Help!

My Brush is Dried Out! New Tip: Did you let your brush dry with paint all over it? First, you need to remember the rule to clean your brushes immediately after working! Second, there is a way to get your brush back in working order with something you most likely have in your home already! If you have liquid fabric softener, try soaking your paint-caked brush in it for awhile to loosen up any paint. After you have allowed it to soak and soften, simply rinse it and wash with soap and water for a nice clean brush!

Hold Onto to That Brush!

A painter does not hold his paintbrush one specific way all of the time. He also doesn’t just grasp his brush like he would if he was writing a letter and holding his pen to do so. A painter can hold his brush in several different ways to get several different results. If he holds the brush near the bristles like a pen or a pencil he will get the artist very detailed results. If the artist holds the paintbrush higher up on the brush will get the artist a completely different result. If you purchase long handled paintbrushes you can try holding your paintbrush several different ways while painting to see which one you like the best.

Popular Paintbrush Shapes

Brushes come in a variety of shapes and each are better used for a specific painting purpose than another. A round brush is actually more pointed and used for very detailed painting, such as making words or letters. A flat shaped brush is used for putting paint on something quick and even. A bright shaped brush is actually a flat brush that has very hard or stiff bristles and is a good way to put paint into the canvas weave when working with a thinner paint. A rigger is a round brush with long bristles and traditionally is used for fine lines and when painting with an oil based paint or with a watercolor.

Caring for Your Brushes

A true artist takes care of his supplies, including his brushes. Taking care of your artist brushes isn’t difficult and it can help save you money. If you aren’t taking care of your brushes, most likely you will need to purchase new ones sooner than you would if your brushes were well cared for. Therefore, when you are done working on a piece of artwork, don’t forget to rinse out your paint brushes immediately. Don’t leave your brushes sitting in a cup of water or cleaner, this will only harm your brushes in the long run, and don’t forget to store all of your brushes so that they are laying flat.

What Do These Numbers Mean?

Every paintbrush you purchase will have a number associated with it. Every number on every paintbrush stands for something. The numbers on the brush usually are found in mm or inches and usually represent the width of the paintbrush’s head. An artist’s brush usually is represented by numbered sizes 000 to 20 as the most common artist brush size. A very fine brush would be the size of 20/0 but brushes this fine are not commonly used.

Picking the Right Brush for the Job

When choosing your brush to work with you must think before you paint! If you are painting something that requires a lot of detailed work than you won’t want to paint with a fan paintbrush because those types of brushes are for working with a larger surface. Instead you will want to choose a brush that is made for detailed work, such as a round brush. It also works the other way, if you are painting a large surface and you want to cover it quickly, you certainly wouldn’t use a brush made for detailing. Instead you would choose a brush that allows you to paint larger surfaces in a quick amount of time, such as a flat brush.

How Many Paintbrushes Do I Need?

Artists do not typically use just one paintbrush all the time. In reality artists need several different paintbrushes in all shapes and sizes in order to create a masterpiece. If you are just starting out in the painting world, pick paintbrushes of all sizes. You will need large and small and something in-between! Surgeons typically use several different sizes of scalpels when operating, an artist is no different- he needs different size tools for his operation also!

Artist Brush Bristle Choices

Artists have a wide array of choices for what bristle type they want on their paintbrushes. You can buy a paintbrush made with camel hair. Camel hair bristles don’t actually come from a camel however. Camel hair paintbrushes are actually made with leftover hair from other types of brushes. Way to recycle, art industry! Camel hair paintbrushes are one of the most popular types of paintbrush bristle on the market today. Another type of hair available on paintbrushes is squirrel hair. This type of brush will hold your paint in it for long amounts of time and will create a paint job that is very concise and smooth looking. You can also purchase paintbrushes made from the hair of an ox, a pig’s ear and a goat. All these types of hair will create a different result when compared to the other. Sable brushes are a very popular choice in brushes today. They are considered quite strong and make wonderful marks as you use them. It all comes down to what you prefer to use as an artist.

What is a Synthetic Brush?

Many artists prefer to use animal bristle brushes, but many don’t. Some choose to use a synthetic artist brush. Synthetic brushes are brushes with synthetic hair that is very similar to animal hair, but much more affordable. Synthetic brushes are easier to clean because they don’t hold the paint as much as natural hair brushes and they are often more durable and harder to damage than natural hair artist’s brushes.