Buttinette (German crafting material and fabric supplier): I inquired about all their own brand crafting products, reaching from paints (acrylics, fabric, …) to glues and tailor’s chalk. Buttinette’s reply was that their focal point is not the art/ crafting market at the moment. They are working on creating vegan friendly textiles.
Source: Mail contact
Almost all companies have replied to my latest inquiry about distributors commissioning animal testing.
I found out, that animal testing for launching products on the US market is not a requirement.
Although at first there seemed to be a discrepancy between an US distributor and a German Brand they sell in the US, the unclear testing methods do not include the EU Brand, since they stated that none of their US distributors would commission animal testing for their products and that their products get only tested theoretically.
The range of replies I received ranked from very committed and communicative, positive and generally interested ones, over business friendly ones, to upright negative and offensive.
I certainly never meant to step on anybody’s toes, but it is not an easy thing to get this information out of companies. There is generally no problem with inquiring about products being vegan (except one case), but it is a complete different thing to get answers about animal testing.
It all comes down to filibustering and tiptoeing around this topic. If a company states they don’t test on animals that does not include commissioning it from third parties. So you have to require about this again. Also, there is a difference in saying no animal testing in the end-product, or in the manufacturing process of said product. This says nothing about the company itself, whether they do animal testing or commission it for other products. I think it goes along for a vegan, not only the product you use being vegan, but also the company, which sells it, being cruelty-free.
Again, there were a couple of companies, which were very helpful and seemed very interested in this matter and which also strictly oppose animal testing. The most genuine, supporting and friendly exchanges I had were with Coliro (Finetec Pearlcolors), Goldenpaints and Liquitex. Derwent was also very helpful.
I am grateful to all companies for investing time and effort in this matter.
It is also something to see how first so communicative exchanges from big companies changed into annoyed defensive ones, although they mostly kept a (cold and controlling) friendliness, hinting the communications are now closed for good.
I also do not understand how one big brand says it wasn’t responsible for what their distributors will do, yet other brands could state that their distributors do not test on animals and do not commission testing facilities to do so.
Overall I learnt a lot about this topic. To me it was like opening Pandora’s Box and the very earth I stood on, started to crumble underneath my feet.
There are limitations which come along choosing a vegan lifestyle and I live with them. And especially in the arts, it weighs heavy upon one. And if you have already a limited range of companies and products you can use (and yes these limitations are 100 per cent self-inflicted) it hits hard, when you find out not so nice stuff about a company and be it only for them being rude in personal exchange.
This one particular German brand, I deleted from my list and from a post. I did oversee their first insult to me for the sake of the products and others being able to enjoy working with them. This was not easy to oversee, as they attacked my lifestyle, my very beliefs and I had to spend time and energy to justify my life choice. The second time I contacted them, although I didn’t really want to, but I followed through and wrote to them the same I wrote to all companies, they leashed back out at me that I was implying things and attacking them. However I also learnt that the cruelty-free apparently did not apply to the company, only to the certain product range.
You know, I just would have been fine with the answer “we are momentarily/generally not interested in the vegan art sector”. No hard feelings there. I also could not understand, why they still replied then, only to be negative, and why I was only contacted by the same biased person. After all he just could have passed the inquiry to another colleague or state no interest in the matter, but he chose to go after me. So good riddance. I am also going to cover the labels on their products I own, so I might be able to continue using the rest, although all negative responses I get overall make them cling to the products.
I did not expect the whole undertaking of being quite so draining and stuff I would have been better of never knowing in the first place.
And as someone creating, painting etc. in the arts we are still better off than vegan musicians. I used to play a couple of instruments, for some things you can find substitutes, e.g. using vegan lip balm for the cork ring of your recorder, but string instruments are tough. I stopped playing double bass and piano when I was still a vegetarian and now it seems impossible to me. First of all, the bows are stringed with horse hair and in the traditional manufacturing of string instruments like celli, violins, violas and double basses bone glue is used. And although you don’t see it on first glimpse on the piano, in the instrument woolen felt is used. I don’t know whether there are already synthetic felts used. And your smaller string instruments can also be stringed with gut strings, for example baroque instruments.
