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Ideal Watercolor Brush Qualities Painting Art Books Tips How Paint Oip Canvas Oil Arts Crafts

Most watercolorists doing most kinds of watermedia paintings have found these brush attributes are highly desirable:

Clean shaping. Once the tuft is thoroughly wetted and filled with water, the bristles should snap immediately to a clean profile. Flats should come to a perfectly even, bevel edge, rounds to a needle point, and there should be no stray or splaying hairs along the side of the tuft. (To do this, hold the brush in your normal grip, then shake out the water by snapping the brush in a single sharp, down and up movement of your forearm.)

Large capacity. The brush should hold a generous amount of paint or water. Capacity varies with the size of the brush, the type of brush (shape of the tuft), the type of hairs or fibers used and the way they have been cupped, but comparisons with other brushes of similar size and construction will reveal significant differences in carrying capacity. In larger brushes you should be able to complete a fairly long brushstroke as a single gesture, without going to the palette for more paint.

Consistent release. When the brush is charged with fluid (either pure water or moderately diluted paint), and applied to paper at a 45° angle with gentle pressure, the brush should release paint in a steady, continuous flow. The brush should show much the same release characteristics regardless of the amount of paint it contains (except when the brush is fully charged with paint or almost thirsty). The brushstroke should not start or end with a "kiss" or puddle of excess paint that creates a small backrun when it dries. (Most brushes will do this, especially when fully charged with diluted paint, but some brushes do it more than others.) The density of the stroke should be even across its entire length and width, and visible streaks should appear only when the paint in the tuft is almost depleted or when the paint is only slightly diluted.

Release variations across brush angles. The amount of paint released from the brush should increase or decrease as the brush handle is held at a more vertical or sideways angle to the paper or as greater or less pressure is applied during the stroke. Holding the brush handle vertically to the paper should produce a juicy release of moderately diluted paint; holding the brush handle almost parallel to the paper surface should produce a dry, scratchy release of thicker paint. All types of release should be easy to control and you should be able to get a specific texture repeatedly, at will.

Wicking. When shaken out or blotted to a thirsty wetness, the brush should wick up diluted paint or water from the paper. (It should wick up at least half its total wet capacity of liquid.) The tuft should lift nearly all its capacity from the paint well without excessive or prolonged dripping.

Crisp lining (edging). When moderately charged with paint and using only the point of the tuft, a round should be able to render a crisp thin line and a variety of very small stippling or hatching marks. A flat should be able to "chisel" repeated, even line segments (made by holding the brush handle vertically and tapping the paper lightly with its edge), as well as clean edges and sharp corners. When several marks are done in a series, they should be nearly identical to each other and should be easy to align or position accurately, yet they should visibly change with the charge of the brush (the amount of paint in the tuft), the pressure applied, and the speed of the stroke.

Tuft spring. The tuft hairs, bristles or fibers should flex to track changes in the direction and pressure of the brushstroke. As the brush is pressed into the paper, they should bend together; as the direction of the stroke changes, the hairs or bristles should shift together; as the brush is lifted from the paper, the tuft should come away with a clean profile, ready for the next stroke.

Variation in brush marks. The brush should allow you to create a great range of nuanced gestural marks depending on the charge of paint, paint dilution, brushstroke speed, brushstroke pressure, angle of handle and paper finish. Each type of brush will produce its characteristic marks, but all brushes should show an interesting range in the marks it can make.

Balance. The brush should rest comfortably in the hand. The handle should not be too thick or massive to produce delicate strokes, but thick enough to ensure control and stability during the brushstroke. The center of balance of a moistened brush should be between the bottom edge of the ferrule and the widest swelling of the handle. The length or shape of the handle should not force you to hold the brush in an awkward position. (Note: in general, the optimal grip for a watercolor brush is closer to the ferrule than it is for an oil brush.)

