Holbein Oxgall Watercolor Additive

Oxgall is an animal-derived wetting agent, used for centuries by watercolorists to increase flow, texture, and color contrast. Wetting agents decrease the surface tension of liquids, allowing them to spread out more quickly and encouraging the pigment to separate into pockets and whorls.

Oxgall is especially useful if you notice your watercolor forming overly thick pools—a problem that can happen with certain combinations of paint and paper. Decreasing the paint's surface tension turns a thick pool into a thin wash.

Add a few drops of Holbein Oxgall to watercolor, along with plain water, until you reach the desired consistency. Then, load up your brush and see the dynamic effects you can create!

60 mL bottle. Made in Japan.