Hello everyone,
I just sent out enquiries to Chameleon Pens for an information update (2017 entry ) as well as enquiries to Tim Holtz (about Distress Ink pads) and Tsukineko (ink pads; Memento, Brilliance, Versafine).
If you know about other ink pad brands, you want me to look into, please don’t hesitate to let me know.
Hi everyone,
I was asked very recently about printer ink / cartridges free of animal derivatives. Unfortunately, back in 2017, both Epson and Canon declined to reply to my enquiries.
So, if big companies are out of the question, because they don’t even bother about this topic we have to look at cartridge dupes that will fit our printers.
Nowadays, there are even printers with built-in tanks/ reservoirs on the market, that do not need cartridges; but of course that doesn’t take away from the same hassle printer ink -wise. There is no guarantee that the manufacturers of alternative cartridges will reply either, but if you find a match for your printer in your country, don’t hesitate to use my information sheet to send to those companies, to get the information you need.
I also wrote to Edding in 2017; of course four years have already passed by now, and even then the company could not guarantee that their products have not been polluted with animal derived ingredients on raw material supplier level; the products generally shouldn’t contain any animal based derivatives and they do not test on animals nor commission other parties to do so. Again, this is four year old information.
You should look into print companies and printer ink makers in your country or state … There are actually more eco friendly print companies popping up. Those use at least vegetable based inks, or you can ask them what kind of ink they use.
I actually stumbled over Zazzle offering vegan prints and posters searching for suitable print shops. I do not know the details, but if you are looking to sell prints of your artwort, you could look into that offer.
In the case of my reader, who is located in New Zealand, I found following companies , that might be worth looking into, if you are New Zealand based :
For further information (whether they are cruelty-free and completely free of animal derivatives) you should contact them, if those sound like fitting your printing /ink needs.
Source: mail contact
Finally one of Pilot’s branches replied to my enquiry.
Pilot Australia got back to me. They had forwarded my enquiry to their headquarters in Japan, which gave the statement that they are not able to give any information about products being free of animal derivatives. The topic of the cruelty-free status was not touched upon.
So this is the new compendium entry:
status: October 3rd,2021
Pilot Pen,
cruelty-free status: undisclosed
products free of animal derivatives: no information disclosed (by choice)
Source: mail contact
I was asked very recently about vegan, cruelty-free ink pads; my reply is, that unfortunately currently I have no proper information on any. Ages ago, maybe 10 years by now, Tsukineko wrote me that their pads were free of animal derivatives; to claim they are so now would be speculation. I did write to the company again for this website in 2017, but the company declined to reply.
BUT, even if I have no ink pads to show , I can tell you what I, and probably some of you have done, too. I used Faber Castell Pitt Artist brush pens to colour small stamps (not carved out of wood, that very well might hurt your precious supplies). Now there are the Faber Castell Albrecht Dürer Watercolor Marker; which have a thick juicy brush tip, meaning the stamp is quicker covered and you have more time to transfer onto paper, etc. before the ink dries. If they had time to properly dry on paper, before going over the colour with water, there will be only a translucent smudgy hue layer on top, but the line will stay put on paper; they also only activate once, a second slathering with water will not make line or the translucent hue layer budge further; of course you can do the ol’ trick with any felt tip pencils, highlighters, also watercolour, gouache etc. . For transfer on fabrics, fabric paint in marker or paint-from-jar-on-actual-brush works too. The latter very well. Liquid color applied to a kitchen sponge, or square cellulose sponge cloth or even a plate might also do the trick as ink pad substitute. In 2017, I received the information that gelli plates (Gelli Arts) are free of animal derivatives; theoretically, you might be able to apply liquid colours onto one of those and press your stamp into it to get the paint on and then go to town transfering. If you have a gelli plate, maybe that will work.
All of these methods have a plus point, which is you can go very colouful. You can colour your stamp’s design’s elements in different colours, gradients, a colour pattern … no limits.
There are no boundaries, of course don’t go breaking your pens now for the sake of an ink pad replacement, that’s too far .
Until I stumble upon cruelty-free company produced animal derivative free ink pads: Get resourceful, McGuyver the crap out of your art supplies.
I thought I would share the information here as well, since I just wrote about it to a reader. I haven’t done those – if you will – reminders -in the past; only passed gathered information on in replies to reader enquiries but not mentioned them on here; but I think it might be informative to more.
About paper:
in 2017, I collected information about following brands selling paper products free of animal derivatives (see compendium):
manufacturer: Campap
Campap relayed that their papers are free of animal derivatives.
No further information given, concerning cruelty-free status and whether the information only concerns the finished product or the manufacturing cycle as well.
Cruelty-free status: not disclosed
source: mail contact
website: Campap (Arto watercolour paper)
new enquiries sent out to:
Faber-Castell is completely cruelty-free and has been so for more than several decades (more than 40 years), including their raw material suppliers. This does not only mean, they don’t test on animals and do not commission such testing but also their raw material suppliers don’t test or commission for the material they use. So no animal testing on any level, including MSDS (material safety data sheets) and raw material suppliers.
All listed products here are free of animal derivatives, including the manufacturing process and packaging.
cruelty-free status: cruelty-free on all levels
Here is my updated (incomplete) list of products, free of animal derivatives :
Source: mail contact
Here is the new updated information on Faber-Castell. All the previously listed products are still free of animal derivatives, which includes the packaging. Additionally, I asked about the watercolours in pan format and starter set in tubes, Albrecht Dürer watercolour marker, grip fountain pens, converter, pastel toned and metallic textmarker, notebook A5 and A6– those are free of animal derivatives as well. Unfortunately I do not know whether this includes the manufacturing cycle just the finished products. Back in 2017, concerning Faber-Castell’s cruelty-free status, I received the reply, that they neither tested on animals nor commissioned animal testing; not in Europe and not anywhere else. A person in the chemistry department also mentioned back then (2017) for as long as they can look back – 30 years – to their knowledge, there hadn’t ever been commissioned such testing. It was also pointed out to me (again, 2017), that animal testing for painting -, drawing -, and writing supplies was forbidden by law in Germany.
Bearing the 2017 information in mind, I also asked about an update on the company status about the topic but unfortunately, I did not get any information about it this time, so I will place the cruelty-free status as undisclosed for now (because of lack of new information).
cruelty-free status: undisclosed for now concerning the 2021 update (in 2017, cruelty-free)
Here is my updated ( incomplete) list of products, free of animal derivatives (this includes the packaging; not known whether this extends to manufacturing cycle as well):
All Faber-Castell coloured pencil ranges are free of animal derivatives.
Additional information provided by Faber-Castell – products free of animal derivatives:
Source: mail contact
Natural Earth Paint:
all their natural pigments, earth paints and art supplies are free of animal derivatives, except their face paints, which contain beeswax.
cruelty-free status : undisclosed
Source: mail contact