subject: How to Choose the right brush for oil painting [print this page] How to Choose the right brush for oil painting
Brushes come in four basic shapes: filbert, flat, bright, and round (see Figure 8-1). Each makes a distinct mark and is useful, so get one of each! Check out the following list for more info on each brush:
Filbert: Paint natural organic forms, leaves, clouds, and living things with this brush.
Flat: Paint large areas of color, geometric forms, square corners, and clean crisp edges; or make blocky marks for a cubist manner of painting.
Bright: This brush is shorter and stubbier and holds less paint than a flat, but you use it in a similar manner.
Round: You can use this brush like a filbert, but it's also great for drawing lines.
In addition to the basic shapes, you may also be enticed by some fancy brushes and even brushes that aren't intended for oil painting at all. Cosmetic brushes may even find their way into your box. Many artists use unorthodox tools to get the job done. Here are some of the not-so-basic tools that you may want to try:
Fan brushes: Use these brushes for fine blending. They aren't absolutely necessary for blending, but many artists find them useful.
Extra long filberts: These brushes make very loose, expressive marks.
Watercolor brushes: Although they aren't made for oil paint and the solvent eventually damages the fibers, some artists use them anyway.
Stencil brushes: Chubby and round, you can use a stencil brush for dry brush.
House painting brushes: These come in large sizes for big projects. Latex house painting brushes are great to apply gesso when you're preparing your canvas. House painting brushes can be used for blending and dry brush as well.
Foam brushes: These brushes aren't made for fine art painting, but you can use them to pick up excess paint and for dry brush.
Painting knives: A painting knife is a palette knife that's more rigid. Use it to pick up paint and apply it to the canvas like a trowel. Painting knives come in various shapes and sizes.
We recommend that you get only china bristle brushes. They have stiff, off-white bristles. They're tough and no-nonsense and stand up to the abuse of a rookie painter. After you've painted for a while, try out some of these other types of fibers that are available:
Sable: Use these for soft blends. They're delicate and need more care than bristle, but they create a quieter kind of mark, or no mark at all.
Synthetic brushes: These brushes come in soft fibers similar to the natural sable, as well as stronger fibers. They aren't as tough as natural bristle, but they aren't as soft as sables either. They behave much like sables, but they're a bit more durable.
A soft bristle brush, whether natural sable or synthetic, allows you to make soft gradual blends and work with more delicacy. Only you can decide whether this is a key part of the way you paint.
Once upon a time, using synthetic brushes with oil paint wasn't recommended. The solvent damaged the synthetic fibers, and the brushes ended up bald or hard as a rock. Synthetics were for acrylic only. Now, the new synthetic bristles are tough and as long lasting as hog bristle. But always check when you buy them to make sure that your brushes are designed for oil painting.