As for dance, there are already a couple of dance shoe alternatives, although I do not know whether the glue used in non-leather sole point shoes is animal derivative free. What I never found in all my searching, were vegan Irish dancing hard shoes. Ballet slippers and highland dancing ones yes, Irish ones, no.
Others might think outing yourself as a vegan is to show off, being extra, being special, creating drama and other things. Those were never reasons for my choice of becoming one. It is rather one of being respectful and considerate towards everything and everybody. I don’t want animals to be harmed because of me. I became vegetarian aged about 11 and vegan aged 18. So for the last 11 years I have been vegan. And never was my decision for it to be an attention seeker.
Why do other people condemn you for being concerned about the world we live in? There are enough topics to choose from, for condemning persons’ lifestyles and positions, e.g. for being misogynistic or and racist, but it seems that the world prefers sociopaths over empaths and caring individuals, after all it is easier to attack the latter.
Animal testing should no longer be a go-to testing method, where already other alternative methods exist. Animals are complex thinking and feeling creatures, just like humans are.
For those people, who cannot understand all the fuzz we make about them with our stance, put yourself in their position. Being put in a small cage, or plastic container with many of your kind, no place to move, your litter being food pellets on which you also defecate and urinate, water not always in reach or fresh and shared by all, no earth to put your feet on, no grass, no sunshine, only artificial light, containers stacked high, weird and loud noises by machines, constantly being pumped with drugs in order for you not to pass out of pain, and to cloud your levels of anxiety in order not simply to die from panic. No empathy with your needs, simply no compassion, just the objectification of your person. Your life being worth nothing and you being there only as an instrument in their endeavours. For humans the conditions are not acceptable, criminals have it better in prison (in the western parts of the world) than animals in testing facilities and those have never committed a crime. No attention, handled like an object, being pumped with drugs, altering your senses, light sensitivity, different perception of your hearing, dull hearing, you don’t know what will happen to you, you have nowhere to go, you have no say over your own person and what others do to you. You will be tempered with, you do not get the food you would eat in your natural habitat, you will be stabbed with needles and worse, you are surrounded by a fog of drugs, plumped on cold steel surfaces, only to be thrown back afterwards into your plastic container or cage into your own and others’ bodily fluids, you are surrounded by others, who are also in pain and you can feel their pain and share their constant panic and despair. Anxiety and pain are your general settings you will be in.
How are untainted creatures, at the mercy of human hands, thinking and feeling creatures, already proven to also dream in their sleep, being able to laugh, having superior senses over human ones and humans benefiting from them (e.g. sniffing out cancer, drugs and explosives, warning for an epileptic fit, warning for earthquakes, service animals,…) ok to be treated inhumane but a mass murderer is allowed to communicate with the outside world, use the internet and is allowed to study paid for by the government? If you think humans and animals are so different, and a human is so much more worth than an animal, and I am not allowed to think like this; do you really think a murderer is better than an innocent individual, be it of another species?
The biggest vice of humans is to never being content with what we have got. There always has to be something better and bigger. This everybody can observe from commercial animal breeding plants.
Their existence skryrocketed after the launching of freezers. All of a sudden people didn’t eat meat a couple of times a month but could have it for every meal. And the meat got cheaper. Consumption of meat wasn’t something special any longer, which you could only afford on a couple of occasions. After all the postwar rationing, people were happy to indulge in sought-after goods. But what did it do to the environment, the animals and people’s health? If you don’t want to see the impacts on environment and the animals (being treated inhumanely and killed in masses), what about your health? Apart of too much consumption of meat being bad for you, what short cuttings do you think does it take to make meat so cheap, such big quantity and variety and constant supply of it? Commercial bred animals get plugged with hormones and other things to fatten them up for a fraction of developmental time than their normal raised peers, and they are fed with animal derived produce and stuff, that you wouldn’t touch. Also, is it okay for them being forced to cannibalism, eating reminders of their peers? Is it okay for them that their body frame, ligaments and bones weren’t made for all the weight they amass in such a short period of time that they snap? How would you feel aside from the deafening pain, if your leg just gave way under your weight? It would be horrific.
People have gotten too desensitized.
