Brush graveyard
My brush graveyard is getting too big. I throw out most of my worn-out brushes. I’ve also been known to snap in two misbehaving brushes. Those I also throw out. But my favorites I inter into the graveyard after distinguished service. I started pruning the graveyard to make room. Having a lot of brushes extends
Sable brushes
Sable brushes are the best. There’s no debate about this. Sure, there are some use cases where the benefits of sable are irrelevant. The fine control provided by sables is lost on large-format oil paintings, for example. So on large paintings, why go to the expense? And–oh boy!–sable brushes are expensive. I paid $60+ over
Bristle brushes
Even though I sometimes disparage bristle brushes, I use them all the time. I use them for medium or broad passages–not for finer areas. Like most students, I was taught that real painters used bristles (‘hogs’), and the bigger the better. Of course, this only led to frustration on those times when I worked on
Where am I?
I haven’t posted in a month and some readers might be wondering if anything is up. Nope. A vacation mixed-in with some other business has kept me away from my brushes. Breaks can be good; we all need to recharge our batteries. But I am not a vacation-type guy. The thought of spending a day–let
Turpentine diaries 5/19/18
The morning session with Agamemnon and Orestes was slow and easy. With a large painting like this (44″ x 60″), I use hog bristle brushes for most of the work. Today I used 5s and 6s. You can see some of them on the easel table. I always dip my brushes in oil when I
Dead brush
The poor old thing finally gave up the ghost. I knocked the Pearl brand in my Brush Reference, but this old brush kept its usefulness for a long time. The once mighty Pearl Paints has been gone for–what?–5 years. I placed the brush alone on the palette for this photo. I was using it on the
How I paint: mediums and thinners
This photo shows painting cups in front of my custom-made palette. I always use this selection of mediums and solvents when I paint. In the left-most container is my medium. My medium is very drying which means, among other things, that it is very rough on brush heads. Not only does it dry out the brush hairs,
Synthetic brushes
I wrote about my antipathy toward synthetic brushes. This photo illustrates the point I made in the linked post. The four synthetic brushes on the left are old and misshapen. In my experience, synthetics quickly lose their shape and become good for little other than effects or glazes. The best thing about them, by far, is their cheap price. But this