I had this recent exchange with Diana Graham after she contacted someone on a painter's list I belong to and mentioned their products.
Quote:
At 12:57 PM 5/12/2003 -0400, I wrote:
A member of our painters' list shared your recent email with us about nontoxic oils, and I'm wondering whether one couldn't use standard oils and just thin with your medium to get the same lack of toxicity. Or are your oil paints made with a different formulation from, say, Rembrandt or Old Holland?
Hi Leslie,
Thanks for asking. Yes, our color is different in several ways. Rather than using linseed oil we chose walnut oil to grind our color as it yellows and cracks less. We recently did strength tests between ours and the ones you mentioned and ours contains higher pigment loads. If you compare prices, ours is more economical. We have arranged with many of our dealers to offer 40% off retail value to artists so you can support your local stores, get a great price and not pay freight from the mail order houses. In selecting pigments, we considered safety. Our cadmiums are non-soluble and biologically unavailable and our cobalt is certified as safe enough to be used as a colorant for food packaging. Our color is made here in Oregon so if you or other artists have questions, you can speak directly to the people who actually make the product. Being artists ourselves, we are more aware of the importance of the working properties of our products and I believe we pay far more attention to consumer suggestions. In fact, due to demand, we are introducing 25 new oil colors this summer.
Our non-toxic, solvent free walnut oil medium is compatible with other artists oil products. Clean your brushes with walnut oil and then mild detergent to rid your studio of solvents. Even if you do not chose to try our color, it is a good idea to stop using turps and thinners.
Let me know if there is anything more I can do.
Diana G
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I haven't tried them yet although I do have a source for their products (
http://www.artpurveyors.com/). They offer plain walnut oil as well as an alkyd walnut oil-based medium. I already use plain walnut oil as a medium but I do use paint thinned with turps in the beginning of each painting when I'm blocking it in. Do let us know how you like their formulations as you continue to use them. Have you tried their alkyd medium as well?