Finally after taking a detour over other fields of arts and breeding plants this is the end of this post. I don’t really think it was a detour to graze the topic of commercial animal breeding, but another example of the commonly accepted treatment of animals. Commercial animal breeding is also part of art supplies, because animal derived raw material such as charred bones, oils, fats, tallow and e.g. gelatine will come from such sources.
To all of the people being well enough off, be content and resourceful with what you got. Megan Guyver the heck out of what you got. If all just keep on taking, nothing will be left.
I will keep you updated on company and product informations I receive.
I might be able to give you soon some news about Viarco (Artgraf) and Kuretake. I received information yesterday that Kuretake is cruelty-free, they will check on the US distributors, and there are a couple of vegan friendly products and I will be glad when I am allowed to list them.
Sources: Mail contact; history
The information I received yesterday (see last two entries), kept me relentlessly awake and still bothers me (required animal testing outside the EU).
For this reason I wrote all my already listed companies again and I elaborated my vegan and cruelty-free guidlines. So here they are again:
A product can be considered vegan, if the entire product itself does not contain animal ingredients, byproducts/ derivatives and none of those are used in the manufacturing process. The manufacturer does not test on animals or commissions other parties to do so, none of their parent and sister companies or any other partners test on animals or commission animal testing, none of their raw material suppliers and subsuppliers test on animals or commission animal testing, if there are other options. (According to the European Chemicals Agency, ECHA, animal testing has to be avoided if it is possible and has the goal to minimize animal testing for REACH. Lastly, there is no animal testing abroad for the manufacturer’s products to be sold abroad.)
By “entire product”, all parts of the product are meant, e.g. the ink and its jar it is contained in, the body and nibs of a marker, a pencil’s wooden body as well as lacquer/ print on it.
I hope this version will clarify my future inquiries.
-Arches: They are cruelty-free, but their papers cannot be branded suitable for vegans, as for their raw material regulations.
Source: Mail Contact
-Colart update: They are working on a vegan friendly list, which will take some time, because of the wide range of products they offer; Brands belonging to Colart are e.g. Lefranc & Bourgeois, Reeves, Conté à Paris and Winsor & Newton. But in the meantime you can inquire about specific products. Colart Vegan Friendly Statement 28march2017
Source: Mail contact
-Stillman & Birn: the actual paper in the journals and sketchbooks is free of animal derivatives and vegan suitable, unfortunately the binding is not. What a pity.
Source: Mail contact
-St Cuthbert Mill (watercolour paper) : paper is unfortunately not vegan friendly, they use woolen felt and gelatine
Source: St Cuthbert Mill website http://www.stcuthbertsmill.com/how-we-make-paper/
-Waterstons Sealing Wax: I did not write to this company, for I read on their website that they use shellac flaces in their wax. I don’t know about the other ingredients of it.
Source: Wasterstons website
I think there probably do not exist vegan friendly sealing waxes out there. Quel dommage.
Other new inquiries I sent out to:
-Clairefontaine (Paper)
-Buttinette (All kind of crafting paints and glues)
-Posca
-Folia Bringmann (Paper, e.g. origami, bascetta)
-Rico Design (all kind of crafting paints and glues)
-Spectrum Noir
-Blauweisschen (beautiful fabric paints, small business, they also make wonderful wooden stamps; everything handmade)
– Manuscript (calligraphy pens and sealing wax)
I am working my way through several new pages with other brands, I wrote down, and for the biggest part have not heard of them before my quest, for example paper manufacturer Strathmore, with their wide range of vegan friendly paper products. There are still a lot of companies /manufacturers I have not heard back, or haven’t gotten an update yet. Those you can find in my last update: https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/03/22/brands-companies-update/ I probably will not get a reply from a lot of them, but I still hope for the best, although they just could have replied that they have generally no interest in this vegan friendly matter.
Now that I went through the concerning topic about Animal Testing in the EU, ECHA and REACH, in my last company and brand update (March 22nd), I see troublesome glimpses overseas. When Chartpak (last post) wrote to me, that they have to test for selling in Northern America, I got worried. The biggest part in testing for them does Duke (source: mail contact Chartpak). Do they test on animals, although there are preexisting results and data for comparison and sharing between companies? So many raw materials have already been tested, and especially on the art market, there are so many manufacturers, using the same recipes and same ingredients for their products, for decades or even centuries. Are those still being tested? Why do they not use a similar system to the European Chemicals Agency? Why can’t they share data worldwide for the sake of not harming a thinking and feeling creature? This should never be their first choice but very last resort (preferred not at all). What does this testing mean for products of European and other brands distributed in the US, but the products being manufactured outside the US. Do they have to be tested also? This all is so worrisome. This concerns practically all the supplies and brands out there. They all get sold all over the world. Must there be animal testing for selling in other countries? I pray not.
