An Artist's Guide to Brushes

A professor and his wife visited my studio last year. He stared at my brush collection and was appalled. “You paint with those?” I told him some of them were over 20 years old, and his wife chided him, “See, honey, you don’t need to spend so much money on brushes”.

I’ve accumulated a sad set of brushes over the years. None of them cost over $10. Some were purchased at an auction 5 years ago in Boston. It was an artist’s estate and I bought his used easel, paints and brushes for $15. Lucky for me, his brushes were much higher quality than the ones I purchase. I still use them, though they are beginning to disintegrate.

I purchase a new brush every few months, use it until it’s a stump, then buy a new one. The way I figure it, if I can paint this well with crap brushes, life will be a whole lot easier when I get some good ones. Good brushes are a distant dream, lumped into my hopes of someday taking a vacation, or buying new clothes or a fancy new van to take me to shows. Until then, I’ll make do with what I have.

Some old relics

The three stages of a detail brush

Most of my brushes are synthetic. I’ve been told oil painters should only use natural hair brushes, but they cost 3x as much. You don't need them. I use flats and filberts, in different sizes. Fans, angle brushes and mops are useless. I rinse them with turpentine, then soap and warm water. When I accidentally let paint dry on them, a brush restorer works magic getting them back in order. Over time, a flat brush turns into nice, bushy blending brush. A new detail brush eventually becomes a stump that can be used for applying little spots of paint.

Having quality brushes will make painting easier, but if you are on a budget, I suggest spending money on quality paint. Below are my latest paintings, all painted with my beat-up brush collection.

Billy Holiday, commissioned portrait 30x40"


Pomegranate-SOLD

3 new Mini paintings, 4x4" available for $55 each plus shipping on Etsy.

Work in Progress

Works in Progress


I’m always hesitant to post works in progress. It’s a double-edged sword. Incomplete paintings aren’t the best they could be. Yet, it’s important for me to show how paintings are created, and the crazy journey they sometimes take.

When I start working on a painting, I see what it will be. In my excitement, I’ve often shown people my new (sloppy mess of a) painting, not realizing they don’t see what I do.
This becomes a big issue when working on commissions. I’ve learned it’s best to reveal a commissioned work when it’s complete, for my own piece of mind. I say this, because there’s nothing more suffocating to one’s creative juices than a client looking over your shoulder making recommendations.

That said, I’m breaking my own rules today, and posting two commissions I’ve been working on. They are part of a series on iconic women, all 30x40” in size.

Marilyn

Marilyn has been a struggle for me. Part of me wants to really destroy it, and do something bold, brushy and drippy. Another part of me wants to make it glowing and pristine. I’m leaning toward the pristine, but I wish I could do two of them.

Billy Holiday

Billy is just in the beginning phase, I think I’ll be able to do a nice balance here, and won’t be overly tight in the rendering.