Can we talk about brushes?

[Jeff Fuchs]

This is a good topic of conversation for me at this time. I have a few brushes in my DickBlick.com shopping cart, and I'm making changes to my selections daily (through the SOG link, of course).

My education these days is coming from art videos, so I'll give you the opinions of the two artists I've watched.

Morgan Weistling uses Langnickel sable filberts. He does not use bristle brushes at all. His brushes are surprisingly small. Even when painting the underpainting of the face, he's working minutely, dabbing tiny spots of color around the eyes, and only slightly larger ones on the larger masses. He paints "tiles of color" instead of blending. These tiles gradually come together to create a beautiful form.

Scott Burdick works much differently. It seems he breaks all of Weistling's rules. He uses mostly bristle brushes to start a face, and they're very large. He scrubs in the large masses of the face, and later refines them with smaller badger brushes.

So, as you can see, your choice of brushes apparently depends on your method of painting. If these two artists had to trade brushes, they would both have a very difficult time.

I don't have a painting style yet, so I'm not sure what to buy. I'm leaning toward bristles, which is good, if for no other reason than because they don't cost much, and if I find I need to switch to sables I won't lose too much moola.

EDIT: The Burton Silverman video is on its way, so I may see yet another radically different opinion on the matter.

[Kimberly Dow]

I just discovered Trekell brushes from Bill Whitaker's suggestions. I think they are only available online - they are wonderful and not terribly expensive at all.

[Tom Edgerton]

I choose what to pick up by what edge quality I want, usually.

Brushes are as individual as fingerprints, and each takes on a particular character as they wear. So by the time one is completely gone, I hate to see it go, because I won't have another exactly like it. I have to break them in two when they are finally exhausted, otherwise I'd continue to scratch along with them long after I should.

In general, I use larger bristles, usually filberts, to mass in and to create the underpainting. I usually finish with sables, but don't forget rags, paper towels, other wet and dry brushes, and your best friends, your fingers. Each gives a particular edge quality.

I use the bristles when I want to cut paint into the layers that are already there, mixing on the canvas. I use the sables when I want the paint to sit on top of the layers already there, because they're softer, and they disturb what's underneath less. I use a sable-synthetic mix, as they are a little "springy-er" and I don't wear them out as fast as 100% sable brushes.

Silver Brush has a so-called "long filbert." I bought several and didn't like them at first--they were really floppy--but now I really like them because they allow a lot of variety and control to the stroke, but prevent me from overcontrolling and becoming too anal--still a problem for me.

Best--TE

[Jean Kelly]

I would love to go nuts and just buy some of all of them, and a hand tied "mop", (simply because they are so beautiful). Same thing for calligraphy brushes. They are so beautiful, with their porcelain ink grinding wells and silk lined boxes.

I've found that I can't paint with the brisle brushes, even though I would like to, due to my lack of strength in my shoulder. Ilaria, the cat's tongue sound like something I might like. And the long filbert must be fun to work with. I need to loosen up, I'm getting way too anal due to this d*** injury, and I believe that adding some different brushes would help.

I long to create that "juicy color" and brushwork that I love so much. I realize that buying the right brush is not going to magically change my style, but my brushes were too small, and almost all brights. A swooshy brush might help.

Kim, I checked out Trekell brushes and they are very reasonable, my next order will be from them. I think I'll get some BIG filberts!

Jeff, I'm so happy to see you painting finally; Janice looks beautiful. I really think you could add a couple filberts to your list of supplies. Check out the Trekell site, they really are affordable. If they are okay for Bill Whitaker and Kim, I would not hesitate to buy them myself.

Jean