Chartpak: I initially sent an inquiry for Grumbacher products, and Chartpak mailed me a list of products of several of their brands, suitable for vegans. On the list were Koh-I-Noor USA, Grumbacher, Chartpak Inc., Clearprint, Maco and Higgins. You will find other brands belonging and or being distributed by Chartpak on their website. Unfortunately, after inquiring again about animal testing and animal testing through third parties, there are bad news . Chartpak let me know, that they are recquired to commission testing for the Northern American market. The conclusion is, Chartpak, Grumbacher, Chartpak inc. and their other brands are not cruelty free.
Source: Mail contact
The Defet Brush Factory was so kind to send me a set of three brushes to try out. They are from their Casaneo watercolour brush range: a flat and squared top one (5898 No. 8) and two different sized ones (5598 No4 & 8). They are obviously synthetic brushes, but the brush hair is constructed to imitate squirrel hair. I never have used real squirrel haired brushes, so I can’t give you a comparison on this point. If you pay attention to the hair texture, you will see that it is slightly wavy.
Having never used real watercolour brushes (they really differ from the normal hobby and crafts one) before, this was my first. The brushes are so soft and have practically no resistance on the paper. They run smoothly over it and hit all the crevices of the structured watercolour paper (Hahnemühle). I tried them at first with gelatos, but that did not work as they are too soft to take colour from the gelato itself. Rubbing the gelato on the paper and trying to load up colour did not work either. Watercolour brushes really need a quantity of water to run so smooth, so I used my old Winsor & Newton watercolour paints and a couple of new ones from Kuretake (Gansai Tambi). With those the brushes’ flow was really lovely. I also tried the brushes with Finetec Pearlcolors. If you want to add some sheen to your watercolour painting, that works, but the colors get eaten rather fast using them with so much water. In the end, I also tried the small brush No. 4 with some drawing and calligraphy ink and small delicate lines were possible. I tried some writing with them and you might be able to use them as calligraphy brushes as well, although Defet also offers a range of calligraphy ones (set Nova). They have a versatile range of vegan friendly brushes.
Here are the da Vinci Casaneo watercolour brushes http://www.davinci-defet.com/englisch/artist-brushes/products/new-products-2013-2016/da-vinci-casaneo-water-colour-brushes.html
And here are some, I just stumbled upon, with unusual shapes: http://www.davinci-defet.com/englisch/artist-brushes/products/special-brushes/brushes-for-pinstriping-squirrel-imitation-synthetic-fibre.html
To the conclusion: I really like them, although I had a not so even start, using the wrong watercolour paint at first and having never used specific watercolour brushes before as well as not being a landscape (loving) painter. With the bigger brush the background is painted in no time. And what I never realized before: they work like blenders. After drying a bit, I noticed some edges, so I went over again with the big brush and they smoothed out completely; they were gone.
I really did want to use vegan supplies for this paintings and this post, but again, I had to use my old Winsor & Newton ones, that I have had since I was about 10 years old. For my first attempt I used mostly the Gansai Tambi ones (pale aqua and cornflower blue). For the second attempt I drew my creature with a mechanical pencil and blue lead (Faber Castell) and then painted over it with the watercolour.
Paper Manufacturer: Strathmore
All Strathmore paper products are vegan friendly with the exception of Gemini Watercolour Paper.
https://www.strathmoreartist.com/faq-full/are-strathmore-products-vegan.html
Source: Website and mail contact
Here are brands, which responded to my inquiries but which products unfortunately didn’t make it in my compendium (yet).
-Brevillier for Cretacolor products: They do not test on animals but they cannot guarantee this for their suppliers and subsuppliers; the supplied raw materials can be contaminated by an animal source/derivatives.
