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Until the end of the 17th century, artists made their own painting tools. Therefore, the old masters always had to have excellent skills in brush making. It was not until the 18th century that artists specialized and brushes were made by other people.
Nowadays brushes are made by machine in the factory or still by hand by a brush maker. The latter especially applies to brushes that have to meet particularly high standards. The profession of brush and brush maker requires a three-year training course. The training is recognized by the state and is dual. This means that, in addition to the practical content in the company, the student also receives basic theoretical knowledge at a vocational school.
Hint: Most brush bristles are made from animal hair. Do you want to paint in an animal-friendly way? Then use synthetic brushes. We at Painting by Numbers Expert useonly synthetic brushes for painting numbers.
The Artist's Brush - A Masterpiece of Craftsmanship
An artist's brush has special characteristics. This is the result of careful craftsmanship, which gives each brush its unique properties. Brushes are very different and each brush shape corresponds to a certain painting technique.
The watercolor brush, as an example, has a short handle. It has a full body of hair that tapers to a strong and fine point. Acrylic brushes have a long handle. The tip is flat or round. Because acrylic paint dries quickly, acrylic brushes must provide high resilience, good shape retention and excellent durability. Oil paint brushes also have a long handle.
Flat brushes are used for flat applications. Round brushes, on the other hand, are suitable for details and drawings. The cat tongue brush combines the features and benefits of the flat and round brush.
The work of a brush maker is divided into4 steps
- Portioning the hair according to the brush body
- Shaping the brush body
- Pressing it into the metal frame, which will later be connected to the brush handle.
- Gluing the brush into the frame
When brushes are made by hand, the brush maker takes an appropriate amount of synthetic fibers or animal hair or pig bristles cut to the correct length, depending on the size of the brush.
He then puts them in a suitable metal cylinder that is closed at the bottom. The cylinder becomestapped on a work surface until all hairs or fibers touch the ground. Now the brush maker removes the strand from the cylinder and inserts it into a loop of wire. Then he pulls the loop tight and twists the strand between his fingers. This ensures that the strand forms a point.
The strand is tightly wrapped with another loop of thread. It is then inserted into the sleeve with which it will later be attached to the brush handle. The sleeve is a suitably shaped, often cylindrical or conical metal sleeve into which the tuft must fit snugly. The tuft is glued into the sleeve with an adhesive. The sleeve is then slid onto the handle and, if necessary, compressed.
The fan brush gets its special shape through the last action of the brush maker: the sleeve is flattened at the front with the pliers. The hair is the cornerstone of the brush. Red sable hair is the most valuable brush hair. It iscomes from the tail of a marten that lives in the basins of the Siberian rivers Amur, Tobol, Ob, Lena and Ussuri.
There are countless different alternatives in brush making, such as:
- Tail hair of Russian or Polish polecat
- Squirrel tail hair
- Hair from the hind legs of Japanese ponies
- Hair from cows' ears
The strong brush hairs of Chinese pigs are excellent for oil paintings.
Processing of natural hair using the example of the sable tail
First, the marten's tail is freed of its heavy fat during a cleaning process. The golden shiny hairs are cut from the rib and soaked. Then dried at a high temperature.
The dried hair must rest for a while before being placed next to and on top of each other. The natural variations in length and colour of the tails are therefore mixed. A mixing machine is then used for a uniform composition. The plucking machine sorts the hair by length. This sorting is critical because not every hair length is suitable for every brush size.
Finally, the printer prepares the hair so that it is ready for the brush maker: the hair is stuck upside down with the point downwards in a copper box, until all the points have reached the bottom. Then it is wrapped with a thread.
