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Your Experience with Brushes?
PaulB
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At @Boudicca's suggestion, this is lifted out of another thread, to create a separate discussion about experience with brushes. Blame her.
Rigger Brushes
I like rigger brushes, but I don't like real bristles, and I will only buy synthetics. That said, I did inadvertently buy real fibres in the past, and have used a sable blend for a year now. I love it, but that's not good enough. Which synthetic will I use?I bought three synthetic fibre rigger brushes, all Rosemary & Co, all size 0, to see which one will be my new favorite. Here they are:
From top to bottom:
Sable Blend (real + synthetic)
This is my old faithful, still performing well after more than a year of use. The initial use was hard on the brush, and it lost a lot of bristles early on, but has now stabilized. For the first few months, it got washed in turpentine several times a day. Now it just gets brush dip and a wipe. The brush dip gradually restored its shape. If currently is a bit ragged at the tip, probably a sign of age, but the overall softness is great for blending or getting an even, thin layer of paint. The brush is soft enough to allow me to mix paint. This one is the benchmark against which I will judge the others.Eclipse (synthetic)
This is a synthetic mongoose, which looks like a blend of different bristles. It's very soft, although there are some stiffer bristles in there. The result is quite pleasing, and the closest in feel to the Sable blend. I thought after using this one that it would be my preferred brush because of how close it is to the Sable blend. Nope.Evergreen (synthetic)
The evergreen is uniformly stiff, meaning the fibres are all the same, but it's soft enough to allow paint mixing. You cannot mash it into the palette, it resists bending the bristles. What this means is that if you press hard on the palette, it can flick paint. It's soft enough to allow me to get good paint coverage, but stiff enough to retain brush shape. This one is my favorite.Ivory (synthetic)
The ivory has the stiffest bristles, which are great for putting paint into a tight spot, and having the brush retain its shape, but it's too stiff to use for mixing paint. This one flicks paint also. It is a bit too close to actually being a stick. Ivory bristles are incompatible with Gamsol, which is something I read ... somewhere.There is one more synthetic I have not tried, which is Shiraz. I must have missed that one, but it's on order now. I find it interesting that even among rigger brushes, the different fibres make the behavior quite different.
Comments
The brushes I bought were a large selection of the Ivory series, a synthetic bristle:
Filberts- including a couple of whoppers for getting big areas in quickly.
Long Filberts- in sizes 2,4,6,8-use these the most
Small Rounds for detail.
Flats - I rarely use
Riggers-useful for creating long fine lines assisted by a mahl stick.
A couple of Egberts - which are like extra long filberts and I haven’t yet full explored their capabilities.
Daggers -sizes now unreadable (the only complaint I have about Rosemary brushes is the writing on the handle of the brush comes off easily) a very versatile brush.
From left to right- filbert, long filbert, Egbert
I really like them. Smooth, good control, feel good in the hand. Compared to my other brushes (W&N, Art Spectrum, West Art, Princeton), so much better and a pleasure to use. I have used the long filberts the most so far and they are excellent. I am very pleased I bought these and found the company offered excellent customer service. There was a delay in the delivery, and I emailed the company who were very prompt in their response and very helpful. The delay ended up being caused by Australia Post, and I would have to say Rosemary and co were a lot more helpful from 10,000 miles away than my local PO.
I have tried other brushes and not been happy- the issue usually being around quality- snapping, hair loss, losing shape (sounds like menopause lol)
During a painting I use the brush dip and part of the ritual of finishing a painting is doing a studio cleanup at the end which includes giving the brushes a clean with The Masters brush cleaner.
When I have been slack and not kept up with the dipping I have been able to rescue very hardened brushes with soaking in Gamsol then cleaning with Masters.
Im going to purchase a set of the Masters series brushes soon, I’ve heard some good reports on them and am keen to give them a try.
So I am now down to just three -
1 - Princeton 1" flat wash - maybe not an oil, but it works for - staining and blocking in background areas.
2 - Princeton number 6 Filbert - I mostly for mixing up paint, as it does not hold too much but enough to make a small puddle,( I do not mix large puddles anymore -just a waste) I may also run it around a line to establish an area.
3 - Princeton12/0 round petite - This is my absolutely solid go to brush for almost everything - detail works, blocking in and on the fly mixing, it retains a point superb, holds a fair amount of paint, but not too much, and best of all the handle is slightly larger so its easy to spin in the hand, I have a few and sometimes rotate.
Not too pricey - they work.
I like Eclipse brushes at the moment as I find them smoother to work with on a toothy surface and with fluid paint.
After extensive research in our lab, we have found that the brand ‘Gamsol’ or White Spirits are not the best way to clean our Ivory or Classic ranges. There seems to be some sort of chemical within those two particular products that can at times make those ranges ‘splay’ and or ‘curl’ at the end. If you have been using those products with those ranges and not experienced these problems, please continue as you have done in the past.
Good job I don't use Gamsol when painting then!
The reason they are still not put away in my studio is because my studio brush table looks like this:
where to find room? I need more brush holders and a bigger brush table.
My cheapest brush:
My favorite brushes of all are my fingers. there is nothing like a finger smudge or tap.
I love my SoHo wipes - I use them often to wipe my hands when I am painting and also the brush handles. I also use the wipes for the brushes that have been sitting in brush dip - just wipe and then paint.
The brush dip is a miracle. My stand with the dips are on another table.
My studio is a hot mess.
I'm just kidding, that's an impressive collection, and also that you have a table dedicated to brushes. Makes sense though, mine roll all over the place, and sometimes right through the paint.
Now I'm curious about who can beat a 174-brush collection.
372
Denis
Insanity. I’m a sick puppy. I promise to stop at 1000.
Expected these things to wear out at a rate of knots, but they never did. No solvents, soap or water and an immersion oil bath, along with a pulling action makes them last for ever.
Denis
The manufacture and sale of Kolinsky Sable is banned in the US and UK. Endangered animal.
Retailers are selling down existing stock and when finished they will be unavailable.
This explains the high price point.
Pretty soft, but springy hair. Good for watercolor.
If you want a replacement, get it now.
http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2014/07/kolinsky-sable-brushes-banned.html
Denis
Here is something I posted in Jan about wipes. I value them for clean up, but it is easy to keep them separate from the painting process.
Water is the usual ingredient along with some alcohol. Some brands have softeners, lotions and perfumes added. All brands use a mould and fungus inhibitor.
There is a range extending up to industrial wipes for oil and grease. I seem to remember using a container of wipes for removing paint.
Denis
Greendl kindly posted some images of an oil immersion bath system.
I use walnut and clove as a dip in this type container.
During a painting session two or three are in use separating darks, lights and any power color brushes.
A stainless steel scourer at the bottom or mesh grid allows the gentle agitation to remove loose paint.
Towel off excess paint on entry and excess oil on exit and the brush is clean and good to go.
I am only a casual / occasional painter but with this system over ten years, I have not had a misshapen or damaged brush.
Denis
I just gotta have ‘em. My new brushes. Bringing the total to 375.
Denis
Thanks. Don’t need those. I have enough hang ups already
Denis