Source: Mail contact
-Botz Glazes: Botz is a small business and although its own brand glazes could be considered vegan friendly (including cruelty free), they cannot guarantee this for the supply chain and the other products they sell.
http://www.botz-glasuren.de/home/
Source: Mail contact
-Caran d’Ache: cruelty free, they do sell vegan friendly art material but they prefer not being mentioned here. So if you want to know about a product you are interested in, send them an inquiry.
Source: Mail contact
-Colart_ following brands belong to Colart: Conté à Paris, Winsor & Newton, Lefranc & Bourgeois, Reeves and Liquitex.
( Liquitex: you find Liquitex in my vegan friendly compendium.)
Lefranc & Bourgeois: they are in process of creating a vegan friendly product list
Winsor & Newton: This PDF list was sent to me end of January, after inquiring about the Brushmarkers. I do not know how old it is and I am waiting for a response to my latest inquiry.
Winsor Newton Animal derived ingredients list
Colart does not test on animals or orders third parties to do so. They currently cannot guarantee that the supplied raw materials do not come into contact with animal derivatives. BUT they are working on getting this information concerning the supply chain, which is great.
You can read this for yourself here: Colart Vegan Friendly Statement March 2017
Source: Mail contact
-Daniel Smith: Still waiting for an update, so far I gathered that their paints are vegan friendly except Sepia, Ivory Black and Payne’s Grey (pBK9 in those)
Source: Mail contact
-Dr.Ph.Martin’s (Salis International Inc.): All products are claimed to be vegan friendly and they do not test on animals, however, I am still waiting for an update concerning their suppliers and whether really all of their products (i.e. masking fluid, not only the inks) can be considered vegan. I did purchase some inks (3 iridescent inks) and they are nice.
Source: Mail contact
-Edding: They do not test on animals or order third parties to do so. They don’t use animal derivatives in their markers and writing utensils but they cannot guarantee that raw materials in their supply chain do not come into contact with animal derivatives.
Source: Mail contact
-G. Lalo/ Herbin and Brause: they are not interested in the vegan art sector at the moment. (upsetting information to me, because I wrote with Herbin inks and used their sealing wax already since I was a primary school kid)
Source: Mail contact
I hope I will find vegan friendly sealing wax. And talking calligraphy/ drawing matters, the Finetec Pearlcolors in solid form are also pretty sweet, so don’t sigh too much over the Herbin ink plunder.
-Havo/ Creall products: well, they just wrote to me /Sir or Madam, letting me know not to eat their products, which I didn’t plan on doing, and that they have informed me enough. So that is a no on vegan friendly products to me.
-Holbein: here I have to say, see for yourself and how vegan it has to be for you. In my opinion, I cannot put them in my vegan compendium.
They sent me a list of products here: Hoblbein -List
BUT their pigments are cleansed/ treated with small amounts, nevertheless amounts, of animal oils/fats. Apart from this fact, the coloured pencils do not contain any animal derivatives. All products do not contain animal derived ingredients themselves, with the exception of Ivory Black in the Artist’s oil and Artist’s watercolours ranges and there are the ox gall mediums, which are obviously not vegan suitable. Another exception are the brush cleaners, which contain animal derived squalene.
They did not answer my question about animal testing and they cannot guarantee the products being completely vegan.
Source: Mail contact
This information sucked for me, as I just discovered they have a pastel tone coloured pencil set. They are releasing a pastel tone coloured pencil set of 50 this year.
But better to know it up front then later having purchased the product already. They really were my latest pencil crush.
– Koh-I-Noor: most of their products should be suitable, except inks, animal hair brushes, and wax aquarelles. They will make a list of vegan friendly products, but it will take them one to two years for their over 3000 products.
Source: Mail contact
I hope I will be able to give you product updates and won’t have to wait for two whole years for the complete list.
-Kuretake: no news yet from Headquarters, but Kuretake UK is keeping me updated: they sent me information about vegan friendly products from time to time, but I am not yet allowed to publish them.
Source: Mail contact
-Lamy: does not pursue vegan suitable products at the moment
Source: Mail contact
-Yupo Paper by Legionpaper: Yupo could be vegan, it is purely synthetic paper, but I don’t have information concerning the manufacturing process.
