About Solvents

There is much talk about solvents these days regarding health and other issues. Like all important topics, facts are sometimes mixed with scare tactics and occasionally downright untruths. I thought this topic important enough to write a few lines about solvents generally and how they are used with my techniques.

1. Advantages in Colored Pencil Painting
   
   Odorless Mineral Spirits (OMS) and other solvents change the entire picture for colored pencil artists. Without them, colored pencil work relies primarily on just two basic practices layering and pencil blending with a colorless blender. While my technique still does use these processes, by themselves, they are lacking in several regards. First, colorless blender is only effective when you have sufficient pigment laid down for it to blend. What if you have only one or two layers? Do you have to double the number of layers just so you can use a colorless blender? (Even then I am pretty sure that the results would not be as good.) Plus, in many situations OMS just works better. Second, the tiny amount of OMS used provides a way to make your drawing look like it was painted but without the major exposure you would have to solvents when thinning paints and cleaning your brushes and other equipment.
   
   But if you really want to see what you can get from what I have called OMS or Odorless Mineral Spirit washes, just take a look at the step-by-steps I have posted:
   
   http://www.brushandpencil.com/reddelicious.aspx
   http://www.brushandpencil.com/orangethoughts.aspx
   http://www.brushandpencil.com/maize.aspx
   
   

2. How I Use Solvent
   
   Oil and other mediums use a much higher quantity of solvent than that used by colored pencil painting artists. With oil, for example, you need to thin the paint during the initial mixing phase in addition to its application. Typical oil paints are already infused with comparatively large amounts of solvent right out of the tube just to keep the pigment stable. In addition, cleaning and other tasks associated with oil use even more of the most harmful solvents.
   
   Colored Pencil Painting requires only very minuscule amounts of solvent applied to the surface of the paper with a cotton swab or waterbrush. The waterbrush is a plastic container with a tiny brush at the end originally designed for water colorists to use in the field. It allows you to hold a small amount of solvent and apply it in very precise measurements.
   
   Though I use the term “OMS wash” in my techniques, I do not use large quantities of solvent. In fact, the amount of OMS solvent used in one of my paintings is usually less than one-half an ounce total for all layering and color fusions involved in the process.
   
   
3. Types of Solvent
   
   Oil mediums not only use more solvent, but some use highly toxic ingredients such as turpentine and, believe it or not, even arsenic.
   
   For good reason, the turpentine smell and toxicity of the past is completely absent from the Colored Pencils themselves as it should be from all art mediums. Colored pencil sales were originally driven by distribution to children and schools. One thing a school does not want is a toxic solvent exposure for its students. For this reason, even though all colored pencil manufactures must use solvents in their processes, colored pencils have always been formulated such that the harmful and toxic parts of the solvent were removed.
   
   This same careful process has been applied by manufacturers to artistic solvents because of the justifiable concern artists have about exposure to toxic substances. Solvent makers such as Gamblin, Weber and Union Rubber have all created new products that have a much lower toxicity level than those of the past.
   
   OMS (Odorless Mineral Spirits)
   My favorite solvent for colored pencil painting is OMS. It has a slower evaporation rate which makes it more workable and less toxic. It also has a much higher PEL (Permissible Exposure Level) than solvents such as turpentine. Its toxicity is even better than citrus-based solvents when you consider all  factors.
   
   You can find out more about Gamsol OMS at the Gamblin website:
   http://www.gamblincolors.com/solvents/index.html
   
   Odorless Turpentines
   Provides lower toxicity and better ease of use than traditional turpentine, but not as good as OMS in my opinion.
   
   Citrus Substitutes
   Regardless of the source (in this case citrus pulp) the PEL rate is not as good as OMS. Commonly used because the citrus smell evokes a feeling of healthiness, we should remember that citrus oil is also used to kill termites.
   
   
4. Working Environment
   
   As with all things, reasonable caution is advised. Always keep your work area well ventilated. Though it is not absorbed through the skin, toxins have been filtered from the solution, has a good PEL rating and good evaporation rates that improve exposure times tremendously, caution is always a good idea. I always work with an open window and have never had problems with my exposure to OMS.
   
   
5. Common Sense
   
   Exposure to toxins is an everyday occurrence for humanity. Antibiotics are toxins. But they are used to affectively kill the microbes that would otherwise kill us and they save millions of lives each year. Although we try to avoid them, preservatives are used every day to keep foods fresh and feed millions who may otherwise starve. Chlorine is a very toxic substance and is used extensively to clean municipal water supplies that would otherwise be undrinkable.
   
   The word toxic is often misleading though, of course, it should be heeded. However, to say that colored pencil painting as I prescribe it is toxic is quite a stretch. After all, anyone who has used nail polish and remover to do their nails has a much greater exposure to toxins than is even possible using OMS washes in colored pencil painting.
   

© Alyona Nickelsen