Intro to Binder

Making
Information on binders

The Complete Guide to Watercolour Paint Making

Lesson | Intro to Binder Making
P.1 Information on binders

LESSON OVERVIEW
In this section we will take you through everything you need to know about binders.

• What is a watercolour binder?

• What are the ingredients?
• How do we make it?
• What tools and ingredients do you need to make a binder?
• How to grind and store your gum arabic

This lesson will take you through what you need to do to prepare for the next lesson where we go
through the instructions on how to make your binder step-by-step.

WHAT IS A WATERCOLOUR BINDER?

A binder used for watercolour paint making is a mixture of ingredients that act as a binding
agent for pigment. Pigment on its own is not paint. Pigment mixed with water is not paint. A
pigment must be mixed and ground together with a specific type of binder in order to become a
paint.

The binder is what locks the pigment particles into place, and what creates the film of paint
when brushed onto a piece of paper. The binder is what allows the pigment to hold its position
on a work of art and prevents it from falling away or dusting off of the paper.

One of the key components of what makes a watercolour binder specific to watercolour paint
in particular is the fact that it is soluble in water. This means that it dissolves and dilutes in
water, but this is purposefully going to be done so that we can control the rate at which the
binder dissolves.

We don’t want the binder to dissolve too easily, otherwise it won’t be durable enough to set and
hold adequately, since this would make the paint essentially unusable.

We also don’t want the binder to be too resistant to water that it becomes too difficult or impos-
sible to manipulate, and would thereby render the watercolour aspect of the paint totally redun-
dant.

So, now that we know what a watercolour binder shouldn’t be, let’s take a look at what a good
watercolour binder should be.
Lesson | Intro to Binder Making
P.2

WHAT GOES INTO A WATERCOLOUR BINDER?

The three main ingredients of a watercolour binder are:

1. Gum arabic
2. Honey
3. Glycerin

Gum arabic

This is the most integral feature of a watercolour binder. Gum

arabic is a tree sap that comes from the gum acacia trees (Aca-
cia senegal), which has been harvested for thousands of years.
The amber-like sap is collected by making a cut in the trees,
which is then left to dry into resinous crystals.

For the purpose of watercolour paints, the gum arabic works

as the main binding agent. It’s what will hold our pigment in
place, and because it sets hard, is perfect for filling paint pans.
And since gum arabic is a water soluble resin, as opposed to a
non water soluble resin, this makes it perfect for watercolour
binding - it’s soluble in water, but can also resist water to some
degree.

When it comes to watercolour paints, you need to create the perfect balance between water
solubility (that allows the paint to flow well on paper), and the ability for the paint to affix or set
to the paper.

If you were to use gum arabic purely on its own (mixed with water and pigment), you would end
up with paint that dries incredibly hard and brittle. This would mean that the paint would flake
and fall apart and would not set onto paper.

This is why we need to add honey and vegetable glycerin.

Honey

We use honey in our watercolour binder because it acts as our sugar source. You can use synthet-
ic alternatives such as dextrin or glucose syrup, but we like to use honey as it is most suitable,
easily accessible, and keeps the entire process more natural and easy to work with. If you want
to avoid animal products then you can opt for one of the synthetic alternatives mentioned above.
Lesson | Intro to Binder Making
P.3

The main roles that the honey plays in our binder:

• It helps the paint to retain some degree of moisture

• The honey prevents paint pans from drying out too much
• It also has some mild antibacterial qualities

Glycerin

The glycerin adds body and moisture to our finished paint, as well as allowing the paint to flow
well on paper and become easily re-wettable. For instance, if you end up making watercolour
paint pans, the glycerin is partly what helps the pans to rewet.

The honey and glycerin perform a similar role in the watercolour binder, but retain some subtle
differences. Along with adding body to the paint film, the honey and glycerin also act as
plasticisers for the binder, making it more flexible and malleable when added to the gum
arabic.

So this means that when the paint dries out, it won’t become too brittle and will retain some
flexibility, which is a very important feature in the film of a paint, and one of the key
components of a well made paint.

The perfect combination

When these three ingredients are used together in the correct proportions, it creates an ideal
balance between durability and plasticity.

The dynamics between the gum arabic, the glycerin and honey, means you end up with a
paint that:

• Dries well
• Rewets well, and
• Flows well

As well as ensure that the paint also has some body and flexibility, these are the key areas that
you need to keep in mind when making your paint.
Lesson | Intro to Binder Making
P.4

WHAT EQUIPMENT DO YOU NEED TO MAKE A BINDER?

🔲 Mixing vessel
- Beaker / glass jar / container
🔲 Scales
- Must be able to measure 1g increments or less
🔲 Measuring vessel / Volumetric flask
- Some way to precisely measure liquid
🔲 Small spoons / Micro spatula
- Used for scooping & transferring ingredients
🔲 Stirrer
- Any utensil you can use to stir your mixture
🔲 Small jar / Plastic bottle
- Used for storing your binder mixture

If you’re going to hand grind your gum arabic, you will need:

🔲 Mortar & pestle / Coffee or spice grinder

🔲 Storage container

HOW TO GRIND YOUR GUM ARABIC

If you haven’t bought a pre-ground gum arabic, you’re going to need to grind it yourself. If
you’re grinding the crystals in a mortar and pestle, this will be a fairly simple process and
shouldn’t take you more than 5 minutes. If grinding in a coffee or spice grinder, it will be even
quicker.
Lesson | Intro to Binder Making
P.5

For mortar and pestle:

1. Begin by placing a small handful of gum arabic crystals into your mortar (the bowl).

You can simply estimate the amount of crystals you will need to grind for the binder as it will
be easy to grind more if you don’t have enough, or store any excess you don’t end up using.

💡 For the Binder Making recipe in the next lesson, you will need 12g (ground)
2. Firmly bring down the pestle onto your chunks of gum arabic to begin breaking them apart.

This will require a fair amount of force to begin with and be ready for small pieces to explode
and fly apart quite violently. A good way to keep them contained to the mortar is to place your
other hand over the top of the bowl to act as a shield.

3. Once the crystals are smaller in size you can begin grinding and crushing them into a powder.
After a few minutes of grinding you should be finished and left with a mixture that looks
and feels like coarse sand.

Coffee or spice grinder:

1. Place a small handful of gum arabic crystals into your coffee/spice grinder
2. Pulse the grinder until the crystals reach the consistency of coarse sand

You may need to shake the grinder to dislodge any crystals that get stuck

GROUND GUM ARABIC STORAGE OPTIONS

Once you’ve finished grinding the gum arabic, you’ll need a way to store it.

A simple plastic container will do the job well, but any glass jar or vessel with a well sealing lid
should be fine.

Once ground, the gum arabic should last indefinitely, meaning that you can easily grind larger
amounts in advance and store it for as long as you need until future use.