More on Brushes
I am going to continue my discussion on oil paint brushes as I have had several more thoughts after finishing my last post.
I don’t ever encourage a new student to use student grade anything; by that I mean brushes or paint. Someone who has painted for a long time can produce fabulous work using inferior brushes but a student needs the best tools to start with to prevent frustration. It is difficult enough at the beginning to know how to work a brush let alone trying to work a very poor quality brush.
Price does not factor in to the quality of a brush!! Some manufacturers price a line of brushes very high because they contain some special hair but that does not mean it makes it good to paint with. Other manufacturers make outstanding brushes at very reasonable prices. Brushes become the most personal tool and by learning about them you can choose the right brush for your style.
Purchasing the kits in the hobby stores which advertise “these brushes are good for watercolor, acrylic and oil” , in my opinion is wrong and misleading. You must pick a brush according to the medium you are working in. A general rule : the thicker the medium, the shorter and stiffer the brush should be. Therefore it would be very difficult painting in oils with a very soft watercolor brush that won’t even pick up the paint. That being said, of course, the brushes you choose are a personal preference. Consider though, if you are in a class and not getting the results the teacher is getting, you may be using the wrong kind of brushes.
Snap is also very important in the right brush. Snap is the speed and quality at which a brush returns to its original shape after loading and completing a stroke. Too much snap will make the brush stiff and hard to control, too little snap will be very limp. You will after some time figure out the right brush for you!
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