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Your are absolutely right about the wax in the pencils. You get what you pay for when it comes to art materials. The cheaper the pencils the less pigment (pure color) and more wax fillers. What this means is that you won't get as much color or as vibrant color as you would with a better quality pencil.
HazelJ - Thank you so much for such important information about the hazards of all these chemicals. It's so easy to over look this when using the odorless mineral spirits because we always associate strong chemical smells to hazardous and caustic. But you have to read every label carefully because on the Gamsol can it clearly states that although it's not as toxic as other brands of OMS or turpentine (because the harmful aromatic solvent component has veen removed), it is still combustible, harmful or fatal if swallowed. I went and added this information to the comments on my tutorial. You can also avoid spillage when using it by putting it in a small plastic bottle with a daubber lid. You can purchase these from ENasco or The Joy of Stamping in CA.
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Cecilia Ross AKA/PrincessInk
Don't worry about it too much Hon - just take it out to the garage or where ever you store your house painting supplies. I have a full art studio here with all kinds of mediums - linseed oil, blending and glazing mediums, odorless turp, rubber cement thinner- what ever I have it and nothing has spontaneously combusted in 30 years - because I keep it in its original container TIGHTLY CAPPED when not using it - which isn't often lately because I work with Genesis oils now and they don't need solvents like traditional oils. It is the escaping vapours that are of concern - if everything is tightly capped in its original container it should be fine - any other container would be suspect. (especially to your insurance agent if you had a problem)
the rags and applicators that you may use to apply or wipe up after using such items is of great concern though - you must soak them thoroughly in water before disposing of them outside, preferably in a metal garbage can - at this time of year if not wetted thoroughly they can get hot enough to combust - the fire triangle is OXYGEN + HEAT or flame, spark (source of ignition) + COMBUSTABLE SOURCE (fuel) = FIRE
....HazelJ - Goo Gone is another citrus based solvent product that will work - both require a nice graded laydown of pigment to start to get it nice and smooth as they don't dissolve the wax quite as easily as the odourless turp can IMO - I have tried it, but still prefer to use good technique and the blender pencil - goo gone is still labeled combustable here in canada, I haven't looked for Zest it here, I did see it being used at the last colored pencil society convention I attended.
J
Quote:
Originally Posted by cjf&cjfsmommy
WOAH!:o I subscribed to this post because I had a ? about color pencils but I learned something about Linseed oil I didn't know! DH & I have been using it on a barn board hutch we have in our kitchen. It works great on the rough wood but we've been storing the oil under the kitchen sink! Thanks for the important info on it being cumbustable! Why don't they tell you these things at the hardware store!:???:
Well Folks, your going to think I am totally out of my mind but I did some experimenting.
I am trying to find something that most of us would have around the house to use as a solvent that most would readily have or be able to get. That wasn't going to blow you up, suffocate you, etc.
Well, get your "SHOUT" Stain Remover out of the laundry room. YES that's what I said, Shout. I tried it and it worked for me. No residue at all, the only thing it says is that don't get it in your eyes and wash your hands if you get it on them. Color stayed bright and and moved around well.
Now don't go using this on any Fine Art because I don't know the lasting effects. But couldn't be any worse than the other things.
Give it a try!!
Hazel
Well Folks, your going to think I am totally out of my mind but I did some experimenting.
I am trying to find something that most of us would have around the house to use as a solvent that most would readily have or be able to get. Hazel
Well now I'm amazed at you all and how resourceful you all are!!! Here I do a tutorial trying to teach a technique on disolving and blending colors, thinking that this was it , it just couldn't get any better and I end up learning more from you than I had ever expected. I wish we lived near by, I would love to get together and experiment.
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Cecilia Ross AKA/PrincessInk
I didnt see if anyone had mentioned if you could use the blending medium. I also have something called color float from the Donna Dewberry line of paints. I really like it.
I guess my question is what does the gamsol actually do? Help blend or keep you brush wet? I have been wondering for a while.
Stephanie - the gamsol actually helps the color blend. It breaks down the wax or binder in the pencil and lets the pigments move around on the paper.
do you know if the products I mentioned above would work? I have little ones that are very curious with my stuff and I sure dont want to take a chance of them getting hurt. My stamp room is accesible at all times, I cant really close it off. Now my littlest one has learned how to climb up and grab my glitter pens! Little stinker!
how about the mona lisa paint thinnner? is it combustible as well? it says so in the can but would it ignite without a spark. now you got me nervous! it is true it is not worth having it, if it is that dangerous.
__________________ Think less about what went wrong and more about how you would like to to go right.
how about the mona lisa paint thinnner? is it combustible as well? it says so in the can but would it ignite without a spark. now you got me nervous! it is true it is not worth having it, if it is that dangerous.
That is what I am having a problem with. I want pretty colored images and all, but it isnt really worth setting the house on fire KWIM?