Source: Mail contact
-Pentel: no animal testing and they don’t intentionally use animal derived products. However, they do not want to be mentioned here.
Source: Mail contact
-Schneider Pens: they can’t confirm vegan suitability for their products at the moment.
Source: Mail contact
-Stabilo: they don’t use animal raw materials e.g. fat or tallow, but they cannot guarantee pure vegan raw materials.
Source: Mail contact
-Staedtler: They do not test on animals or commission third parties to do so; several products contain beeswax. Overall they cannot guarantee that the raw materials they use are not contaminated with an animal source.
Source: Mail contact
-Tombow: waiting on an update; so far all writing utensils except lead pencils and coloured pencils are free of animal derivatives; no information about animal testing yet.
Source: Mail contact
-Viarco (ArtGraf): will keep me updated, checking their products.
Source: Mail contact
-Marabu: currently checking the ingredients of their products
Source: Mail contact
-Deleter: both mails to Deleter and Deleter USA did come back, mail error, although I used the correct addresses
-Montana: website error, could not sent the mail; tried it several times.
From these companies I am still waiting for a response or an update at the moment:
-Canson
-Colorfin: Sofft Sponges (Pan Pastels are listed in my compendium)
-Daniel Smith – update
-Dr.Ph.Martin’s – update
-Marabu (checking the ingredients momentarily)
-Pelikan
-Tsukineko
-Uniball Mitsubishi
-Winsor Newton – update
-Viarco (checking the ingredients momentarily)
-Tombow – update
-Motip Dupli
-Shin Han Art
-Cléopâtre
-Viva Décor
-Schoellershammer
-Old Holland
-Weber Art
-Lukas
-Ghiant
-Blockx
-Arches
-Eberhard Faber
-Deka Farben (colours)
-Clay and Paint factory
-Bob Ross
-Lyra (and Giotto belong to Fila group)
-Rotring
-Royal & Langnickel
-Standardgraph
-Gerstaecker
-Boesner
-Zebra Pen
-C.Kreul
-Molotow
-Pébéo
-Royal Talens for Sakura (European distributors)
-Art Select
-Vang
-Sennelier
-Amsterdam
I sent my inquiries to about 76 to 80 companies, two weeks ago. I am still waiting for some to answer or to update me. For a couple of brands/companies I could not find any way to contact them (they are not listed here). Anyways, I will let you know.
Concerning raw materials, REACH and ECHA (European Chemicals Agency) and animal testing:
This really troubles my mind and I cannot make up an answer. And I don’t know the laws and habits of other countries outside the European Union.
But it concerns all of them:
Raw Materials must be tested whether they are save for our environment and Human’s Health.
ECHA urges non-animal testing, using information of already carried out animal tests and sharing this information with other companies, or compare materials to others, which behave similarly and were already tested.
Here is the link: https://www.echa.europa.eu/web/guest/chemicals-in-our-life/animal-testing-under-reach
You will have read above from a couple of companies, mentioning raw materials and that they cannot guarantee for them not being tested on animals or being contaminated by animal derivatives. Not all companies mention this information in the replies to my inquiries, or anything at all about the supplied materials but others do.
A lot of raw materials used in art materials will have already been tested decades ago, whether it was cruelty free or through animal testing for REACH.
To the contamination of raw material with animal derivatives, I will not list them as vegan suitable.
Overall, I wasn’t idle and I wrote to a bunch of companies. Somehow the waiting and not getting a reply at all is far worse than writing. I really like writing, the answer however, could be an artist’s heart crushing, so I dread them. Nobody wants to know, that a product you have been eying for too long a time (in my case, even years), even having become your artist’s crush or the product you are already using for so long, suddenly is on the no list.
If you use a brand or know of one I haven’t yet mentioned, please write me and I will sent them an inquiry.
Manufacturer: Derwent
Vegan friendly products:
Here are the vegan friendly pencils from the Derwent Artists and the Derwent Studio range:
https://www.derwentart.com/en/gb/home
Source: Mail contact
Manufacturer: Royal Talens
Ecoline Brush Pen and Ecoline ink in jars are vegan friendly liquid watercolour.
https://www.royaltalens.com/en-gb/
Source: Mail contact