Ox Gall

[magnuscanis]

I've been wondering about Ox Gall.

I read about it somewhere when I first started watercolour painting and thought it sounded useful (after all, washes are pretty much the foundation of watercolour technique so anything which makes them work better has got to be good, surely?), so in my first flush of enthusiasm went out and bought a bottle.

I do occasionally remember to put a few drops in my washes (usually I add it to my mixing water so that all my paint gets some) and it does seem to make some difference, although I find I also get on fine when I don't use it. Most of the books I've read lately on watercolours don't seem to mention the stuff, and I haven't heard it mentioned in this forum in the 3 weeks or so I've been here. I was just curious to know whether you all use it or not, and if so how.

OK, I admit it, it was also a good excuse to try out a poll :).

[Yorky]

Hi Magnus,

I used to use ox-gall to help the flow of stick paints that we used to use for painting mine plans some 40 years ago. Without it, the paint would skid over the surface.

It reduces the surface tension and helps the paint flow. That said, I haven't found the need for it since taking up watercolours.

Doug

[babybrush]

never used it or any other media either. haven't really felt the inclination.

Bethany

[tigre255]

I didn't vote because I only use it once in awhile to see if there is a difference, as yet haven' t seen any difference if i use it or not.....so don' t really know what to answer to your questions......lol

[taghera]

Simple for me to answer....its a waste of time...:)

[Uschi]

I have never used it and don't have any, but I do have watercolor medium and never use that either. I think we get used to our own way of painting and know what we can and what we can't do, then get tempted with what we read, buy it and promptly forget we have it.
Uschi

[mustcreate]

My opinion is if used properly it is NOT a waste of time at all!!! I've found it extremely useful when used in sky washes....makes for a lovely buttery soft SMOOTH wash. But I've found you need quite a bit to make any difference at all.

em

[magnuscanis]

Well, it's been interesting to see the results of my little poll. I'm kind of surprised that as many as 70% haven't heard of ox gall.

It seems that opinion is divided as to the utility of the stuff, although more seem against than for it. Since I have nearly a whole bottle of it, I might as well continue using it, though I may well not replace this bottle when it's done.

Thanks for the tip, em. If I'm going to use it at all, I should probably be a bit more liberal in the quantities I add to the washes.

I should probably also be a bit more scientific in testing the ox gall. One method would be as follows: mix up plenty of wash, divide it into (say) three pots, add lots of ox gall to one, a little bit to another, and none to the third, then paint equal sized washes on the same type of paper at the same angle with the same brush and see what difference is noticable both in the application and the final result.

If I get round to doing such a test and anyone's interested, I'll let you know the results.

[Sylvielu]

I use Ox Gall sometimes. I recently had to discard a bottle. Somehow it got molded. I think the additional mediums are great when using difficult to work with papers.

[LilKitten]

I've heard of it spoken of in the realms of marbling, but never in watercolor

lilkitten

[Richard Saylor]

I use about 1 drop of ox gall for each 4 oz of distilled water for mixing, and I almost never have a problem with washes not adhering evenly to the paper. (As Doug explained, it reduces the surface tension of the water.)

[ingegerd]

I sometimes use ONETZ it's thickened oxgall in pans from Schmincke.I would give an exemple of a situation when it's useful, once I I sat and painted in a small oakforest and I tried to depict the sunlight by puting some yellow among the green.The yellow was swallowed by the green but by adding a little bit of oxgall to the yellow it pushed away the the green and I got the area of sunlight that I wanted.

[Jodafo]

I very much agree with Mustcreate. Ox-gall can be useful when doing a complex sky. All the guidance tells you that you must have all your washes ready and do the job quickly. This haste often results in something that is neither satisfying nor what was intended. About 10 to 15% ox-gall added to the water for mixing the washes can add a useful extension to the drying time. I have used it with wet-in-wet and again it does slow the drying time to help allow more time to achieve what you want.

[CJMonty]

I generally add it to my Clean Water as it is the water I am using to mix my paints. I do feel it helps the paint to 'flow' a bit better on the paper.

Take Care.
Love Carolynn. :grouphug: :heart: :heart: :) :) :clap: :wave: :thumbsup: