Genesis paints

[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.