Paint Pigment
Brandy
I have recently graduated from Franklin Pierce College.
I am currently the Lighting Designer for the New London Barn
Playhouse in NH.
I was looking in our supplies and found a whole lot of old paint
pigment.(needs a bonding agent to work) We don't use it since no one
really knows how to use it, so it has just been sitting around.
I have been sent to see if there is a proper way of disposing it, or
if I can sell it. There are many colors and a lot of it...5 gallon
buckets of this stuff. If any one is interested in this please
privately email me for more details. If any one has any suggestions
about this please post them.
Brandy Bitzer
Lighting Designer
Ed
Hello,
I've always just mixed it with white or another color if
I'm feeling brave. Pour in a little - mix - add more for
deeper color. Have just used latex.
Is this stuff labeled? A real paint store could help you.
Beth
In article <5c16dd38.0406...@posting.google.com>,
Torrance Bell
Pigment, which is a powder (thats what you have), the vehicle, and the
binder. there is a decent explaination of how it all goes together here:
http://irc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/cbd/cbd076e.html
Hope this is useful ;)
Torrance
Michael Powers
> found a whole lot of old paint
> pigment.......if there is a proper way of disposing it, or
> if I can sell it. ....... If any one has any suggestions
> about this please post them.
Brandy,
The article Torrance mentioned is a very good description of paint.
Kinda' sounds like my class lecture on paint in stagecraft. The Dry
Pigment is of course still the most economical method of scene
painting. Unfortunately, as you mentioned, few people really know how
to use it anymore. In addition, we have discovered a good many health
hazards associated with dry pigment use. It can be used safely and
ultimately, IMHO, it can give the most exquisite results of any medium
when in the hands of a highly skilled scenic Artist. The capitol A in
artist is intentional. I mean Artist, not just really, really good
painter.
Depending on who manufactured the pigment and when, it may contain a
number of toxic chemicals including lead, aniline dyes etc. The
danger of the chemicals is that they can easily be introduced into
your body by several means.
The first is inhaling. The better the quality of pigment, the finer
it is ground. The finer it is ground, the more easily it becomes
airborne while mixing and thus is very easy to breathe in. When I was
just starting in this business we didn't know these dangers of this
and did not wear particle masks, much less respirators while mixing
these paints. It was not unusual to get home and blow one's nose and
have the tissue turn the color you were mixing that day.
The second most likely way to get the stuff in your system was by skin
contact. We used to use our hands to get the lumps out while mixing
or in laying up dope drenched (glue and paint) muslin or canvas over
frames for rocks or trees without using rubber gloves. The chemicals
absorb right through your skin. After several days of building and
covering a rock formation that had a blue tint to it, my sweat had a
blue tint for several days afterward. If you don't believe me as to
how easily things are absorbed through the skin, just think of the
number of medications that are available in a "patch" form today.
The third is by ingestion. This is still a danger today with any type
of paint. You say you don't eat paint, right? How about the number
of times you mixed paint with your coffee cup right beside you? How
many times have you had pizza in the shop during a hard push to get
something finished? You'd be amazed at how many things from the work
area float around in the air, brush off your clothes etc. I once saw
a young lady dip her ź" lining brush into her coffee instead of the
paper cup of paint she was using for fine detail work. After a couple
of "words" about it, she shook the brush out, took a sip of her coffee
and continued painting. Did it kill her? Not then, but who's to say
she hasn't developed problems since then. Some times these problems
don't show up for years and then, it's too late.
By and large, very few shops use dry pigment today, and unless you are
already well versed in their use and in the SAFE handling during use,
I strongly advise you to avoid using them. This is especially true in
a summer stock situation where time is short and even the best
intended people will sometimes cut corners to meet deadlines. I
gather by your post you have already made the decision not to use
them, good for you.
Now, what to do with them? Post on the Stagecraft list to see if
anyone wants to buy them but don't hold your breath. If your theatre
is connected with a school or university, see if their hazardous waste
program will handle the pigments. If the containers are well sealed,
have no leaks and there is no visible evidence of dry pigment on the
ground or on the shelves around the containers, and you don't need the
storage space, wait until the last show is open and contact the local
police for information about how to deal with the situation.
