Acrylic brushes, and Edge of the Gulf daily painting by Everglades artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Edge of the Gulf, 2014, Jo-Ann Sanborn

acrylic on board, 7"x5" Sold

I’ve been putting off talking about brushes because I treat mine so badly.  Hog Bristle is my brush of choice, and I often scrub with them and use them until they’ve been worn down into a whole new shape! 

Brushes come in many sizes and types.  Both synthetic and natural bristle brushes are great for acrylic, and each has its advantages.  Natural bristle brushes are best for soft edges and drybrush, and synthetics hold a lot of paint but  generally make harder edges.  I personally like brights, a rather square brush with shorter bristles because they’re a little stiffer than longer bristled flats, great for scrubbing, but as Emil Gruppe would say, “why pay for less, since you’ll eventually wear it down anyway!”  A couple of rounds are good too, since they are versatile and very responsive to your arm and hand movements in the early stages of a painting.  

As you become familiar with different brushes you will probably only use only a few favorites most of the time.  But for some people, it’s almost like shoes and you can never have enough.  If you do collect a few of each kind and you will occasionally find uses for most of them.  Before ordering brushes, go to an art supply store and hold and feel a number of brushes to see what feels best in your hand.  If you are just staring out, you can get by with a few flats and filberts, and a rigger, or thin, pointed brush for signing paintings. 

                       

Start your block-out with the largest brush you can and work over the whole canvas.  You can decrease in brush size as the painting progresses.  It’s always a mistake to get tied up nitty-gritty small brush details before you have developed the underlying character of the painting.  

Painting brushes and Sunset, a daily painting by Everglades Artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Sunset, 2013, Jo-Ann Sanborn

oil on board, 5"x7"

 

 

 

Even though I've been painting in acrylic for 20 years, I'm new to regularly painting with oil paint,  and only have two brushes dedicated to the oils.  They are synthetic mongoose, a little softer than most of my acrylic brushes which are natural boar bristle.  Since I often scrub the canvas with acrylic paint, the brushes actually wear down--sometimes to a point or stub. 

 

I don't scrub with the oil brushes, but they are beginning to show wear.  Not just that, but their bristles are beginning to curl individually on the edges, and interfere with making fine lines.  I've tried cleaning them and using a close-pin to repoint them, but as soon as I get busy painting and the brushes are saturated, the curls come back. 

 

So, like today's daily painting, it's time to "Sunset" them, or to use them for broader strokes, and order a couple of new brushes for the finer work.  Comparing materials and prices is necessary, but always takes longer than I'd like. The Monarchs are a very nice brush, but may try another type just to learn the differences.  Do you have a favorite oil brush brand that you can't be without? 

Brushes, Water, Palms and Prairie daily painting by Everglades artist JoAnn Sanborn

Water, Prairie, & Palms

acrylic on board, 5"x7"

How do you get ready to paint each day? In the studio I get my fresh water, put a canvas up on the easel, and pick the brush I want to start working with. I’ll use a fairly large brush, an 8 or a 10, down to a smaller size for finishing details. I'll pick through my can of brushes, and stroke the bristles until I find the one that fees just right, and will use it for most of the painting.

Bright bristle brushes work best for me because they’ll hold up to the beating I give them. I scrub and scumble as I thinly layer the canvas with paint, and I need a brush that can hold up to that kind of treatment without losing its bristles. Plus bristles give a nice mark, crisp in a new brush, softer in an oldie.

I have a favorite brand, but try out others now and then. Some brushes can’t take the water I leave them in while painting, puffing up like the head of a mop. Others splay wildly after the first little scrub. Some hold the paint in near their ferrules beyond my ability to get them clean, leaving them stiff, with a bad hair look. The best ones will retain something of a sharp edge when I wash them out at the end of the day, and will last for a month or more.

Several of the supply houses were having sales, so I picked out a group of smaller sizes in some brands I haven’t tried to give them a test run. The new, virgin brushes are separated into a can of their own down the bottom of my art cart, and will only get moved up into use when I can’t find a suitable brush in the large can. I love having some newbies in reserve.

I know I should throw away the worst of the old brushes. But throwing away an old brush is like loosing an old friend. I know they've stiffened up and lost their bristles working for ME. In the interest of space and sense I’ll do it now and then with great reluctance, sure that I’ll find a need for a stiff, splayed, discolored, paint-spattered oldie as soon as I throw it out. I feel pretty much the same about my closet.