Brushes and Their Uses

 

Brushes are perhaps the most basic tool of a painter, and although it is common that at the beginning we think that any brush is good enough to start painting, and it may indeed be enough to break the shell- it is certain that the brush is a tool that we need to know better. Most beginners do not take into account that there are oil brushes, acrylic brushes, watercolor brushes and even those intended for other purposes that have nothing to do with artistic painting, and that they can end up being used without much success by those who are in a very early stage of learning.

So this time, acrylic painter Jonathan Marsico will talk about the different types of brushes that exist and what makes them most recommended for a certain medium or technique, the most recurring being oil, acrylic and watercolor, which are the ones Jonathan will focus on.

 

Parts of a Brush

Let's start with the parts of a brush. Understanding how brushes are constructed tells us about their quality, durability, and important aspects of brush care. The length of the brush handle, for example, varies for different uses and this is more important than it appears to be.

For example, most watercolor brushes have short handles because watercolorists tend to paint on a small scale and sit right in front of their work, while oil and acrylic brushes can have short handles but also long ones, so one can take a step back while painting and have an overview of the entire composition, explains the Denver, Colorado artist.

The splint secures the brush hair at the root (where the hair "springs" from the splint) and to the handle. Here we also find the pressure marks with which a splint was secured to the handle. The more brands, the more robust the brush construction. Inside the splint, the brush hairs are glued together with epoxy or vinyl adhesive.

The hairs or bristles of the brush constitute the head of the brush, which in turn has a "belly" in the middle and a tip. The hairs on the tip are the longest and must be particularly strong.

Features to look for in a brush

There are some characteristics that are desirable for any brush, regardless of the type of medium that is chosen. For Jonathan Marsico that means your brushes should:

·         Maintain its performance and retain its shape despite daily use.

·         Have good paint retention and release ability.

·         Strong elastic hairs / fibers / bristles, a quality known as spring.

·         Be receptive to our hand, technique and the surface it touches.

·         Be chemically resistant to allow solvent cleaning.

A reliable way to evaluate the quality of a brush, especially when purchasing an expensive sable hair brush, is to rinse the brush with water to make sure that when bending the hairs they always return to their original position and shape.