Choosing Your Paint Brushes and Caring for Them
Choosing the right paintbrush
The paint brush is an important tool because it is through the paint brush that the painter expresses his or her emotions.
Typically, oil painters need two kinds of brushes. One is stiff and the other is soft. A painter usually has a range of sizes for both types of brushes.
The stiff brushes are used for most of the painting tasks and it comes in three shapes: the round, the flat and the filbert. For art beginners, filbert is a shape that is rounded at the base and tapers to a point at the tip. Stiff brushes are made of hog bristles but there are also synthetic bristles available that can make acceptable results. Brushes made with natural fibres are usually more expensive, but will generally give you a better result too.
The soft brushes are used for painting the finer details. I think the best soft brushes are the ones made of sable. Since sable brushes are expensive, there are substitutes available. But the brush strokes made using these replacements are not as good as the ones made by the sable-made soft brush. Basically you get what you pay for.
There is also a kind of brush made of either sable or hog hair. It is called a fan-head brush and it is needed to seamlessly blend paint on the canvas.
It is important to get paint brushes that you like working with because chances are they will stay with you for a while. For this reason, it is important also to know how to care for them so they can last a long time.
Caring for your paint brushes
1. NEVER use your paint brushes to mix paint. Use painting knives to mix paint.
2. NEVER stand your paint brushes pointing down, especially for the soft brushes. This may permanently bend or damage those expensive hair or bristles.
3. Use the right amount of paint on the brush. Too much paint will clog the ferrules, the part that holds the hair or bristles together. If the ferrules get clogged, you have to clean it and cannot avoid parting the hairs. If this is done too often, the brush ultimately become useless.
4. Clean your paint brushes as soon as you have finished using them. You may use turpentine with soap and water. For soft brushes, these can be dipped in milk and allowed to dry for a couple of days.