Hair quality and cupping. In kolinsky or sable brushes, the outer hairs should be somewhat softer, shorter and more flexible than the hairs at the center of the tuft. The tips of the hairs or the overall shape of the tuft should not appear to have been cut or trimmed in any way. The hairs should not be too coarse and the thickness of the hairs should be proportional to the size of the tuft (thinner hairs in smaller tufts). Color is less diagnostic (hairs can be dyed), but the hairs should have a clean, glossy, healthy appearance, a gradual darkening from tip to belly, and should resist stains. There should be no broken or bent hairs whatsoever. In all natural hair brushes, the tuft should show high quality cupping when clean and completely dried. The individual tuft hairs should come to a needle point when examined under strong magnification. The ends of the hairs should form a perfect convex surface.

Ease of cleaning. Pigment should rinse easily from the tuft during use, and clean out completely with a thorough rinsing and blotting dry with a clean paper towel. (Always blot a tuft by folding it inside a clean paper towel and gently pinching the tuft around the sides with your thumb and fingers, shaping the tuft as you go; do not squeeze and pull on the tuft as this can loosen individual hairs.) The hairs or bristles should resist staining from phthalocyanine or other strong staining pigments; the stains should disappear completely when washed with brush soap. The pinch of the ferrule should be firm enough to prevent pigment particles from accumulating at the base of the tuft where they are difficult to remove.

Resistance to moisture. The wood handle should not warp, swell or crack after long exposure to water; the ferrule should remain tightly secured to the handle. The paint finish on wood handles should not crack or chip.

Shedding. If properly used and cared for, the tuft should not shed or lose hairs during painting after it has been used a few times or during the first week of use. (The loss of a few hairs at first is normal in most natural hair brushes but is unusual in natural bristle or artificial fiber brushes.) Any shedding after that point indicates the hairs were carelessly tied and trimmed before assembly with the ferrule and handle, and/or that the ferrule is inadequately crimped around the tuft. Some shedding may be tolerated in squirrel mops and goat hair Japanese brushes, but even here it is a matter of degree: less is better.

Durability. The brush should withstand long and frequent use. Brushes used several times a week should retain their physical integrity for at least six months in synthetic brushes and for at least two years in natural hair brushes. The bristles should retain their characteristic spring, shaping and release, and should not splay, break or fall out. (This assumes you do not have a punitive brush technique that includes using the brush to soften pan paints or dried out palette paints, aggressive splaying or pounding of the brush on the paper to produce paint textures, letting the brush dry out with paint in the tuft, etc.)

Value. Across the time you use it and the uses you put it to, the brush should be the cheapest investment you make in art materials. A $150 kolinsky round should last for several years of daily use. A $2 synthetic should save all your other brushes from destructive wear in texturing, applying resists, softening pan paints, etc., and should be easy to replace when it wears out.

Elegance. After much use and in recognition of their distinctive contribution to their work, artists develop a preference and even a great fondness for certain brushes. This is the final test of its quality. The brush's natural elegance, functionality and simplicity plays a significant part in this passion, but the key is that the brush just "works" for what the painter wants to do.

Realistic Brush Comparisons. No brush will meet all these criteria exactly and different types of brushes meet some criteria better than others.

The most useful way to evaluate a new brush is by comparing it to another brush with the shape shape and size of tuft. Ideally, the type of hair or fiber should matter less, but kolinsky and sable brushes generally set a higher standard on all points than squirrel, bristle or synthetic fiber brushes.

To evaluate a new brush, simply compare it stroke by stroke with the best brush of the same type and size you currently own. It really is helpful to use the two brushes at the same time and on the same sheet of paper in the same tests of pointing, capacity, release, expressive marks, comfort and ease of control. Differences between the brushes will be immediately obvious.


brushes

the good brush

a basic brush set

buying brushes


As you select brushes for your use, you will discover that your brush preferences change depending on the kinds of painting, and painting effects, you want to do. Don't be surprised to discover that your brush preferences change as you evolve as a painter.

Ridley's students earn top prize in competition Greenville News, SC - Dec 30, 2008 She said she plans to use most of it to replenish popular supplies that her students go through quickly, like markers, paper and watercolor paint. ...

The miracle this recession year: Chanukah thrift shopping Jewish Telegraphic Agency, NY - Dec 23, 2008 You will find rabbis at study and at table; rabbis in a hurry, tallit under arm; rabbis in acrylic, in oil, watercolor, paint by numbers; rabbis on velvet. ...

