Longevity of more expensive brushes

[Karin Wells]

I don't use many hog bristles as I prefer the soft brushes.

Silver brushes and other brands were available at the Portrait Society of America's Conference in Chicago last year (PSOA). I believe that the show price was 50% off on nearly everything...I stocked up on different brands. And they are indeed all excellent brushes.

I understand that Silver brushes, and a lot of other vendors (with bargains), will be at the PSOA Conference in Philadelphia this year too - April 4-7.

Besides the programs they offer, these portrait shows, ASOPA and especially PSOA are good places to stock up on art supplies.

[Cynthia Daniel]

I understand that ASOPA will be having vendors this year at their New York show on May 2-4. Utrecht will be a big featured vendor.

[Darla Dixon]

Thank you, Michele, for your question and thanks to all those who responded. I can't tell you how much your information has helped! I have been simply drawing up to this point and am just starting in an oil portrait painting class. We will spend the next two classes simply sketching on the canvas, so I have two weeks to pick out some brushes. I looked in the store today, and the brushes were (of course!) out of order, and a mess. All the choices were mind boggling. I'm tempted to go with Winsor-Newton, because they haven't steered me wrong yet. Although I've done very little painting so far, I have had bristles come out of brushes and get dried into the paint, and it's maddening. I'm not wealthy, but I do think that in brushes, I'll get what I pay for.

[Timothy C. Tyler]

Years ago I was teaching a class- rotating around the room using the artists' brushes and palettes when one of my students handed me a #8 Raphael long filbert. It had a black handle and actual copper ferrule. They are beautiful. I paint with lots of bruhes - these I buy just to look upon.

[Debra Jones]

I took a class recently from Milt Kobayashi, not a portrait painter or even PRETENDS to be, but a tip I frequently forget of his, is to store them in vegetable oil. Like good old Wesson oil. It keeps the stray pigment suspended and plumps up the bristles making them very soft and flexible for buttering paint on a canvas.

He does not clean in turps, he pretty much wipes between color changes and uses the paint on the tip and surface of think large filberts. His painterly effect LOOKS brave but it actually very delicate and gentle, but it does depend on very flexible brushes. My two cents.

[Timothy C. Tyler]

Hi Debra,

That's what subjects and friends of Sargent used to say about his brushstrokes. Milt who?

[Karin Wells]

Milt Kobayashi - I rather like his work:
http://www.gshoalcreek.com/artists/kobayashi.htm

I found him with google image search - a really useful tool for us artists: http://images.google.com/

Type in your name (+ painter) and see what happens...

[Jim Riley]

Kobayashi

I looked at Milt Kobayashi's work (Thanks Karin) and found a striking similarity to Malcolm Liepke, the well known illustrator and painter. I have been familiar with the work of the latter for many years but don't want to assume he was first with this distinctive style. http://www.herndonfineart.com/images...tinrapture.jpg

Does anyone know more than I? (Please excuse the hasty editing of this old scan/print of a Liepke illustration)

[Debra Jones]

I opened a can of worms.
Milt and Skip were roomates or co-conspirators in their youth.
here is Milt's next show
dj*