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You're stuck having to use strong solvents when you use natural resins in your painting medium. I would also caution against considering Ralph Mayer's book as tantamount to the Gospel. He had his own prejudices, as do most authors. A lot of new information has come to light in the 23 years since Mayer's death.
All the natural resins have their drawbacks as ingredients in oil painting mediums, and increase the likelihood of problems developing at some point in the future. The most permanent paint films result from the simplest mixtures of linseed oil and pigment. I am less leery of alkyds than I am of damar, mastic or copal, if for some reason I feel a need for a resin in my paint. I find I can paint every bit as well without resins as with them. Our health will suffer less if we can find a way to keep the air in our studio free of solvent vapors. When the paint contains no resins, safflower oil and a rag will suffice for cleaning brushes while one works, and for that matter, afterwards, if it is followed with soap and water. I use different brushes for different colors, and do not clean brushes until I'm done painting for the day. Not only does that keep me from breathing harmful vapors, it keeps my colors cleaner in my paintings.
Virgil Elliott
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