The Mystery of Brushes Revealed

By: Jillybean Fitzhenry

Topics Covered:

>Anatomy of a Brush
>Brush Uses
>Synthetic & Natural Soft Hair Brushes
>Bristle Brushes
>Selecting the right brush

Anatomy of a Brush
 

Anatomy of a Brush	Anatomy of a Brush Hair
		No Belly
	Types of Natural Hair with fine Points: Kolinsky Sable tail Hair Weasel tail (red sable hair) Mongoose hair Badger hair	Types of Hair with a Cylindrical shape Ox ear hair Pony goat hair Nylon (Synthetic)

Angular brush
Use the brush to float and double load colours, or create ruffled petals and leaves. The long tip of the brush makes it easier to add colour into tight corners.

Filbert Brush
Use this brush to fill rounded areas and make rounded strokes, petals and leaves.

Glaze/ Wash Brush
Large flat brushes are usually called a glaze or wash brush. Small flats are called shaders. Use a wash brush to basecoat backgrounds. Hold the brush at a 45 degree angle when basecoating. Start in the center of the area to avoid ridges on the edge. The wash brush can make the same types of strokes as the shader except on a much larger scale.

Shader / Flat
Use a flat shader for stroke work and basecoating square objects.

Round Brush
Use a round brush to apply colours in medium to small areas. Create broad lines, stroke work and fill rounded areas.

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Liner brush
Use this brush to outline edges, add details, thin lines, eyelashes, etc.

Thin lines
For thin lines dilute the paint with 50% water. Pull the brush tip through the thinned paint while twirling the brush tip to a sharp point. Hold the brush at a 90 degree angle. Applying pressure will make thick lines and no pressure for extra thin lines. Use a liner for thin lines and a script liner for extra long thin lines.

Script brush
Use this brush when extra long thin lines are required. This is like a long liner brush. The longer bristles will hold more paint and make longer continuous lines. This brush is also used to paint script type lettering that is long and flowing.

Comb & Filbert Comb Brush
Use this brush to make multiple thin lines in one stroke. These brushes are used to paint Santa beards, angel wings, hair, animal fur and grass. It is also used to make texture lines in wood, barns, basket weave etc. The filbert Comb will make varied starting and stopping points while the regular comb is more even.

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Bristle Round
Use this brush to draw the main lines or subject of the painting on the canvas. The width and shape of the lines can be varied by the amount of pressure applied. They are also used to blend small areas and add details.
 

Bristle Bright
The bristles in this brush are shorter and firmer than in a flat. The extra firmness makes it easy to apply or push around thick amount of paint. This brush will leave a square impression in the paint. Use the chisel edge fot he brush with very light pressure to pull thin lines. The paint may need to be thinned slightly for long thin lines.

Bristle Flat

The bristles in this brush are long which gives them more elasticity. This makes it easier to apply colours into a wet area without digging into the wet area. A wide range of strokes can be achieved by varying the amount of pressure used.

Bristle Filbert

The unique rounded edges of this type of flat brush will leave softer edges than a regular bristle flat. It creates a thin line when pulled sideways and becomes a thick stroke by turnign the brush slightly. The rounded tips can create cloud forms and other rounded shapes such as flower petals.

Bristle & Soft Hair Fan Brushes
These are used dry to gently blend wet colours. The stiff bristle fans can be dragged through heavy paint for textured effects or use the tips to stipple trees, foliage etc. The soft hair fans are used to blend colours delicately without digging into the wet paint.
 

Soft Hair Brushes

	Hair Types
	Soft	Medium	Medium/Stiff	Stiff
Synthetic	Majestic Royal Garden Royal Knight	Aqualon Sunburst White Taklon Golden Taklon	Snowhite Fusion	White Taklon Fabric Scrubbers
Natural	Nocturna Pure Red Sable Natural Camel Hair	Combo Royal Sable		Supreme Regis Natural Bristle Stencil Brushes
Large Area	Brown hair (Pony) Goat Hair			Bristle

Based on the surfaces
The basic rule is to use soft brushes on smooth surfaces and stiff brushes on porous surfaces.

 
Based on Paints and Medium
The basic rule is to use soft brushes with thin mediums and stiff brushes with thick mediums. There is always an exception to the rule when creating special effects.
 

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