Appreciating all kinds of art Times Bulletin, OH - Dec 28, 2008 Art vocabulary that would refer to materials used to make art includes: Brush, palette knife, palette, pencil, charcoal, pastel, watercolor paint, oil paint ...

The Spectacular Story of Bryn Mawr’s Art Club Bi-College News, PA - Dec 16, 2008 There, Webb demonstrated the procedure of “shaving-cream marbling”— someone creates her own design in shaving cream with liquid watercolor paint. ...

Drizzle artist to lead Bloomingdale art program Chicago Suburban News, IL - Dec 23, 2008 Attendees should bring brushes and watercolor paint if they have them. Watercolor paper and either black or white acrylic paint for drizzling will be ...

Plumas County news on-line Plumas County Newspapers, CA - Dec 19, 2008 He uses a variety of natural materials — sawdust, leaves or pebbles — to create a resist to the watercolor paint he later adds. The interaction between the ...

With watercolor workshop, Moose Pass becomes colorful Seward Phoenix Log, AK - Dec 11, 2008 On the first evening, students learned about Yupo, a non-absorbent paper that allows artists to finesse watercolor paint around to create the desired effect ...

Interview: Play Dough: On Creating XBLA's First Claymation Videogame Gamasutra, CA - Dec 16, 2008 ... ways that make me feel like using a totally different style, but it’s usually something equally esoteric, like colored pencils and watercolor paint. ...

Common Misspellings include accros, acrosss, acrost, accross aggresive, agressive allign almsot, alomst alwasy, alwyas ammount adn, anbd angels anohter appeareance, appearence, apperance, apprearance aplied aroud, arround, arund artifical atributes awya ackward bedore, befoer, befor betwen, bewteen inbetween, vetween bu ceratin, certian charactersistic charistics comparisions completelyl consttruction, constuction, contruction containes, countains continous controll criterias currenly distructive develope diferent, diferrent, differnt, diffrent dissapear, dissappear, dissappear dicover, disover disctinctive doign, donig buring, durig, durring, duting eahc eiter especialy, expecially, expecially ect examinated exept firt, firts fomr foudn fomr, frome genera generaly gogin, goign, gonig, oging gerat, graet, grat, gret ahev, ahve, haev, hvae, hvea heathy helpfull htere heigher, higer identicial, identicle, identicle emmediately, imediately, immediatley, immediatly, immidately, immidiately intresting, intresting inot it's japanes jstu lastr, lsat lenght maked amke, mkae, mkea markes mosture monts moreso, mroe, omre movment naturual enxt nto, onot lonly, onyl nother, otehr pwn pallete paralel, paralell, parralel, parrallel, parrallell phyiscal, physcal positon, possition, postion propperly poportional erally, raelly, realy, realyl, relaly irregardless reguardless, reguardless repeteadly relace smae severeal sheat shoudl, shoudln, sould sohw siginificant, signficant, signficiant, signifigant similiar, simmilar simpley sieze smoe, soem specfic, specif spead stablility strat stong surfce suprised, suprized, surprized tahn, thna taht, tath, thast, thgat, thta, thyat hten, tghe, ther, thge, tjhe ther, theri, thier, thier thne their, ther theese htey, tehy, tyhe htis, thsi, tihs throrough throughly tiem, timne, tiome twpo uise unsed usefull useing varations variey, varity, vreity, vriety veyr, vrey, vyer, vyre visable visably wanna, watn, whant, wnat whants, wnats warter mear vell waht, whta wehn, whn iwll, wille, wiull owrk, wokr, wrok eyars, eyasr, yeasr, yeras, yersa
 Rosebud Art  Introduction to Oil Painting  Range of Paints  Feeling the Paint  Oil Paint Drying Time  Testing Water Color Paper  Ideal Watercolor Brush Qualities.  Standard Watercolor Brush Kit  How to Stretch Artists' Canvas  Basic Pastel Techniques  Color Pencil Tips  Paints  Crayon Stain Removal Tips  Buying Coloring Books  Tie-Dye Tips  How to Draw With Charcoal 

   Links 

Ideal Watercolor Brush Qualities Painting Art Books Tips How Paint Oip Canvas Oil Arts Crafts

Most watercolorists doing most kinds of watermedia paintings have found these brush attributes are highly desirable:

Clean shaping. Once the tuft is thoroughly wetted and filled with water, the bristles should snap immediately to a clean profile. Flats should come to a perfectly even, bevel edge, rounds to a needle point, and there should be no stray or splaying hairs along the side of the tuft. (To do this, hold the brush in your normal grip, then shake out the water by snapping the brush in a single sharp, down and up movement of your forearm.)

