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Studio Art
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Oil painting is a messy business.
You will find that most of the materials involved in oil painting are
expendable; paint, rags, solvents, mediums. In fact, you may even ruin
some clothes in the process. Just about the only tools worth protecting
are your paintbrushes. Most artists find their brushes invaluable, as
they eventually begin to hold dear a favorite brush or two. Moreover,
brushes tend to be expensive, and being the only indispensable tools in
oil painting it is imperative you choose good quality brushes and take
excellent care of them. Real or Synthetic?... As with
everything relevant to oil painting, there is a large variety of brushes
available in order to suit many different needs. Your first choice will
be an easy one, real hair or synthetic. Brushes made of real hair are
more expensive, but worth it in the long run as they last longer and perform
better. The most commonly used types of hair for oil paintbrushes are
hog hair and sable. Hog brushes are thought to be ideal for oils because
of the thicker nature of the paint and the roughness of the canvas. However,
some prefer sable brushes for the smooth texture it allows, and synthetic
brushes are arguably just as good for those people who tend to abuse their
brushes.
Quality... Once you've chosen
what type of bristles you prefer, you should start to identify the well-made
brushes and avoid the poorly crafted ones. Cheap brushes can be recognized
with only one stamp on the ferrule, or metal at the base of the bristles.
Be sure to choose brushes with at least two stamps, otherwise the bristles
will fall out over time. Loose bristles are especially frustrating when
they drag themselves into the paint as you are applying it to the canvas.
Shapes and Sizes... Now is the
fun part, choosing shapes and sizes. Different head shapes facilitate
different marks while painting. There are so many to choose from, some
indigenous to the manufacturer, but the most common and universal shapes
are; rounds, flats, brights, fans, liners, and shaders. Below is a description
of each:
A. Rounds are pointed at the
tip and useful for detail work, touching in small areas, and applying
well thinned paint.
B. Flats are rectangular in
profile with a chisel edge, useful for applying thick creamy paint for
strong stroke definition and impasto work.
C. Brights or Filberts are broader
than rounds and curve gently to a point. They are useful for strong tapering
strokes.
D. Fans are broad and thin,
shaped like a fan, and are useful for creating feathering and other textured
effects with the paint.
E. Liners are thin and narrowly
pointed, and are ideal for script lining and detailed work.
F. Shaders are a cross between
a flat and a filbert, made to allow for easy seamless shading of colours
on the painting.
Size is relative to the surface
area you will be painting, and is mostly subjective. Many artists live
by the belief that you should use the largest brush that would most effectively
cover the area you are currently working on. In other words, do not use
a tiny size #1 liner brush for a vast area of color. Unless there is a
special effect (like pointillism) you would like to achieve, it is ideal
to keep your brushstrokes well proportioned to the surface area. A good
rule of thumb is to pick up a good variety of sizes of the same brush,
until you are sure you need a specific size.
The Handle... You will also
notice that paintbrushes come with different size handles from very long
to very short. The longer handles allow the artist to paint at a reasonable
distance from the picture. Although it is mostly your own preference at
stake, you may notice a longer handle will work better in certain situations
than a shorter one. I've found that shorter handles are great for detail
work requiring a steady hand, and longer ones better for expressionistic
painting.
Caring for your Brushes... Brushes
will last many years if cared for the right way. Most importantly, you
must clean them correctly after every painting session. First wipe off
excess colour with a rag. Rinse the brush in solvent like mineral spirits
or Turpenoid, and then wash with warm water and dishwashing liquid until
all the colour has rinsed out completely. Finally, shape the bristles
to the original shape, dry the handle, and stand the brush head side up
to dry.
There are brush conditioners
and other cleaning products available that boast sensitivity to the bristles.
I find that an effective household remedy to soften bristles is to moisturize
the bristles with generic hand cream while reshaping the brush after cleaning.
Friends for a Lifetime... Even
though I have been in the past an offender of abusing my paintbrushes,
it is true that your brushes can become trustworthy friends in your painting
for up to a lifetime. If anything, be sure to never leave your paintbrushes
sitting in a jar of solvents, and always clean them after use. If you're
like me in that you might go through a favorite brush or two a little
too quickly, be sure to keep notes of which ones suit you best; the manufacturer,
size, shape, material. In the long run you'll appreciate the time and
effort needed to care for your precious little painting tools.
Reprinted with the kind permission
of the author
Copyright Susan Wenz-Denise,
2001. Please do not copy in any manner, print or electronic, without permission
from the author.
About the
Author: Susan Wenz-Denise is a fine artist
with a BFA degree in Studio Art, and a minor concentration in Art History.
She attended the College of New Rochelle in New Rochelle. NY for Studio
Art where her painting skills were refined and her conceptual sensitivities
matured. Since graduating she has exhibited a series of her work in two
NYC galleries and is now working on a new series of oil paintings. She
plans to begin exhibiting again by Autumn 2001. She is also a contributing
editor at Suite
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