Brush Licking FTW!

[Thomgirl]

I\'m fairly aware of the dangers that can be found in paint (BFA in painting and painted houses for 6 years) so I make sure I use a rigorous brush cleaning system to clean before I lick. So far I haven\'t even tasted the paint (I use citadel foundation and the standard) and I\'m finding that the obsessive cleaning before putting paint on the brush is also making for much more even paint distribution. Anywho, I don\'t think brush licking vs. not brush licking is going to change how weird people think we might be... weird people are more interesting and fun anyways. I\'d rather be \"weird\" and have a fun life than be \"normal\" any day

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by Avelorn
The custom of licking the brush to get a sharp point is very old afaik and pre-dates at least our generation.

Yep - common practice among watercolourists, probably goes back to the 19th century or even earlier.

Originally posted by Avelorn
@Einion: Are you even concerned with brushlicking without paint on it?

Not nearly as much, no. But lots of us don\'t have rigorous brush-rinsing procedures anyway and it\'s a fairly safe bet that the rinse water will be cloudy much of the time, which means it\'s full of suspended pigment and dissolved binder and the other liquid components.

Originally posted by Avelorn
Have you heard of anyone developing allergies to hobby paint btw?

No, but coincidentally I did just hear of a painting instructor who got cancer of the tongue (he died) that they put down to holding the brush handles in his mouth. He was an oil painter and he painted a lot of course, but I don\'t imagine there was much more than minute traces of paint/medium/spirits on the end of the handles.

Einion

 

[demonelf3]

On the topic of health, Sue Wachowski (paintminion) said in one of her GenCon classess she developed Lymphoma probably due to licking her brush when she was using some older Vallejo\'s which didn\'t have the cleanest materials, like cadmium, pure elements, etc.

 

[Ritual]

Vallejo Model, Game, Air Color and Panzer Aces all meet the ASTM D-4236 safety standard, which is \"non-toxic\", more or less. They still advice you not to ingest or inhale it, due to not having done complete long term studies. Some colours contains small amounts of cadmium-based pigments, but the cadmium is in a form which have, if I understand things correctly, a very low solubility, which means it is not absorbed by the human body.

If this worries you, don\'t lick your brushes! Personally, I am not very concerned, though, as I only lick my brushes with no or extremely small amounts of paint on, and always transfer moist TO the brush rather than from. The amount of actual paint that goes the other way and end up on my tongue is ridiculously small.

About lymphoma... I am not sure cadmium would be the cause of that. Minerals aren\'t listed among the believed common causes of lymphoma. Solvents, such as turpentine, however, are, so oil painters take notice!

 

[uberdark]

hey man.... lymphoma shows you got the kahonays to brush lick!!!!! when you develop a callous on your tongue then we\'ll talk.