How to Choose the Correct Paint Brushes©
Posted: Sunday, April 10, 2011
by Arlene Wright-Correll
http://www.learn-america.com
This week’s question asks: “I am about to buy some artist’s paint brushes and I want to know if you can tell me which ones do what as there are so many of them out there ?”
Answer: Good question. Yes, there are a lot of them out there and they fall into different categories and price ranges. There are brushes for watercolor painting, for oil painting and acrylic painting. There are synthetic ones, sable ones, nylon ones, natural hair, squirrel hair and more.
Kolinsky Sablehair brush is the finest and most expensive hair used in brush making and it comes from Russia. While it is made into brushes for all mediums, it is particularly good for watercolor paints as it has elastic soft hair that forms a beautiful shape with a long, pointed tip.
Squirrel hairis very soft and pliable with a long pointed tip and I like it because it holds a great deal of liquid and is very absorbent making it suitable for use with watercolor paint, gouache and tempera.
Because of its soft hair pure Red Sable has been the brush of choice for many years. It has been said that you cannot use these brushes with acrylic paints and this is simply a myth as sable brushes work well with acrylic paint but the problem is in the care and cleaning. Because acrylic paints dry quickly the key is to clean your brushes often and well before the paint dries and they will last for many years.
For heavy bodied oil and acrylic paints I find Bristles brushes are very resilient and have "flags" or split ends at the tips to hold lots of heavy paint.
Synthetic hair brushes are cheaper, are great if you are on a budget and today’s synthetic hair brushes have almost the same qualities as natural hair ones because they have excellent color carrying capacity and have fine points that hold their shapes. When you are looking for a Sable-like softness brush for smooth stroking and blending then consider the White synthetic art brush. You will also find Orangesynthetic art brushes because this new fiber feels and responds almost like Sable and even loaded with paint they retain a strong firm point and their softness makes this series ideal for glazing.
The most common brush shapes are round, flats, fans, filberts, mops and liners. The main characteristics to look for in any artist's painting brushes is the ability to form a sharp point, the ability to control the paint flow or hold and dispense paint predictably and the elasticity of the hair of the brush or the ability to bounce back to its original shape after each stroke.
Since art brushes come in lots of different shapes it becomes almost personal with each artist and what shape is best for you will be up to you to do some experimenting. It is important to remember that you can't use one type of brush for all the different painting mediums. You will need a set for of brushes for watercolor paints and a different set for your oil and acrylic work. Matter of fact I never use my oil brushes for acrylics or visa versa. Thus one ends up with some serious outlay of dollars for good brushes. However, bad brushes make your work look bad and good brushes make your work look good. Good brushes last for a very long time when they are taken care of.
Today’s chain craft stores always have brushes on sale for at least 30% off and being on one of their mailing lists allows one to print down their 40% off coupons which help out greatly and you can eventually build up a nice set of brushes. These are serious considerations for a novice artist. Just remember that starting out with the best brushes you can afford will help to insure you keep on doing your best and as you get better and better your brushes will keep up with you.
Next week I will cover what these different brush shapes do.
May the Creative Force be with you!
Arlene Wright-Correll
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