Brushlickers unite

[exilesjjb]

As you can change the tag under you name to what you like (user CP)-edit profile) I think all you Brushlickers out there should be proud to declare yourselves.
BTW I did not even notice I was a brush licker till I gave a painting class for a kids club a few years ago and one of the mothers asked me if I should be putting the brush in my mouth.

 

[Dragonsreach]

There are already quite a few Brush lickers defining their status in their signatures.

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[Chrome]

I only started licking my brushes a few years after starting to use GW-colours, before that I had this strange notion that it was rather dangerous to do so...
Might have had something to do with me using only Humbrol and Heller colour ranges. And in those days (and in my world) water based colours just couldn't compete with oil based so imagine my skepticism when hearing about water based colours that were not only as good as/better than them oil based, they were also almost completely non-poisonous! Now that felt just wrong...

 

[Dragonsreach]

The Rules are simple:
Citadel: :brushlick:
Humbrol: :nobrushlick:

Ah rules no longer simple................ Humbrol do Model Acrylics.
(Not too bad, bit limited in range. Mostly Historical/Tank colours)

 

[Devilry]

It's something I've always done without comment, until recently I was helping a family friend with their first steps into painting and he went mental "Oh my god you're eating paint!".

I don't see any harm in it, after 16 years of licking brushes I only have to consume 2 pots of paint a day to keep the voices in my head happy.....

 

[Chrome]

Oh my! So you're saying that Humbrol are actually still trying to keep up with the market? For some reason that feels both good and awkward to see. In many extents I had begun thinking that Humbrol colours were on the verge of extinction. Their colours are a pain to get a hold of at all here in Sweden.

(then again, it took me years to accept brushlicking when it comes to citadel, to start licking the brushes after using colours from a company I grew up with reading health warnings on their bottles? Not sure if that feels alright anyway. especially if they have the same design as the others in their range, It is rather cute but putting something in my mouth that has been in a can with the exact same design as wall paint?)

 

[Ritual]

Humbrol did some acrylic "fantasy" paints years and years ago. It was the first acrylic paints I used, before you could easily get hold of Citadel paints here in Sweden. I think this was in the late 80s. The Humbrol fantasy paints were a bit pants, though... They were in plastic bottles with screw-on lids, IIRC.

 

[Chrome]

They were still there in the early 90's as well, one of the reasons I got scared of that kinda colours.

 

[tidoco2222]

I remember those they were pretty shoddy, though the early Citadel Colour wasn't greateither. It took me a long time to switch from Humbrol Enamels to acrylic, now enamel paints are paints you want to lick your brush after using as they taste foul.

 

[Einion]

Awesome opportunity to pimp the Anti-Brushlicking League :smile:

Einion

 

[Einion]

I only started licking my brushes a few years after starting to use GW-colours, before that I had this strange notion that it was rather dangerous to do so...

Before that? It still is!

Paints marketed as non-toxic are that way in their intended use, i.e. outside the body. They are not intended for internal application

Seriously folks, light-hearted as we take it here this is not a joking matter - you don't know what's in your paints so it's not worth taking the risk. That nice taste some of them have? That might be due to the humectant - propylene glycol for example, a primary ingredient of antifreeze with a characteristic sweet taste.

Einion

 

[BPI]

I was a brushlicker for years but stopped with my most recent burst of painting (couple years ago) as I found my saliva was too thick & mucking with my brushwork. Common? Weird? Cheers, B.

 

[Chrome]

I am pretty sure there are very few of us that actually find the paints palatable...
And even if it is a bad thing to take unnecessary risks you still get way more and way more dangerous chemicals in your system through eating non-ecological food, breathing the air around us or simply holding that lead-based mini in your hands.

Of course it contains toxins -however small amounts there might be- but I am pretty sure that if there is any kind of toxin I get in my body on a daily basis that will actually affect me and my life-span it is the good old Carbon monoxide which literary tares the particles in our blood apart and that is something that we get from frying food too hard, lighting matches, driving cars, doing anything that has anything to do with carbon basically.

