Table of Contents
Welcome to this blog article where we discuss the most important points you should pay attention to before buying brushes. We discuss the following topics in this article:
- Types of brushes: What different types of brushes do you have?
- Paint structure: Which brush for which type of paint?
- Painting technique: Which type of painting technique requires the right brushes?
- Brush Choice: Why is this an important decision?
Importantto know is that brushes and brushes are synonyms for brushes.
Whether you are a hobby painter, a fine art painter or a construction painter, there is one question that arises for everyone equally often when purchasing the necessary materials: Which brushes do I need and which brush or brushes should I choose for this job?
In music it's the same: a Fender, Gibson, Yamaha or Takamine? Each guitar has its own characteristics and leads to its own style and sound.
The same principle can be applied to painting: every painting technique is different and every brush (brand, shape, size, hair, etc.) is different and results in different effects of the paint on the canvas (or the paper, the wall, the wood...). Due to the different types of paint (watercolor paint, acrylic paint, oil paint, etc.), there are of course also different needs and requirements for the brushes.
However, if you look around in a specialty art supply store or just on the Internet, you will soon be lost, because the range is enormous, as are the prices. Is it worth spending more for a particular brush and itscheaper brushes are also good? How many different brushes do I need? These and more questions buzz through your head when you are looking for painting supplies.
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Two important criteria that can be used as a basis are the shape of the brush head and the material of the hair.
Painting by Numbers Expert helps you with the next steps - We have listed the most important criteria for purchasing a brush for you.
Are you curious about the 4 most important painting techniques? Then read our blog article!
1. Types of brushes: What different types of brushes do you have?
A brush can be divided into different parts. Each part of the brush determines how the paint is painted onto the canvas. A brush consists of the following parts:
- Bristles of a brush
- Brush tip (round, flat, angled, etc.)
- Brush handle
- Brush sleeve
By investing in the quality of brushes, you can increase the expression of a photo. To help you make the right decision, we will first discuss the parts of the different brushes.
1. Bristles of a brush
This part of the brush has the greatest influence on the technique and quality of paint application when painting.
When it comes to brush hair, a distinction must first be made between synthetic hair (artificial hair) and natural hair.
- Squirrel hair: are made from squirrel tail hair.The hair is very silky and tapers towards each other. This makes them suitable for elegant, fine strokes.
- Pig bristles: These brushes have a particularly high paint absorption capacity. The large base is useful when you want to paint larger surfaces (e.g. photo backgrounds).
- Red sable hair: The hair of red martens or polecats is used as natural brushes. These brushes are characterized by high elasticity and are therefore suitable for many different brush movements. They are robust and can absorb a lot of paint.
- Hair of ponies and oxen: Hair from ponies and oxen is also often used to make bristles. This is a cheaper option, but still gives good results. You can make finer brushes, especially with pony hair.
- Synthetic hair: Especially at a time when animal welfare is becoming more important again and many people are following a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle, synthetic brushes are also popular. They are suitable for various applications and are often not inferior to brushes made of real hair. Acrylon and Tynex fibers are particularly popular for acrylic paints. For hobby painting, on the other hand, synthetic Tonay fibers are more popular. Another plus: When damp, synthetic brushes are easier to clean than natural hair brushes.
2. Brush Tip
There are many different brush shapes, with different shapes up tolead to different painting results. And that makes sense, because for fine strokes you naturally need a different brush shape than for large areas of colour and abstract shapes.
Here are some brush shapes:
- Wide brushes: for large surfaces.
- Round brushes: the classic brush. They come in different thicknesses in terms of the tip and they are an indispensable part of an artist's range.
- Cat's Tongue Brushes: As the name suggests, these brushes are shaped like a cat's tongue. Shecombine the advantages of a flat and a round brush. You can use them to paint surfaces, but also curves, shapes and details.
- Angled brushes: As the name suggests, the main feature is that the painting edge is slanted. This makes it easy to paint surfaces with the broad side, but if you turn the brush over and use the tip, you can also paint details well.
On artist websites and in specialty stores, brushes are also often classified by painting style. So if you already know that it involves painting with oil paint or painting with acrylic paint, you can choose the right brush. In the Paint by Numbers range mainly uses a combination of round and angled brushes.
3. The handle of the brush
The handle of the brushes is usually made of natural wood. Of course it is important that it fits well in your hand when painting. The wood can come from different treesoriginate and is rough or smooth.
When painting with watercolor paint, brushes with a shorter handle are often used, while when painting with acrylic paint or oil paint, a longer handle is preferred. Of course, how close you want your hand to the tip of the brush also depends entirely on your personal preference. Just as everyone holds a pencil a little differently, you also have a certain hand position with the brush.
