The Use of Glycerin in Watercolours

Glycerin is an essential ingredient in the formulation of high-quality watercolours. At Jackman’s Art Materials, we use vegetable-based glycerin in our professional watercolours to enhance flow, improve rewetting, and extend the working time of the paint on your palette and paper.

But what exactly is glycerin, how is it made, and why do we rely solely on vegetable glycerin as our humectant?

What Is Vegetable Glycerin?

Vegetable glycerin (also known as glycerol or glycerine) is a clear, odourless, slightly sweet liquid derived from plant oils. It is commonly used in cosmetics, food, pharmaceuticals—and in our case, artist-grade watercolours. Its role in paint formulation is to act as a humectant, drawing moisture from the air and helping the paint stay workable for longer.

At Jackman’s, we choose only high-purity vegetable glycerin that meets EP/USP pharmaceutical grade standards, ensuring maximum performance and safety in our watercolours.

How Is Vegetable Glycerin Made?

Our glycerin is derived from sustainable plant oils, typically soybean or coconut oil, using a process called hydrolysis. This process separates the oils into three main components: glycerin, fatty acids, and esters.

Here’s how the process works:

• Hydrolysis: Vegetable oils are heated under pressure with water. This breaks the oil molecules apart, releasing glycerol.
• Purification: The crude glycerin is then distilled to remove impurities, yielding a clear, pure product that is safe for use in food, cosmetics—and watercolours.
• Quality Standards: The final product adheres to strict EP (European Pharmacopoeia) and USP (United States Pharmacopeia) quality requirements.

The Humectant Role of Vegetable Glycerin in Watercolour

In watercolour paint, humectants play a critical role in retaining moisture, keeping the paint soft in the pan, and ensuring easy reactivation with water. At Jackman’s Art Materials, we choose to use only vegetable glycerin—not honey—as our humectant of choice.

Why We Choose Glycerin Over Honey:

• Consistency and control: Vegetable glycerin offers a consistent, reliable performance across pigments without altering texture or gloss.
• Vegan-friendly and allergy-conscious: Glycerin is plant-based, making our watercolours suitable for a wider range of artists.
• Superior rewetting: Glycerin helps dried paint rehydrate smoothly with just a touch of water.
• Smooth application: It improves flow, making brushwork feel more fluid and responsive.

By relying solely on pharmaceutical-grade vegetable glycerin, we ensure that each pan or tube of Jackman’s watercolour offers professional-quality performance without the variability that can come with natural sugars like those found in honey.

Why We Use Glycerin in Jackman’s Watercolours

The inclusion of vegetable glycerin in our formulations ensures that our watercolours:

• Flow effortlessly from brush to paper
• Stay moist and usable in pans or palettes for longer periods
• Rewet easily without the need to scrub or overwork
• Offer a consistent, professional-grade experience for artists of all levels

Our focus is always on creating watercolours that are not only rich in colour and pigment, but also a pleasure to use.

Explore Our Handmade Watercolours

Discover our collection of artist-quality watercolours, crafted with care using the finest pigments and pharmaceutical-grade vegetable glycerin

Experience the difference that expert formulation makes—with Jackman’s Art Materials.