Characteristics of brushes
Brush shapes
Natural hair art brushes
Synthetic art brushes
Caring for your painting brushes
The main characteristics to look for in artist's painting brushes are:
The thing with art brushes is they come in lots of different shapes. It gets quite personal here, and what shape is best for you will be up to a bit of experimenting.. Unfortunately 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.
The most common artist brush shapes are:
The types of fiber art brushes are made of and their qualities:
There are so many different shapes it is impossible to show here, but below are some examples of the paint brushes available.
Kolinsky Sable hair comes from the Northern areas of Russia. It is the finest and most expensive hair used in brush making and while it is made into brushes for all mediums, it is particularly good for Watercolor paints. It is an elastic soft hair that forms a beautiful shape with a long, pointed tip.
Squirrel hair is very soft and pliable with a long pointed tip. It can hold a great deal of liquid and is very absorbent so is particularly suitable for use with watercolor paint, gouache and tempera.
Pure Red Sable has been the soft hair brush of choice for many years. One myth that has developed is that you cannot use these brushes with acrylic paints. Sable brushes work well with acrylic paint but the problem is in the care and cleaning. The key is to clean your brushes often and well – before the paint dries and they will be your friend for many years. Bristles are very resilient and have "flags" or split ends at the tips to hold lots of heavy paint. Bristle brushes are ideally suited for heavy bodied oil and acrylic paints.
Other natural hair used in artists painting brushes includes hog hair and badger hair.
Fortunately in our hi-tech world they have developed a synthetic "hair" that have almost the same qualities as natural hair brushes but at a more affordable price. Made with the latest synthetic fibers, these paint brushes have excellent color carrying capacity and have fine points that hold their shape. .. and did I mention they were cheaper! -great if you are on a budget.
Almost every brush supplier will have a white synthetic line of paint brushes. They have a Sable-like softness so make them ideal for smooth stroking and blending.
Orange Synthetic Art Brushes are the latest wonder of hi-tech brush making. This new fiber feels and responds just like Sable (so say the manufacturers). Even loaded with paint they have a strong firm point. Because of their softness, this series is ideal for glazing.
For more information on caring and cleaning your art brushes, click here to read out tutorial on cleaning and keeping your art brushes