Large capacity. The brush should hold a generous amount of paint or water. Capacity varies with the size of the brush, the type of brush (shape of the tuft), the type of hairs or fibers used and the way they have been cupped, but comparisons with other brushes of similar size and construction will reveal significant differences in carrying capacity. In larger brushes you should be able to complete a fairly long brushstroke as a single gesture, without going to the palette for more paint.

Consistent release. When the brush is charged with fluid (either pure water or moderately diluted paint), and applied to paper at a 45° angle with gentle pressure, the brush should release paint in a steady, continuous flow. The brush should show much the same release characteristics regardless of the amount of paint it contains (except when the brush is fully charged with paint or almost thirsty). The brushstroke should not start or end with a "kiss" or puddle of excess paint that creates a small backrun when it dries. (Most brushes will do this, especially when fully charged with diluted paint, but some brushes do it more than others.) The density of the stroke should be even across its entire length and width, and visible streaks should appear only when the paint in the tuft is almost depleted or when the paint is only slightly diluted.

Release variations across brush angles. The amount of paint released from the brush should increase or decrease as the brush handle is held at a more vertical or sideways angle to the paper or as greater or less pressure is applied during the stroke. Holding the brush handle vertically to the paper should produce a juicy release of moderately diluted paint; holding the brush handle almost parallel to the paper surface should produce a dry, scratchy release of thicker paint. All types of release should be easy to control and you should be able to get a specific texture repeatedly, at will.

Wicking. When shaken out or blotted to a thirsty wetness, the brush should wick up diluted paint or water from the paper. (It should wick up at least half its total wet capacity of liquid.) The tuft should lift nearly all its capacity from the paint well without excessive or prolonged dripping.

Crisp lining (edging). When moderately charged with paint and using only the point of the tuft, a round should be able to render a crisp thin line and a variety of very small stippling or hatching marks. A flat should be able to "chisel" repeated, even line segments (made by holding the brush handle vertically and tapping the paper lightly with its edge), as well as clean edges and sharp corners. When several marks are done in a series, they should be nearly identical to each other and should be easy to align or position accurately, yet they should visibly change with the charge of the brush (the amount of paint in the tuft), the pressure applied, and the speed of the stroke.

Tuft spring. The tuft hairs, bristles or fibers should flex to track changes in the direction and pressure of the brushstroke. As the brush is pressed into the paper, they should bend together; as the direction of the stroke changes, the hairs or bristles should shift together; as the brush is lifted from the paper, the tuft should come away with a clean profile, ready for the next stroke.

Variation in brush marks. The brush should allow you to create a great range of nuanced gestural marks depending on the charge of paint, paint dilution, brushstroke speed, brushstroke pressure, angle of handle and paper finish. Each type of brush will produce its characteristic marks, but all brushes should show an interesting range in the marks it can make.

Balance. The brush should rest comfortably in the hand. The handle should not be too thick or massive to produce delicate strokes, but thick enough to ensure control and stability during the brushstroke. The center of balance of a moistened brush should be between the bottom edge of the ferrule and the widest swelling of the handle. The length or shape of the handle should not force you to hold the brush in an awkward position. (Note: in general, the optimal grip for a watercolor brush is closer to the ferrule than it is for an oil brush.)

Hair quality and cupping. In kolinsky or sable brushes, the outer hairs should be somewhat softer, shorter and more flexible than the hairs at the center of the tuft. The tips of the hairs or the overall shape of the tuft should not appear to have been cut or trimmed in any way. The hairs should not be too coarse and the thickness of the hairs should be proportional to the size of the tuft (thinner hairs in smaller tufts). Color is less diagnostic (hairs can be dyed), but the hairs should have a clean, glossy, healthy appearance, a gradual darkening from tip to belly, and should resist stains. There should be no broken or bent hairs whatsoever. In all natural hair brushes, the tuft should show high quality cupping when clean and completely dried. The individual tuft hairs should come to a needle point when examined under strong magnification. The ends of the hairs should form a perfect convex surface.

