On Brushes

Introduction

When I lived on the Wirral in the 1980s, I was lucky enough to live close to an art shop called Tapley's run by the very knowledgeable Irene Brown. One day I was chatting to her and mentioned that, no matter how careful I was, my brushes didn't last very long; be they sable or synthetic. She reached under the counter and produced a small box of "special" brushes from Isabey of France. This was my introduction to the wonders of Kolinsky sable brushes: I've never looked back.

Current situation

Decades later I've still using Isabey brushes, but my main source of Kolinsky sable brushes has shifted to Rosemary's Brushes.

I now mainly use a short handled 2/0 Series 33 Pointed Round brush. Occasionally I have to trim stray hairs, because I'm not incredibly careful, but preversely this helps maintain the point. I used to use short handled 2/0 & 3/0 Series 323 Spotters. The former was my previous "workhorse" brush, but I now prefer the longer body of the Series 33. I still use the 3/0 for certain detailed work.

These brushes are not cheap at £6.50 to £7.15 each at the time of writing. It gets expensive as I order two or three at a time because I always like to have a new brush or two in reserve.

Longevity

As I said, these brushes last many months of nearly daily use. It helps that I clean my brushes with soap after each session plus, after I've been using a brush for a while, I use hair conditioner to help restore the point.

Their deterioration is so slow it's sometimes hard to know when to "retire" a brush and start using a new one. However, once retired, these brushes go on to give months of service for things like basing & dry brushing.

In my view they are excellent value despite the high purchase price.

A big change

A couple of year's ago I bought a mixed pack of Pro Arte seconds at a show; just to try at some point. Last week, whilst I was struggling with some really fine detail, I finally tried the 5/0 brush from the pack. As noted above, my previous experience with synthetic brushes has been poor, but I've been impressed by the Pro Arte brush.

The synthetic fibres give a much firmer feel which was ideal for the fine detail I was attempting. The body carries more paint than the spotters I have, and I liked that the brush was lighter with a slimmer handle and ferrule.

Most importantly, the point hasn't curled over after a week of constant use; it's just started to but is still usable. If it lasts another week or two I'll be happy.

The Kolinsky sable brushes are still my main brushes. It would take a lot for me to give up their fine point and flexibility. Nothing beats them for creating fine lines, and shapes with clean edges. However, I think I'll continue to use the 5/0 Pro Arte brushes for fiddly highlighting: it just seems quicker.

Bulk buying

I do not expect the Pro Arte brushes to keep their point for very long and I will probably get through quite a few a year. This has two consequences: I should buy in bulk and pay as little as possible.

I knew that ABCbrushes are an outlet for Pro Arte seconds as I've seen their stock at shows. However, for obvious commercial reasons, they do not advertise the brushes as Pro Arte seconds. They sell "unbranded", generic synthetic brushes.

After a bit of checking, I bought 10 5/0s from ABCbrushes via eBay for £11.98 delivered. At this price they are effectively disposable and I will be treating them as such.

If you want to search for branded stock the full description is "5/0 Pro Arte Series 60, Masterstroke, Prolon Miniature brushes". The best deal I found was £1.70 each plus £3.00 delivery compared to a RRP of £2.50 each.

Closing remarks

As with all things: only time will tell if this change is permanent. It may be the improvement I think it is going to be. Then again it may not work out for reasons as yet unknown. Either way I'll keep you posted.