Small Brushes
 

I've always heard choose the biggest brush you can find for the job, then go one size bigger. I think I have a problem with using small brushes. What are the dangers of using really small brushes. How can one break the habit. I also find myself using only one brush for the entire painting. Any information on brushes would be very useful. Thank you.
-Jesse C. Draper

Brushes: depends on your style
 

I think how many and what size brushes you should use depends on your style. My style is more realistic than some other people's work and so there are places in my portraits (around eyes and mouth especially) where I use tiny 00 brushes sometimes. But then, on large areas of clothing, especially far away from the face, I use 1 inch wide flats sometimes. Depends on what you are painting and how you like to work.

I find if I grab a brush that is really too big for the area I'm working in that I just can't get the control I need. Then I move a size or two down. I don't think it's always true that a bigger brush is the best one for the job.

That said, if you work with brushes that are smaller than you really need your painting can get an overworked, stiff look pretty fast.

Also, to overcome the habit of painting the whole piece with one brush (something I used to do) I make sure I have tons of clean brushes in all different sizes readily at hand. This also makes it easier for me to use a different brush for each color and each value so I'm not always cleaning them out between colors too. That keeps my colors fresh and prevents my values from all tending towards the mid-tones.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

Stand back!
 

I had a teacher in high-school who actually advocated that "if you can't paint it with a broom on the end of a 10 foot handle, it's not worth painting".

However, I agree with Michele.

Small Brushes
 

Remember what Helen Van Wyk used to say? Start with a broom....finish with a needle. It's true.

I have found that as I have developed as an artist, I don't depend on the small brushes as much anymore. I have gained more control, and can use bigger brushes (not huge!) to accomplish what I used to only be able to do with a small brush. It also helps to control those hard edges. Of course, I do use small brushes for detail work at the end. And I agree with Michele, having an array of brushes available helps.

And what about the type of brushes? I find (for the most part)it doesn't seem to matter if it's a red sable $$$$ brush, or a brush not even made for oils! As long as it is kept in good condition, it works. I get really frustrated with brushes that have frayed. I try to keep them in condition with everything from special soaps, to hair conditioner, to murphy's oil soap, which seems to work best for me for some reason.

What are some of you using?

Brushes
 

Marta,
I mostly use mixed synthetic brushes from Utrecht. I have many different sizes. I prefer hog hair brushes in the larger sizes. I mostly paint on small canvasas. I think that might be part of my problem. I learn a lot on those small little paintings. They don't take as much time as do the larger canvases. I wonder if I'm forming any bad habits here. Is it best to hold brushes further away as opposed to closer to the canvas or is that just a style some prefer? Thanks
-Jesse

In Japan, I've never heard this. It's very clever words. I inspired.
Using suitable size brush, depends on own style, is normal.
But, therefore, this simple phrase is meaningful.

Thank you.

Anyone who has attended art classes in a college or university has heard this same clich

Brushes
 

Kirk,
I think you hit it right on the money.

Could be ...
 

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Maybe my teacher was suggesting we use really, really, REALLY big canvases ...

Oh Those Teachers
 

Because I used to be overly-detailed oriented, a teacher suggested as an exercise to tape my 2 inch brush on a broom handle, stand on a chair, and work on my figure painting on the floor.

Maybe I should have done a back-bend simultaneously ;). Funny thing is, it worked. I loosened up quite a bit!

Jesse,

I had a look at your painting and it seems as though you aren't getting bogged down in detail and that it has a powerful overall effect. Personally I use hog bristle brushes to lay in and then sables to blend, glaze and for fine details. I always use the cat tongue shape in both types, except for my background brushes which are broader and flatter. I use several at the same time so as not to muddy the colours or to allow them to absorb too much turps.

I think it is worth investing in a good set of brushes, the better the quality the less likely they they are to split or shed hair and the longer they will last and hold their shape.

To look after them, I wipe off excess paint then wash them in soap and warm water, mashing them round in a turps jar destroys their shape and longevity!!

Catherine

Brushes
 

Thanks Catherine for your tips on brush types and brush care. I've been buying lots of soft synthetic hair brushes and it seems that after four or five days of painting I need new ones because they're all splayed out! (Of course I do mash them around in a turps jar -- I'll stop doing that and try the warm-soap-and-water you suggested.)


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Administrator's Note: The following question has been copied to a new topic. Please post answers under "Longevity of more expensive brushes" at http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...=&threadid=316
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I've got a question for you and others: do you really feel that higher quality brushes last long enough to make them worth the investment? Will a $10 brush really last more than three times longer than a $3.30 brush if cared for in the same way?

Thanks!

I use brushes up to 3" or 4" to block in color and often maintain some of this as I work my way down in brush size to get final detail. This is partly my painting style but also prevents the painting from looking as though many hours were spent filling canvas with thousands of labored brush strokes. I don't consider viewer response "That painting must have taken a long time and effort" as a compliment.

Since I like to have brush strokes remain as evidence that a caring craftsman and not a machine or camera has put this painting together my brush strokes remain (so long as they achieve the loftier goal of true likeness and good painting). It's therefore a great deal of fun to get to the small stuff/strokes that make big/important contibutions to likeness. The corners of the mouth, highlights on the skin and in the eyes and so on. The contrast within the painting of 3" brush to little highlights in the corner of the eye make the smaller strokes look like gems.

I guess my point is that just as the play of warm and cool as well as light and dark are important contributions to an interesting painting so too is large and small shapes and brushstrokes.
It seems to me that it is easier to blend and soften the evidence of big brush strokes, color and value if the painting finally requires then it is to add same to a labored, flat or listless painting.

I start off the background with 1 3/4" Purdy brushes, available at Home Depot (recommended by a WS instructor). Boy, does that save time and really creates a nice background (no little strokes).

Then, I switch to two one inchers (expensive da Vincis) for the layin. After a while 3/4" synthetics and finally for the facial details, my all time favorite, a Kolinsky sable number 4.

BTW, the best brush cleaner I have found is Murphy's oil soap. It'll even removed caked on paint out of the ferrules with some gentle kneading.

Renee