Some years ago, I switched from using turpentine to Turpenoid, an odorless version of the same thing. Then James McElhinney at the Art Students League pointed out that "just because you can't smell it doesn't mean it's not doing harm."
So I switched again after reading some of the warnings about solvents on the Gamblin website. Gamblin advocates the use of odorless mineral spirits which I have now been using for several years.
The nice thing about OMS, as it's often called, is that it's 100% recyclable. At the end of each painting session I pour the OMS into this funnel and the dirty OMS sits there and gradually decants itself from the paint particles which settle and even partially solidify at the bottom of the bottle. After sitting a while you can pour off the OMS into your palette cup and reuse it.
So I'm not breathing bad vapors and I'm not pouring toxic stuff down my drains. Al Gore would be so proud of me.
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3 comments:
So glad I found this post as I have been thinking more and more about the harmful effects that my artmaking might be having on my body. Do you ever use Walnut Oil? i just read that that is a healthier alternative to use when painting in oils.
Artists in the renaissance used walnut oil to great effect. It yellows less than linseed oil. But in this age of immediate gratification I have to admit that I am too impatient to wait out the very long drying time that walnut oil requires. The other problem with walnut oil is that it can turn rancid in the bottle before you get around to using it up.
The health and safety problems with oil painting are largely in two areas: Solvents, like turpentine, etc. and the toxic nature of some pigments like lead white and the cadmiums.
Many writers on the subject point out that unless you are grinding your own oil paint, even the toxic pigments are not a great danger since they are already confined to the binder (mixed in oil.) That seems to be true of the cadmiums, but there are plenty of cases where lead poisoning has occured in artists.
It's not hard to construct a palette that has neither cadmiums nor lead-based pigments. The binders, that is to say the oils themselves, are not dangerous. There is nothing risky about linseed oil or its alternatives.
Thanks again for the information in your reply. It was really helpful.
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