€10.10
€8.08
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Gum Arabic powder, 250 gr.
Reference: 66-G0605
Natural gum arabic powder in a 250 g pack, to dissolve in water at whatever strength each technique calls for. It is the traditional binder of watercolour and gum tempera, and the reference gum for lithography on both stone and plate. In powder form it goes much further than ready-made solutions and, kept dry and sealed, it lasts for years.
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€7.38
€5.90
Unit price (tax included)
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- 250 g of natural gum arabic powder: makes about 830 ml of solution at 12-14 °Bé, the reference strength in lithography.
- You choose the strength: thick for gumming the litho stone, light as a watercolour medium.
- Better value than ready-dissolved gum in 75 or 100 ml bottles.
- For lithography, watercolour, gum tempera, sugar lift, gum bichromate, inks and shell gold.
- Water soluble. pH 4-5 in a 10% solution. CAS 9000-01-5.
Gum arabic is the resin harvested from the acacia tree and the oldest water-soluble binder still in use in the fine arts. Powder has one advantage ready-made solutions cannot offer: every technique calls for a different strength, and starting from the powder you mix exactly the one you need instead of diluting or thickening something already made up.
In lithography it works at both ends of the process: it gums the margins and the open areas so they reject the greasy ink, and it protects the matrix between runs. Stone needs a thicker gum than an aluminium plate. With 2% nitric acid it becomes the nitric gum used on stone; with phosphoric and acetic acid, the plate solution.
In watercolour and gum tempera it is the binder the paint is made with, together with pigment and glycerine. In intaglio it goes into the sugar lift, mixed with sugar to lift the aquatint ground. In gum bichromate it is the base of the photographic process, with dichromate and pigment. And in illumination and gilding it binds gold powder into shell gold.
| Size | 250 g |
| Form | Powder, yellowish |
| Composition | Natural gum arabic (CAS 9000-01-5, EC 232-519-5) |
| Solubility | Water soluble |
| pH | 4-5 in a 10% solution |
| Approximate yield | About 830 ml at 12-14 °Bé |
| Storage | Between 5 and 35 °C, dry and well ventilated |
| Techniques | Lithography, watercolour, gum tempera, sugar lift, gum bichromate, inks, shell gold |
| Brand | Totenart |
| Reference | 66-G0605 |
How much water do I need per gram of gum arabic powder?
As a guide, one part gum to three parts water by weight, around 300 g per litre, gives a 12 to 14 °Bé solution, the standard strength in lithography. As a watercolour medium it is mixed considerably lighter. The 250 g pack makes about 830 ml at that reference strength.
Powder or ready-dissolved?
Powder if you make your own paint, gum stone or plate, prepare resists, or need different strengths for different jobs. Liquid if you only want a watercolour medium ready to use.
How do I dissolve it without lumps?
Sprinkle the gum onto the water, never the water onto the gum. Then let it hydrate: a few hours if you stir it, two or three days if you leave it standing, and strain out whatever has not dissolved. Use distilled water, or tap water boiled and cooled.
How long does the solution keep?
A few weeks in a cool place. With sodium benzoate at 0.5 g per 100 g of gum, refrigerated, it keeps for years.
Is it a food product?
We sell it for fine art. Totenart supplies it as an artists' material, not as a food product.
Format
250 g
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