Ease of cleaning. Pigment should rinse easily from the tuft during use, and clean out completely with a thorough rinsing and blotting dry with a clean paper towel. (Always blot a tuft by folding it inside a clean paper towel and gently pinching the tuft around the sides with your thumb and fingers, shaping the tuft as you go; do not squeeze and pull on the tuft as this can loosen individual hairs.) The hairs or bristles should resist staining from phthalocyanine or other strong staining pigments; the stains should disappear completely when washed with brush soap. The pinch of the ferrule should be firm enough to prevent pigment particles from accumulating at the base of the tuft where they are difficult to remove.

Resistance to moisture. The wood handle should not warp, swell or crack after long exposure to water; the ferrule should remain tightly secured to the handle. The paint finish on wood handles should not crack or chip.

Shedding. If properly used and cared for, the tuft should not shed or lose hairs during painting after it has been used a few times or during the first week of use. (The loss of a few hairs at first is normal in most natural hair brushes but is unusual in natural bristle or artificial fiber brushes.) Any shedding after that point indicates the hairs were carelessly tied and trimmed before assembly with the ferrule and handle, and/or that the ferrule is inadequately crimped around the tuft. Some shedding may be tolerated in squirrel mops and goat hair Japanese brushes, but even here it is a matter of degree: less is better.

Durability. The brush should withstand long and frequent use. Brushes used several times a week should retain their physical integrity for at least six months in synthetic brushes and for at least two years in natural hair brushes. The bristles should retain their characteristic spring, shaping and release, and should not splay, break or fall out. (This assumes you do not have a punitive brush technique that includes using the brush to soften pan paints or dried out palette paints, aggressive splaying or pounding of the brush on the paper to produce paint textures, letting the brush dry out with paint in the tuft, etc.)

Value. Across the time you use it and the uses you put it to, the brush should be the cheapest investment you make in art materials. A $150 kolinsky round should last for several years of daily use. A $2 synthetic should save all your other brushes from destructive wear in texturing, applying resists, softening pan paints, etc., and should be easy to replace when it wears out.

Elegance. After much use and in recognition of their distinctive contribution to their work, artists develop a preference and even a great fondness for certain brushes. This is the final test of its quality. The brush's natural elegance, functionality and simplicity plays a significant part in this passion, but the key is that the brush just "works" for what the painter wants to do.

Realistic Brush Comparisons. No brush will meet all these criteria exactly and different types of brushes meet some criteria better than others.

The most useful way to evaluate a new brush is by comparing it to another brush with the shape shape and size of tuft. Ideally, the type of hair or fiber should matter less, but kolinsky and sable brushes generally set a higher standard on all points than squirrel, bristle or synthetic fiber brushes.

To evaluate a new brush, simply compare it stroke by stroke with the best brush of the same type and size you currently own. It really is helpful to use the two brushes at the same time and on the same sheet of paper in the same tests of pointing, capacity, release, expressive marks, comfort and ease of control. Differences between the brushes will be immediately obvious.


brushes

the good brush

a basic brush set

buying brushes


As you select brushes for your use, you will discover that your brush preferences change depending on the kinds of painting, and painting effects, you want to do. Don't be surprised to discover that your brush preferences change as you evolve as a painter.

Artful gifts available at Bagdad Artfest Pensacola News Journal, FL - Dec 9, 2008 Just in time to shop for that special gift, the Santa Rosa Art Association presents "Artfest" on Saturday. Celebrating its 44 years of promoting visual arts ...

Ridley's students earn top prize in competition Greenville News, SC - Dec 30, 2008 She said she plans to use most of it to replenish popular supplies that her students go through quickly, like markers, paper and watercolor paint. ...

Appreciating all kinds of art Times Bulletin, OH - Dec 28, 2008 Art vocabulary that would refer to materials used to make art includes: Brush, palette knife, palette, pencil, charcoal, pastel, watercolor paint, oil paint ...