2. Paint structure: Which brush for which type of paint?
Do you want to learn to paint and see the big names such as Van Gogh, Picasso, Dalí, Cézanne & Co. match?
First of all, you need to think about what type of painting you want to practice. Painting with acrylic paint, painting with watercolor paint or painting with oil paint? Of course, the choice of brushes depends on this!
1. Watercolors
For watercolor painting you need brushes with a relatively short handle and brush hair that absorbs the paint (including water) very well. This is important to continuously pool and release the water and thus control the flow of paint.
But which bristles are most suitable? Squirrel hair, for example, is extremely fine and particularly elastic and supple. If you press harder you will get wider strokes, if you press lightly you will get thin lines. Because Squirrel hair is relatively sensitive, it is perfect for soft watercolor painting.
Would you ever like to paint flowers with watercolor? Then read our blog article: '' Watercolor Flower Painting - Tips on Watercolor Flower Painting ''.
2. Acrylic paint
The solvents in acrylic paint can have a negative effecton natural hair brushes. There are exceptions, but we still recommend synthetic brushes for acrylic painting. We also recommend synthetic brushes because we consider animal welfare to be very important. We have therefore decided to only supply synthetic brushes with the Paint by Numbers packages.
The various synthetic materials absorb less paint, can be easily washed out and are usually robust and elastic at the same time.
Are you still new to painting with acrylic paint? Then check it outCheck out our blog article, where we answer the 5 beginner questions.
3. Oil paint
Oil paintings often look coarser and leave certain grooves, but that is exactly what painters like to play with.
Even though the trend is moving somewhat towards synthetic brushes, many painters prefer natural hair brushes for oil painting: mater hair, ox hair or pony hair are some of the options here.
The different shapes determine the strokes on the canvas. In addition, it is worth mentioning that spatulas are used in acrylic paintings and oil paintings. This technique allows even more depth and creates, as it were, paintings in 3D!
Curious about the components and properties of oil paint? Then read our blog article.
3. Painting technique: Which type of painting technique requires the right brushes?
Just as a rock musician prefers his electric guitar and a singer-songwriter his acousticguitar, painters of different painting styles also have their preferences when it comes to the choice of materials.
So depending on how you want to paint and also on what surface and in what size, you will probably choose different brushes, palette knives, etc.
For paintings with many details, we recommend fine brushes with very elastic hair, so that you can easily paint various thick strokes and curves. For abstract paintings, where different colour spots or large geometric shapes are used, large, flat brushes or even brush rollers, brushes orpalette knives.
And, of course, it depends on the wall. Do you paint entire walls? Then you'll need long-handled paint rollers (and maybe a ladder). If you're working on wood or paper, fine brushes with a stiff point are important.
If you want to paint on a canvas, it is important that you ask yourself which colours and effects you want to use. Do you want to apply certain reliefs and not only have the paint appear as a smooth surface, but also consciously use structural elements? Then use a spatula and a brush with boar bristles instead of a round brush.
If you paint with watercolor paint, it also depends on the effect you want to achieve: Do the contours still have to be clearly recognizable and are details in faces, for example, important? Then a fine round brush is again the first choice. Do you want the full watercolor effect, the colours should carry their watery consistency forward or even blend into each other? Then we recommend thicker hair brushes that absorb water well and also release it well underneath.
And don't forget: you can also use different techniques and therefore brushes in one and the same photo. Maybe you want the background to be blurry, that you only have vague, shadowy figures and...contours, while in the foreground there is a certain person or object with all its details - then you should definitely use more different brushes.
Or do you do Van Gogh's pointillism? Then of course you need a different brush than for copies of Anselm Kiefer, who also works a lot with earth, sand and soot and therefore certainly uses fairly large pig bristle brushes or even palette knives.
As you can see, it all depends… That's why it's important that you think again about what the requirements are for the artwork.
4. Brushes choice: Why is this an important onedecision?
The more you use a certain brush, the more you get used to each other and the more you appreciate it. You get used to the way it feels in your hand and you gradually figure out how much pressure to apply and at what angle to hold it to achieve a certain effect. If you feel comfortable with a brush from the start, you can be sure that this feeling will increase and that you will become better and better at using the brush.
But to enjoy your painting and drawing materials for a long time, you need to take good care of them - and brushes are no exception!
Our tips for maintaining brushes:
- Always rinse your brushes immediately and thoroughly with water after use!
- If the paint clumps have dried a bit and won't rinse out, try brushing them out with a comb.
- When you wash your brushes with soap, you “paint” with the soap on your palm, allowing the soap to penetrate deep into the hair.
- After washing, let the brushes dry in a dark and dry place, too much sunlight or humidity is not good for the material. This also applies to storing when the brush is not inuse.
These were the tips from Painting by Numbers Expert, where we answered what exactly you need to know before buying brushes. Have fun with your artwork!