And no, I'm not trying to defend it, just saying that the toxin-approach towards trying to convert the 'brush-lickers' might be a long shot...

 

[Hinton]

Awesome opportunity to pimp the Anti-Brushlicking League :smile:

Einion

I was thinking about starting a group like that, but thought I would be the only member of it. Nice to see there are other non-brushlickers out there.

 

[ScottRadom]

Licking your brush is wierd!

I hope Anders that likcing your brush isn't one of the primary focuses of the paint along at WAMP!

I joined the league of extraordinary non brushlickers yesterday.

 

[exilesjjb]

I only lick before putting in paint gets good point, that is I think thats only time I do as i say before its done by habit.
Just remeber kids it not big and its not clever, it is however a habit maybe AA have a branch for us. LOL

 

[Einion]

And no, I'm not trying to defend it, just saying that the toxin-approach towards trying to convert the 'brush-lickers' might be a long shot...

Well it sure sounds like an attempted defence. Potential toxic effect are the shot - it's the reason not to, period.

The "the whole world is toxic" thing is a common counter-argument for this kind of thing but even if true* it sidesteps the issue of deliberate contact with something absolutely not intended to go on the skin, much less in the mouth.

*And about the things you mentioned. With respect to white metal there is no lead or nearly no lead in castings any more, where in the past the alloy was mostly lead. And even where there is lead it's on the outside of the skin, which is designed as a barrier... the tongue and the lips on the other hand are quite different (mucous membranes, hello) and that is a key issue, especially if there's a glycol in the paint. Anyone interested should read up on its properties to see why.

Carbon monoxide doesn't tear blood corpuscles apart, don't know where you got that one from :confused2: It just bonds better to haemoglobin than oxygen, preventing its uptake and delivery to tissues.

Oh and about the non-ecological food, a report published recently comparing the benefits of the much-vaunted organic foodstuffs with conventionally-farmed equivalents. The summary makes for some interesting reading, although the title of the BBC article on it pretty much says it all, Organic 'has no health benefits'.

I was thinking about starting a group like that, but thought I would be the only member of it. Nice to see there are other non-brushlickers out there.

I didn't expect there'd be many members either, but that was no reason not to have the group :cute:

Einion

 

[Avelorn]

@Einion: That is just PROPAGANDA set up by the anti-brushlicking league to discredit a perfectly naturally occurring phenomenon that so far has not been proved to be damaging by any scientific study by credible scientist.

In fact our own research on Games Workshop, P3 and Vallejo paint shows that they might theoretically be related to good health, containing various electrolytes and antibacterial compounds from added saliva. Also statistical tests show that brushlickers are better painters, have higher wages and are better lovers then non-brushlickers p>0.01.

Yes not licking your brush will make you flaccid. That is our bottom line. Flaccid!

 

[Chrome]

@Einion: Your point is valid and I won't argue against it. One thing though, while most companies have gone over to white metal, there are quite a few left that do cast in lead-based metals. And the skin is certainly not a good barrier against such small particles, most cases of lead poisoning comes from handling lead, not eating it. As a former aluminium welder I am painfully aware of this since I've lost friends that way.

And about the paints being poisonous, more and more of the ranges go through extreme testings nowadays to ensure that there are no dangerous toxins in them since so many young actually eat them for real.

It is good to not lick your brushes, there's no arguing there.
To me, the brushlicking comes from my art classes where our teacher always told us to shape the brush with our mouths when done.

Speaking of the health benefits of organic food, of course there are none!

"The review did not look at pesticides or the environmental impact of different farming practices."

It is the chemicals added to the 'normal' food that is the danger. 'Bug spray' to decrease the amount of the crop getting eaten by insects, chemicals added for increased longevity and so forth. That is what organic food doesn't contain and that is the reason it is better for you to eat.

 

[Niall]

Wait does that mean some people lick the brushes with a big dob of paint on it? I just twirl it into a point with my mouth after the brush goes in the paint water..