The Brush Thread

[Serpian]

Searching the forums for the keyword 'brush' brings up a lot of small tidbits of information, but the "what brushes should I buy" threads are numerous, and scattered here and there. So I thought I'd make a unified round table thread for information on brushes, beginning with some copy-pastes from the other threads, and hopefully continuing with a lot of discussion from the pros.

I'm not starting this thread because I know a lot about brushes, but for the exact opposite reason: I don't know much at all. My hope is that this thread might become a one-stop resource for brush basics, manufacturer reviews and related discussion.

Just to clarify, in case someone still hasn't understood: this is about brushes as used in traditional media, not PS or Painter brushes. Also, when I've been searching for information, I've mostly been concerned with brushes for oil painting. Information related to painting in acrylics, watercolours or any other medium is of course just as welcome!


Ok, so some basics on brushes. Any normal brush is made up of three parts. The handle, the hairs, and the thing holding them together, most often called the ferrule, but I guess since it's not always made of metal, it can be called something else.


(Image taken from here.)

The hairs can be natural or synthetic. The most common natural hairs used in oil painting is hog bristle and sable. There are also brushes with hairs from many different animals, like camel, pony, squirrel, mongoose. The staple brush for the oil painter is the hog bristle brush.

When talking about round or flat brushes, you shouldn't (as I did before) think about the point of the brush, but rather the ferrule. A flat brush has a flat cross section, and the ferrule is squeezed together where it holds the hairs. A round brush has a cylindrical ferrule all the way.


Can you spot the one round brush?


Here's a couple good posts about brushes, along with links to the original threads:

Here, DSillustration talks about the difference between bristle and sable:

"What brushes are good depends often on the way you paint...
not the brand you paint with.
Different brushes do different things.

For instance,
if you paint on really rough surfaces (like a course canvas), natural sable brushes will fall apart rather quickly.
Instead, try using bristle brushes.
They are great when laying in fast areas.

Soft brushes are reserved for a smoother stroke.
Personally, I like synthetic sable.
It lasts longer that a natural sable and can take a lot more abuse.

For both I prefer Utrecht Brand brushes.
They are the generic brushes the store makes, but I like them more than any others I've tried.
(and I've tried just about everything)
For the cost, they are awesome.

Here's a link to the ones I use:"
http://www.utrechtart.com/dsp_view_p...ndname=Utrecht


This thread contains some good discussion on brushes, particularly this post by Elwell:

"On a good, well made round brush, the point on a #10 is the same as a #00. Shorter hair is easier to control, but you reach a point where a brush is just too small to carry enough paint.
Also, it's important to suit the size of the brush to the size of the area or form one is painting. It's simply inefficient to have to put down five strokes to cover an area when one will do.
Finally, flats and filberts are much more useful in the early stages of a painting. Keep the rounds in reserve for as long as possible, you might be surprised by how much you can accomplish without them."


Some more links to good threads on brushes:

Non toxic brush cleaner
Paint Brushes - Storing and Cleaning
Glazing Brushes for Oil
$100 brushes
How do you clean varnish brushes?
Using same brushes for oils and acrylics?
My paint brushes aren't reusable
Oil brushes
Brushes?
How to clean my brushes from acrylic paint?
Blender Brushes
Questions on Acrylic paints/brushes/palettes for human figure work
Question about using Brushes with different mediums
Questions about Oil Colors, Brushes and more..
oil paints and brushes
Opinions on brushes from 1898


A lot of these threads touch on washing your brushes. There's a lot of different ways and opinions on this. I'm still not sure what is the best way, but I guess everyone has to test what works for them. Most methods seem to agree on the soap and water in the end. But some dip the brushes in a solvent first to get off the excess paint, some dip them in oil, some just wipe them off on a rag. Some wipe them off and let them stand in oil between uses, and only washes them thoroughly maybe once a week or so. Some does that after every use. Opinions please!

[QueenGwenevere]

Well, for what it's worth, my favorite brushes for inking are Utrecht 228 Sablette #2 and Utrecht 234 White Nylon #2...

I tried a bunch of other brushes before I tried these, and these have given me the best results so far. They're big enough for a broad range of line variation and at the same time they have a good point for fine detail. Also the point lasts for quite a while before they start to wear out.

Plus I have a few Utrecht White Nylon rounds of various sizes for bigger strokes and filling in blacks. And sumi brushes for special effects and dry-brush effects, I love sumi brushes... (Utrecht sumis, mostly. They have to be cheap because I use them with India Ink, which is not good for sumi brushes.)

For oils and acrylics... hmmm, what I've got is mostly a mix of Utrecht bristle and sable brushes for oils, Utrecht nylon brushes for acrylics...

Cleaning brushes:
For cleaning brushes after inking, warm water and dish detergent seems to work fine... I rinse the brushes in plain water while I'm working (say after every couple of dips), and massage with warm water and soap periodically. If I'm inking a bunch of pages, I like to wash my brushes with soap and warm water between pages. Keeps 'em nice and pointed. I also hear ammonia is good for cleaning off India Ink, but I haven't tried it.

