BRUSHES used in ART
Caroline gave us an excellent education on various types of brushes used for art. She divided them into oil/acrylic/encaustic which use syththetic or hog brushes (encaustic) and the softer synthetic or synthetic/squirrel or Sable brushes for watercolour.
Prior to starting she had a number of tips for us.
Generally, watercolour brushes have a shorter shaft. The longer shaft in brushes are used with other mediums so you can stand back from your easel.
The sizes listed on the various brushes differ from company to company so it is difficult to determine the brush by the size listed.
With all water based brushes it is a good idea to pat them with a tissue so there is not so much water being taken up on the brush.
There are various types of cleaning products for brushes. A very good one is called ‘The Masters Brush Cleaner and Preservative” which is available in small cans. She recommends that you should clean your brushes daily to stop them from developing dried pigment at the base. If the brush does become filled with dried pigment but still has some brush at the top that’s available try cutting into the brush and use it for mark making.
With regard to the price of various brushes, she has found success with the cheap brushes that she uses vigorously and then discards. For a better quality she recommends sennelia , da Vinci and pro art for good quality.
NEVER use your watercolour brushes for anything other than watercolour as it could destroy their effectiveness. Keep these brushes separate from all the others.
BRUSHES:
Flat brush: This brush is good for Mark making. It is good for angles and straight lines. Try putting two different coloured paints on each side of the bristles to get an interesting design.
The hog flats are good for vigorous marks such as for painting hair, thick paint and grass as well as stumbling.
Round brush: these have a fine tip and are good for making fine marks or twisting to produce marks that would be excellent for trees and clouds. They are used commonly with watercolour painting.
Filbert brush: is a flat with a rounded top which gives soft edges and is excellent for clouds.
Fan brush: is good for trees, fur, water and twisting to make unusual marks.
Rigger brush: is long and slim holding more paint in order to get long thin lines. The shorter of these is referred to as a script liner and is excellent for writing script.
Dagger brush is an angular brush short at one side and longer at the other. It can produce thin lines or thick depending on the angle.
Hakes brush is a wide brush, good to cover big areas.
Tongue brush: is a wide brush that ends in a point
Finding twigs in nature can give you unusual shapes when used as a brush as our many other implements. Enjoy exploring their various uses.
The painting for the featured image was painted by member Sue Ross in class after this lecture!
