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Originally Posted by Tom Edgerton
Be careful, though . . .
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Absolutely. Painting at the easel, a competent adult will "be careful" enough by dint of reasonable workmanship. Poor ventilation is less obvious, and more insidious. However, it's no more adviseable to drench painting surfaces, tools, brushes and hands with MS than with turps.
Gouache is a better material choice for those terrorized by possibilities of toxicity.
Tom, could you be so kind as to point us to a qualified source of factual information on the toxicity of turpentine? The Gamblin site appears to be a "sales pitch" in the main, and states nothing more substantive than turpentine is "a known respiratory irritant". It goes on to speculate on the misuse of turps by "painters of 50 years ago . . . [who] created huge canvases of oil colors diluted with turpentine".
Further, "Rembrandt used no painting mediums." A statement knowledgeable painters should find at least controversial if not ridiculous. The intent is to convince readers of the adviseability of using Gamblin's proprietary mediums.
Gamblin's market strategy has been to emphasize that their products are non-toxic and ecologically friendly. Certainly laudable aims in themselves, no doubt reflecting a realistic assessment of the sensibilities and anxieties of their customer base. However, they seem insecure enough with that stance that information on the site for the most part evades hard facts, and tends toward hyperbole and unsubstantiated opinions.
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