The Gamsol tech is awesome and can be done with little worry IF we abide by some precautions, we as adults, should already know and use all the time.
PRECAUTIONS:
1. Read the DANGER or CAUTION LABELS on the container and abide by them.
2. Keep the lids on tight when not in use!
3. Dispose of ALL chemials or chemical ladden things in a proper manner.
4. Keep ANY and ALL things that would HARM a child and/or animal UP AND OUT of their reach at ALL times.
5. Lastly....USE COMMON SENSE!
Hi! I used the crayola pencils since I had them from the kids school days and some regular oderless mineral spirits from Meijer, though my artistic talent is way low the outcome was similar to what I had seen posted. I need to get some stamps with the open type of picture so I can use the techniques for coloring that was described in the tutorial.
Thanks to everyone for the great info on all this!
I am a Brit currently living in germany (hubby is in the British Forces) and I cannot find the Gamsol or the blending sticks anywhere. Also have a bit of a language problem in asking for things
I noticed someone said they had used baby oil or shout instead of the gamsol. Has anyone tried these and are they okay?? Also is there anything else I could use instead of the blending sticks please?:confused:
I have used baby oil with a q-tip to blend our Pure Color Pencils, and I know of some others who have used their Prismas. I didn't have any trouble with bleeding out - just through to the back of the paper a little. I did use Confetti White paper (not sure if that matters). I do know that you don't want to put the baby oil anywhere that you don't want to...because it will leave a greasemark. And be sure to dip your q-tip lightly and keep your fingers clean (otherwise you will get fingerprints). I haven't found any bad effects with this - but if someone else has I'd like to know as well...
I would guess you wouldn't want to use this in scrapbooking.
I personally don't care for off brand watercolor pencils. If you do get them, make sure and get a name brand red. Everytime I have tried to get the cheap ones I have had problems with red that ends up looking like pink.
Or the reds end up looking orange. I agree with you, SCEmily, get the best red you can find. Everything else you can blend from other colors but I just cannot get a decent red by blending so for my money give me a good decent red and I will be a happy camper.
And my two cents worth in the blender issue is I have used Gamsol and love it. Do be careful because even it causes me headaches even in a well ventilated room so odorless doesn't mean it doesn't cause problems. I don't have much success with the blenders and I have such a fear of linseed and the ease with which the rags will ignite so I guess Gamsol is my poison of choice. Just my thoughts.
okay I've managed to source some odourless mineral spirit but it's not gamsol it's another range. But I was only able to get the Derwent coloursoft pencils, does anybody know if these are okay to use please?
I can't use Gamsol due to allergies and sensitivies to chemicals.
Last week I bought some Turpenoid NATURAL at Michaels to blend my colored pencils. It is labeled as non-toxic. The active ingredient in it is orange oil which is what breaks down the waX. Just tried it this week with blending stumps and it worked fine. Be sure to get the one labeled Natural though as there are two kinds and the regular Turpenoid isn't non-toxic.
But, I have to say after trying it for blending, I actually prefer using a plain old white eraser (the kind you use with chalks) to blend my Prismacolor pencils. The look is a bit different from what you get with the Turpenoid or Gamsol blending products.
Here's some cards I colored using a plain old white eraser for blending:
Thank you all so much for your input! I've been thinking about getting some Gamsol for awhile now. Could anyone tell me what the generic brands are for different stores (like walmart, michaels etc.) ? I would really appreciate it!
A few points: Gamsol is extremely combustible. Store sealed out of sunlight and away from heat. Also, I got a set of 48 Prismas for $15.98 at Costco. They are not there all the time, but you can find them now and then.
Those cards are beautiful. So how did you do it, just outlined then used the eraser to blend?
Yes, I use a light shade and color in the whole area.
Then color just inside the stamped line with a medium shade. Blend both then if needed add a third darker color around the edge just inside the stamped line. Keep applying layers of color and removing some with the white eraser for shading and highlights. The red erasers on top of regular pencils work too, but not quite as well as the white chalk ones do.
Hint: make sure to clean your eraser when changing colors as the build up with transfer onto the new colors. To clean it just scrub on a scratch piece of paper until no color is showing on the white eraser. I learned this the hard way as I forgot to clean the blue off my eraser and went over some yellow and it transfered blue into the lighter shade and I couldn't erase the blue so I had to throw the project away.
Can someone please explain why you use a blending agent other than water with all the different colored pencils? I'm guessing there's a two fold reason - one has something to do with the way the pencils blend and second the difference in the look of the final output..... Can someone explain or point me to something that will explain the differences and why it is preferred. And please forgive me if this seems a DUH question but I've been hearing about Gamsol (and the other blending agents) but cannot find anything that tells me why to use it.
Thanks for any enlightenment you can share!!!
