this point? Instead of at the mulling, if I know how much is usually needed for my synthetic pigment?
What do ypu classify as good quality gum arabic? We use some in food, making laddoos and as medicine. I womder if food-grade would mean good quality?
That would be good I believe.
Thank you for sharing! Love your kitchen/room setup. Question: how long do you let the mixture sit and blend before filtering it?
Not the alchemist but, all sources I've read say leave it for at least a day :)
@@bearhugzfam649 ok thank you)
Can we do mixer for cutting down gum arabic
How much clove oil do you recommend putting into this recipe? You didn’t mention it in the description
Question: is t 44 GRAMS of water like it says in your description Or 44 MILLILITERS like you say in the video? Thank you so much for the great video I just started experimenting with making my own watercolors and this helps answer a lot of my questions ^_^ 😘
I know I’m super late to this comment, but water weighs 1g per ml, so 44 grams is exactly the same as 44ml. Weight measurements are often used when precision is needed as it’s a more accurate form of measurement :)
Hello, great video!! what quantity of soiution to pigment do you recommend?
It depends on the pigment, you can start with around 1:1 but you will have to experiment.
Hi, I tried to follow the instructions, but my gum fluffs kinda like flour, did I received the wrong thing? or what am I doing wrong it doesn't mix with water like yours do. Read another comment where you mentioned that it can cook up. Am i putting to hot water on it? Any tips.
I need your help how to prepare black pigment paste from carbon black to color concrete interlock and tiles
Hi thank u for ur video, i have a question… is there any difference between using liquid gum arabic or solid gum arabic? Here we can buy the liquid one…
The only difference it that the liquid has water added to it so you need to modify the recipe a little.
Amazing video! Is there a follow up ? Thanks!!!
It's ok for poster colour Paint!??
Yes I believe so
Ciao buongiorno 😊 grazie mille 🙏
Vorrei chiederti se possibile un consiglio ...mi è scivolato nel mix per acquerelli troppa acqua di miele ...hai un consiglio su come rimediare per non buttare via il medium? ( Medium : gomma arabica , glicerina, acqua di miele ) grazie 🙏in ogni caso
Can this binder use for car Paint binding?