Genesis paints

[Richard Monro]

Has anyone had experience with Genesis paints?

Since I can no longer work in oils because of adverse chemical sensitivities , I am always looking for a new archival medium that will work like oils. An artist friend suggested that I try Genesis heat set paints.

http://www.genesisartistcolors.com/

My friend is a portrait and figurative artist and loves these paints. While in her studio I noticed about 20 brushes standing out that were loaded with paint. They had been that way for days! She leaves them that way because they never dry until heat set.. Her palette had been loaded with paint for days as well without drying out.

She says she can work a passage on her canvas until satisfied and then heat set it with a heat gun. It only takes seconds and she can move onto the next layer. Clean up when needed is with rubbing alcohol.

I can't tell which of her paintings were done in oil or the Genesis paints. I must say I was impressed.

I would appreciate any experience other artists have had with this product.

[Richard Bingham]

Not with Genesis paints specifically, but through the years, I have worked (fairly extensively) with thermo-setting inks used in various silk-screen processes. I'd hazard there is a similarity.

Not to rain on your parade, Richard, but if you have chemical sensitivities to the extent that you can't handle oil paints, I'd be very wary of using thermo-setting materials which employ mostly the same pigment chemistry as coventional paints, as well as heat-reactive plastic resins. There definitely will be "emissions" from such paints while "setting" them with a heat gun. Whether this is equally problematic for you or not , I guess you'll just have to try it to find out.

Have you thought about gouache ? Or casein ? Or acrylics?

I can sympathize with your sensitivity. My Dad, a lifelong painter in oils developed a sensitivity to contact with turpentine when he was in his mid-60s. His hands would break out in painful lesions that could escalate into open sores with continued contact. Mysteriously as the ailment came on, it "went away" after a few months, and he was never troubled again.

[Richard Monro]

Richard,

Thanks for the input. I can always heat set out of doors as I live in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Actually it is so hot here in the summer that I can almost let the summer heat here do the job. )

The real question is do you think I would experience any chemical out gassing while I am painting in my studio? I am interested in you experience on this subject. Please let me know.

[Richard Bingham]

Whenever materials state "use with adequate ventilation", what they really mean is exactly what you propose . . . do it outdoors! (If you really want to be "safe").

I have to confess to have played fast and loose with safety issues during my working life. I have no idea the quantity or type of emissions heat-setting inks released into the work-area atmosphere before curing . . . they seemed to be pretty tame, and mostly inert, although they do have a characteristic odor. Heat curing definitely releases volatiles you don't want to breathe in any concentration . . . the materials we used cured between 175 and 220F.