I hope this helps a little. If you are still in doubt, contact me
directly and I'll see if I can come up with some more specific
information for you.
Michael
Michael Powers, Technical Director
UMass Theatre Department
112 FAC West
151 Presidents Drive, Ofc.2
Amherst, Ma. 01003-9331
413-545-6821 voice
413-577-0025 fax
Jeff Lewin
<Clipped, Michael's excellent discussion of hazards of paint pigments>
He then says:
>
> Now, what to do with them? Post on the Stagecraft list to see if
> anyone wants to buy them but don't hold your breath.
Sell it, heck our group would probably pony up lots of pigment, like
several hundred pounds, from the now defunct Gothic Paint company, for
free if they'll pay the shipping. Or you can make the beautiful drive
to the UP of Michigan, but be forewarned it is 6 hr from Chicago, 6 hr
from Minneapolis or 10 hr from Detroit; I'll even help you load it on
the truck. We don't have any of the base left; I believe it was some
sort of animal based hide glue or something like that - but I can find
out if anybody is interested :)
Jeff
Rigger
<jcl...@mtu.edu> wrote:
> Or you can make the beautiful drive
> to the UP of Michigan, but be forewarned it is 6 hr from Chicago, 6 hr
> from Minneapolis or 10 hr from Detroit
But drinkin' in Houghton/Hancock is fun.
(Not that there's fuck-all else to do up there...)
--
rigger-at-tds-dot-net
IATSE#274, DoD#2117, ACGwB#5, NGI#666, BMoZ#[classified]
Michael Powers
> ……Sell it, heck our group would probably pony up lots of pigment, like
> several hundred pounds, from the now defunct Gothic Paint company…. for
> free if they'll pay the shipping …….. .
Jeff,
Please post that on Stagecraft. Brandy actually got a couple of quick
hits from people who still have the facilities and know how. You
might make some $$$.
>We don't have any of the base left; I believe it was some sort of
animal based hide glue >or something like that - but I can find out if
anybody is interested :)
If anyone is interested, please check out the Lynn Pectal book (among
others) it will give you a comprehensive look at scene painting
including dry pigment, starch size, dye painting etc. As for the
"base", paint consists of pigment, binder and vehicle. Some sources
call the binder and solvent mix the vehicle.
Basicly, the pigment is the stuff that makes it the color it is, the
binder is the stuff that "glues" the color to whatever you're painting
and vehicle is the stuff that keeps things liquid in the bucket and on
your brush until left exposed to the air, and it evaporates, allowing
the binder to fix the color to the painted surface. Any good adhesive
can act as the glue, Elmer's, weldwood, hide glue, etc. as long as it
dries relatively clear and is compatible with the vehicle, for stage
use that is usually water.
Part of the knowledge of dry pigment painting is the strength of the
glue. Hide or animal glue is usually mixed about 15:1 with water to
form what is called "size water". The exact ratio depends on which
color you are going to use, some pigments require a stronger binder
than others. With hide glue there is some variance from batch to
batch, especially with dry ground glue. The "right" mix is often
described as "when you stick your thumb and first finger in, press
them together for a bit and listen for the snap when you pull your
fingers apart." Once you've learned the "Snap" sound you've got it
for life, but it takes a while and as I said changes from color to
color and from one manufacturer to the next.
One form of painting (my favorite if time is not an issue, for the
painter/scenic artist it is heaven in the feel on your brush and the
exquisite results) is called Dry Pallet painting. You have a small,
low dolly or cart about 3' x 4' with small bins around 2 or 3 sides,
room for a 3 gal bucket of clean water and one of the size water. The
main surface of the cart is Formica or similar (cafeteria trays work
good for miniature pallets) used like an artists pallet on which to
mix the colors and tints. You first dip the brush in the clean water,
then into one or more of the bins of dry powder pigment. Then you
mush it around on the Formica surface to work the paint into
suspension and then paint. Between colors, you clean the
brush in the clean water.
One of the reasons that this method is so good is that, for example,
in painting a tree, each and every leaf will have a degree of variance
in tone or shade, each piece of woodwork will have it's own special
tone, highlight and shadow. It gives a life and vibrancy that just
doesn't happen with most scenic painting today. It's all too often
"paint by the numbers" today.