The miracle this recession year: Chanukah thrift shopping Jewish Telegraphic Agency, NY - Dec 23, 2008 You will find rabbis at study and at table; rabbis in a hurry, tallit under arm; rabbis in acrylic, in oil, watercolor, paint by numbers; rabbis on velvet. ...

The Spectacular Story of Bryn Mawr’s Art Club Bi-College News, PA - Dec 16, 2008 There, Webb demonstrated the procedure of “shaving-cream marbling”— someone creates her own design in shaving cream with liquid watercolor paint. ...

Drizzle artist to lead Bloomingdale art program Chicago Suburban News, IL - Dec 23, 2008 Attendees should bring brushes and watercolor paint if they have them. Watercolor paper and either black or white acrylic paint for drizzling will be ...

Plumas County news on-line Plumas County Newspapers, CA - Dec 19, 2008 He uses a variety of natural materials — sawdust, leaves or pebbles — to create a resist to the watercolor paint he later adds. The interaction between the ...

With watercolor workshop, Moose Pass becomes colorful Seward Phoenix Log, AK - Dec 11, 2008 On the first evening, students learned about Yupo, a non-absorbent paper that allows artists to finesse watercolor paint around to create the desired effect ...

Interview: Play Dough: On Creating XBLA's First Claymation Videogame Gamasutra, CA - Dec 16, 2008 ... ways that make me feel like using a totally different style, but it’s usually something equally esoteric, like colored pencils and watercolor paint. ...

Common Misspellings include accros, acrosss, acrost, accross aggresive, agressive allign almsot, alomst alwasy, alwyas ammount adn, anbd angels anohter appeareance, appearence, apperance, apprearance aplied aroud, arround, arund artifical atributes awya ackward bedore, befoer, befor betwen, bewteen inbetween, vetween bu ceratin, certian charactersistic charistics comparisions completelyl consttruction, constuction, contruction containes, countains continous controll criterias currenly distructive develope diferent, diferrent, differnt, diffrent dissapear, dissappear, dissappear dicover, disover disctinctive doign, donig buring, durig, durring, duting eahc eiter especialy, expecially, expecially ect examinated exept firt, firts fomr foudn fomr, frome genera generaly gogin, goign, gonig, oging gerat, graet, grat, gret ahev, ahve, haev, hvae, hvea heathy helpfull htere heigher, higer identicial, identicle, identicle emmediately, imediately, immediatley, immediatly, immidately, immidiately intresting, intresting inot it's japanes jstu lastr, lsat lenght maked amke, mkae, mkea markes mosture monts moreso, mroe, omre movment naturual enxt nto, onot lonly, onyl nother, otehr pwn pallete paralel, paralell, parralel, parrallel, parrallell phyiscal, physcal positon, possition, postion propperly poportional erally, raelly, realy, realyl, relaly irregardless reguardless, reguardless repeteadly relace smae severeal sheat shoudl, shoudln, sould sohw siginificant, signficant, signficiant, signifigant similiar, simmilar simpley sieze smoe, soem specfic, specif spead stablility strat stong surfce suprised, suprized, surprized tahn, thna taht, tath, thast, thgat, thta, thyat hten, tghe, ther, thge, tjhe ther, theri, thier, thier thne their, ther theese htey, tehy, tyhe htis, thsi, tihs throrough throughly tiem, timne, tiome twpo uise unsed usefull useing varations variey, varity, vreity, vriety veyr, vrey, vyer, vyre visable visably wanna, watn, whant, wnat whants, wnats warter mear vell waht, whta wehn, whn iwll, wille, wiull owrk, wokr, wrok eyars, eyasr, yeasr, yeras, yersa
 Rosebud Art  Introduction to Oil Painting  Range of Paints  Feeling the Paint  Oil Paint Drying Time  Testing Water Color Paper  Ideal Watercolor Brush Qualities.  Standard Watercolor Brush Kit  How to Stretch Artists' Canvas  Basic Pastel Techniques  Color Pencil Tips  Paints  Crayon Stain Removal Tips  Buying Coloring Books  Tie-Dye Tips  How to Draw With Charcoal