For cleaning brushes when working with oils, I usually have a jar of Turpenoid Natural and a jar of water next to me while I work, and whenever I'm about to switch to a different color or something, I swish the brush in the Turpenoid (to get the paint off), then in the water (to get the Turpenoid off) and then swipe it with a paper towel (to get the water off.) And washing between sessions with soap and water isn't a bad idea.

[Ariel9]

One of the things that holds me back from trying oil is exactly the fear of ruining my brushes by cleaning them the wrong way! I guess if I bought synth brushes though (which I've never heard a pro suggest before - neat!) my heart could take a few ruined brushes.

I paint with watercolors usually so I'm very attached to my brushes, since most of them are Kolinsky Sable and quite expensive, I had to save a lot for them. Once a month I even use hair conditioner on them.
The good thing about watercolors is, of course, that to clean the color off the brush all you need is clean water, ehe. Some soap will help with very opaque colors but honestly it's all really easy to get off.

My only synthetic brushes are the big ones, an old round one with no point to ruin by mixing...for mixing and a 3/4 flat for big washes.
The brush I use the most is a round 10 by Gava, an italian brand, and it's supposedly for Oils but it serves me and my watercolors well.
All my smaller round brushes plus a 1/4 one stroke flat are Winsor&Newton. The round ones work well so far for inking, too. The small round I used before by Pro Arte didn't have enough snap.

I have a rigger brush that was given to me as a present which is quite difficult to use: as in, I can't seem to find the proper use at all!

[Ilaekae]

The rigger is a very useful brush and very expensive brush. It falls into the same category that stripers, pinstriping, lettering and dagger brushes fall--they're all used for drawing long continuous lines, usually in watercolor, ink or auto enamels that have a fairly consistent width. If you look up some info on google for any of these items, you should find some ref or articles on how they're used.

I wasn't real familiar with the term "rigger" but knew what you were talking about--I think it's a name more common in England, and I'm guessing its name came about because it was used a lot to do the rigging on classic ships in a watercolor

[Serpian]

Ariel, I guess it's better to ruin a few brushes than not to try at all! (I looked at your sketchbook, and I must say, great work!)

Honestly, I don't know if I take good enough care of my brushes, and I'm sure if a pro saw them he would tell me to get new ones, but hog brushes are quite resilient, so I think they can handle some abuse before you actually 'ruin' them.

Also, William Whitaker does this thing where he holds the bristles in one hand and the brush handle in his other and sort of wiggles it around in circular movements, to get the soap up towards the ferrule. I do this too, and it works really well.

One thing I'm wondering about though is the length of the hairs (in relation to the width of the brush, of course). Longer hairs can carry more paint, and is more flexible than shorter hairs, I suppose. What are your preferences?

[dbclemons]

One of the main benefits of natural brushes is that they are hollow which allows them to hold moisture better. Synthetics are straight, solid, and cylindrical. Some natural hairs are also cylindrical, like ox, horse or goat, but the others, like kolinsky or squirrel taper to a very fine point and are frayed at the tip, which makes them best for thin lines and returning to a pointed shape. In some of the better synthetics the diameter of the hair is smaller on the outside hairs to create a more tapered effect. The types of synthetic are nylon and polyester (taklon.) There are also blends of natural and synthetic which offers the benefits of both.

The sizes are not standardized, so one company's size 2 is another company's 4, and so on. It complicates buying them online unless you already know what you're getting.

The "rigger" is usually identified as a longer and fatter "liner" brush. Liners are also sometimes called "script." There is also a type of liner called a "spotting" brush that has an odd tapered shape that looks like a fountain pen. There's a couple in this picture at the bottom, but what I learned to be a spotter is the small one in the middle. A "striper" is another thin type of liner, and there's a "dagger striper"... The names can get confusing and confused.

Stiff hog hairs are good for pushing around paint, but I rarely work that way, so generally, I tend to prefer brushes that are very soft and flexible. "Show card" or "one stroke" brushes are long tipped flats that I like for their flexibility and they hold more paint than normal flats. "Brights" or "shaders" are the ones I tend to use most often.

Acrylic grounds and firm supports can be rough on brushes, so cheaper synthetics can be the most reasonable to use on those surfaces. Solvents can also be rough on natural hair, and some soaps are not intended for synthetics. Most liquid hand soaps have anti-bacterial additives that can dry out natural hairs. I typically just use shampoo.

[JeffX99]

One of the things that holds me back from trying oil is exactly the fear of ruining my brushes by cleaning them the wrong way!

Fortunately oil painting brushes (hog bristle) are much cheaper than fine watercolor brushes. It is important to clean them correctly though - a traditional brushwasher with a perforated screen suspended in the solvent is very important. I wipe the paint out with small paper towel (select-a-size) - squeezing between thumb and finger pulling from the ferrule toward the tip. Then in your brushwasher I push the brush over to one side so the "heel" of the bristles are bent one direction against the screen - then brush against the screen - lift and do it the opposite direction - basically it is sort of a back and forth sweeping motion. When washed I pull the brush again through a paper towel to make sure it is clean and to remove turp. I do this for every passage change - generally I paint with one brush - usually a 4, 6 or 8 depending on the size of my canvas.

I use Robert Simmons "Signet" series flats for oils - eventually they become filberts. I use even numbers from size 2-12 - mainly 6 and 8.