Re: stinky paint

Chris,

I once lived in a very small town with a paper processing plant on the
south side and a sugar mill on the north side--both of which emitted a
stench similar to freshly placed cat poo. Depending on the seasons of
harvest and the prevailing winds you usually got one or the other all
day long anywhere in town.

I found a great solution to the odor problem. I moved to a different
town.

What's funny is, I was working a great deal with watercolors at the
time (including ultramarine and cadmium) and NEVER NOTICED the stink of
the paint. Or, better put, never *attributed* the stink to the paint.
I even have vague memory of later throwing the tubes out believing they
had *absorbed* the town's odor.

I guess context and perception are everything.

So (he wondered right out loud), is the stink archival. . . ? Does an
old gum print of similar ingredients stink?

Go easy (and try a clothespin),
John
__________________________
John Campbell
PhotoGecko Studios & Gallery
1413 South First Street
Austin, Tx 78704

(512) 797-9375

www.photogecko.com

On Monday, April 5, 2004, at 08:07 PM, Christina Z. Anderson wrote:

> First we talked about stinky paper, now stinky paint. I have noticed
> when
> using ultramarine blue that it stinks. I right now am using cadmium
> yellow
> pale (PY 35) and noticed the same thing; it REEKS. The whole room,
> with 5
> 16x20 sheets of coated paper drying in it, is unbearable. I smelled
> my gum
> and gum smells fine. I checked Hilary Page's Watercolor book, and sure
> enough, she says both contain sulfur, and that when she uses cad
> yellow it
> smells bad. So it is not my imagination...one more reason I don't
> prefer
> cadmium yellow. (I'm using up old tubes of paint, normally don't use
> either
> ultra or cad yellow.) Has anyone else experienced this or is my nose
> just
> wayyyy too sensitive?
> Chris
>
>
>
Received on Mon Apr 5 20:34:35 2004