Thoughts on M Graham Oils

TK H-H

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I'm still debating whether to give regular oils a try again. I usually use Cobra water mixables with their thinner and other mediums, and I do like them. I've been kind of curious about M Graham oil paints though. I stopped using traditional oils because they made me feel sick rather quickly after starting to paint. I'm not sure if it was the paints or the solvent. I wondered about the M Grahams because they use walnut oil in place of solvents.

The M Grahams seem to be more readily accessible so I was thinking of giving them a try. They're reasonably priced as well. I wondered if anyone here uses them? Any pro's and con's I should know about? What is their consistency like? Do they feel smooth or sticky? How do the walnut oil mediums perform?

I may still stick with Cobras as I do enjoy them. The Graham's being more accessible is appealing though. Seems you can usually buy them in stores whereas Cobras have to be ordered online since my local store closed. My main supplier of Cobras has gotten quite expensive as well... So I may need to switch as I run out. Some of the non-sale prices have gone up to $70 a tube!

Thanks for any input!
 
I like and use M Graham, but there are no solvents in regular oils like Gamblin. It's pigment in linseed oil, also known as flaxseed oil or flax oil (in its edible form), is a colourless to yellowish oil obtained from the dried, ripened seeds of the flax plant (Linum usitatissimum).

Linseed oil does smell more than walnut which hardly smells at all.

There is no reason to have to use any solvents with either of these. But Gamsol is pretty tame.

Frankly I think the "toxicity" of oil paints is way overblown. People eat flax seed. Lowers blood pressure.
 
I'm not worried about the toxicity much. I just felt really nauseous when using oils for some reason. I don't know if it was the solvent I was using or the linseed oil in the paint. I was using Winsor/Newton and another brand I can't remember at the moment.

Though the Cobras should be linseed too, so it must have been the solvent getting me. Though I do find the Cobras smell less than the Winsor/Newtons did.

Figured the Graham would eliminate both and hopefully therefore would be fine.
 
Water miscible and regular oil paints give me a headache. I like the smell and always thought it was the solvent. Nope it was the linseed oil. I use the M Graham with no problem at all. They do not have as much body as some oils, but I like them for my style. Hope you do, too. I haven't used them in a while but as I recall you can use the Cobra paints with them so you wouldn't lose your other paints.
 
Ah okay, thanks! :)

I wonder if it is the linseed oil. Maybe just the smell because I feel fine using Cobras. I considered trying Rembrandt oils too, as they have some beautiful box sets and nice colors. Suppose I could try them solventless and that might confirm whether it's the linseed oil or solvent that gets me.
Or I might just stick with trying the M Graham's to eliminate both entirely. I'll have to think on it.

Now that I think about it, I felt fine when I oiled my wooden palettes too. I used linseed oil for those. So that has me thinking it was the solvent I was using. Or I just wasn't around it long enough. Who knows...
 
I've been using M. Graham Oil Paints for years, and I've found them to be excellent paints. They ARE Walnut-oil based, and they handle as smooth as silk. Almost no smell to them. I also purchase oil paints (Walnut-oil based) from a private manufacturer in Madison, Wisconsin, called, "The Art Treehouse" owned, and operated by a wonderful man named, Robert Maynord. I know him very well, and his products are quite excellent, and reasonably priced for the quality that they exhibit. I purchase all the ingredients for my oil painting medium from him, and you can browse his website, and call him with any questions that you may have regarding his products. including his paints. He has even taken my oil painting medium recipe, and mixed it himself, labeling the bottle, "William F. Martin's Painting Medium" for those who don't wish to mix the ingredients themselves. I receive no royalties for that painting medium concoction, simply because I've published the recipe on several art sites, and it is no "secret". If you buy a bottle of my medium, it is merely pre-mixed by Robert, saving YOU the time and effort to mix it.
Art Treehouse address is : https://arttreehouse.com/. Tell Robert that I recommended his site to you, please.
 
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I have had the same reaction TK H-H... I never quite figured out what it is, but some brands I can tolerate and some brands I can't... someone once told me it might not even be the linseed oil per se, some brands use additives like driers that may be the culprit...

I find I can use Utrecht, Gamblin, and M. Graham. Rembrandt and Winsor and Newton don't agree with me, and another one I can't for the life of me remember which one.

Same with some of the mediums. I can't tolerate Liquin, but Gamsol and Walnut alkyd don't bother me at all.

I think it's just a trial and error thing, we all react differently!
 
Winsor/Newton definitely doesn't agree with me either. I think the other brand I used was Stevenson. Which also didn't agree. (Not sure those are even made anymore?)

I haven't invested in anything yet, but I'll probably try out the M Grahams. Sounds like you've all had positive experiences with them. :)
 
Sorry to hear about your reaction to oil paints. Something to bear in mind is that even if a solvent is odourless, its airborne molecules still enter the lungs through the nose and mouth. They can also enter the bloodstream by absorption through the skin. Some very harmful chemicals are practically odourless and tasteless, so don't be deceived into thinking some solvents are safe just because you cannot smell them.
 
Sorry to hear about your reaction to oil paints. Something to bear in mind is that even if a solvent is odourless, its airborne molecules still enter the lungs through the nose and mouth. They can also enter the bloodstream by absorption through the skin. Some very harmful chemicals are practically odourless and tasteless, so don't be deceived into thinking some solvents are safe just because you cannot smell them.
Just to clear up something. The solvents used in the past were much more dangerous than what we use today- Gamsol is highly refined to remove the most dangerous volatiles. It is safer than many of the other things we inhale in our everyday lives like car exhaust, wood smoke... best practices still dictate to use good ventilation, and I personally use a very small jar and keep the cap closed when not actively dipping my brush in the jar.

I have chemical sensitivities against synthetic fragrances in shampoos, soaps, and everything in my house is unscented- from laundry detergent to hair gels. I have had to use my inhaler before when exposed to certain fragrances. However, I work with Gamsol without issues.

From the Gamblin website:
"How does Gamsol achieve this level of performance and safety? Most solvents available to artists come from the industrial paint industry where solvent power and cheapness is prized. Gamsol is special: it is made for products and processes that come into more intimate contact with the body such as cosmetics, hand cleaners, and cleaning food service equipment.

Gamsol is a petroleum distillate but all the aromatic solvents have been refined out of it, less than .005% remains. Aromatic solvents are the most harmful types of petroleum solvents. In addition, Gamsol’s flashpoint allows it to ship via air cargo as a non-hazardous
material."

A link to the SDS sheet if anyone is interested. I have a scientific background, and this SDS sheet is pretty benign, unless you get the stuff in your mouth or eyes, even then, it causes temporary irritation. It is not a respiratory irritator and not carcinogenic. https://gamblincolors.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Gamsol-SDS_US_English_2023.pdf
 
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Thanks for your insightful comments; we obviously speak the same language, because I am an organic chemist by profession. I have dealt with some pretty nasty compounds like diazomethane and benzyl iodide in my career. I think we are doing a service to our fellow artists by stressing the importance of treating our raw materials with caution.
 
Yes, we need to work with our solvents with care, however, I don't want people to be scared of something like Gamsol because in the scope of our everyday exposure to other things, Gamsol is actually pretty benign as long as we don't ingest it or get it into our eyes, and even then, it is temporarily irritating. I frankly was more concerned about the exposure to nasty volatiles I was getting from my gas cooktop everyday when I cooked dinner before we changed to an electric stovetop a few months ago, or when I sit on the freeway for an hour behind a truck.... Gamsol in the scheme of my everyday exposures is pretty minimal...
 
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