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.

A Study

I’ve been working on big canvases lately. Big canvases are imposing, sometimes daunting. They are also expensive, and require layers and layers of oil paint, which is also expensive.

With all this pressure, big canvases can become a chore. To alleviate the stress, I’ve begun some oil studies. These are sketches in oil, and I’m doing them is an exercise of sorts. It’s also an exorcise, hashing out all the ideas keeping up late at night.

This little one is 8x10”, and while I won’t be using the image in a larger painting, it led me a step closer to the heart of what I’m trying to convey. I have several more studies in the works. The rest will be larger, so I don’t have to paint with a teeny brush. Teeny brushes restrict my freedom of movement, and I loose some expression in the process.

I’d write about what I’m trying to convey, but I’m still hashing that out. It’s been weeks now, where I write every day, and stay up working through sleepless nights. I’m crystallizing themes I’ve been painting my whole life, and trying to express them in a more direct matter. This one touches on dreams, fairy tales, and castle walls, with a bit of fashion thrown in. I’m not entirely happy with it-but it’s just a study, and that’s the beauty of this process.

As an artist (as a human), it’s important to challenge yourself to break out of old habits, and jump into new territory. Push harder, and learn as much as you can in the process. You may not come up with the masterpiece of your lifetime, but you will always break new ground. Paint on!

Whoa, honey...don't go in there.

Part 1

Yesterday, I participated in my first art festival. I plan to do these things full-time next year (12-18 shows), so it’s a milestone.

First, let me explain a bit. In order to enter fine art shows, you need to send an application 6 months, to a year ahead of the show date. Included in that show entry, you need a “booth picture”. This photo is a picture of your art tent, fully set up at a show. This is an important part of entry, because it determines weather or not you’ll even get in. These shows are strictly juried, and many enter year after year without getting in.

Did I mention it costs big bucks too? I just paid $600 for a 10x10’ space in San Diego later this year. Fees can easily be in the thousands! That’s not even factoring in gas and hotel stays. Let’s not think about that right now.

Back to the booth picture. Since I’ll need to enter shows so far in advance, I bought my tent months ago, just to get that little booth photo. That’s a big leap of faith. I didn’t want to start small either. I’ve been showing paintings for a long time, and I know presentation is important. I want to play with the big boys. I’m cannon-balling into the icy deep end. This means I need a monster tent with all the bells and whistles. It’s heavy. It’s hard to set up, and I’ve got to learn how to transport and maneuver this thing all by myself.

Yesterday’s show was a local show in Cambria. This was a dinky one-day show, part of Cambria’s heritage day celebration. I found out about it from a Craigslist ad and entered because it was cheap, and close-by. I don't expect to sell any paintings, but hope to break even with a few prints and card sales. This show gives me a chance to test drive my tent before the 3-day shows later this year.

My little Nissan Xterra was loaded a day ahead. This was tricky, because I didn’t even know if everything would fit in the SUV. The other tricky part was maneuvering the heavy, awkward tent poles down my stairway of doom. After stealing all my paintings and prints out of Vihuela winery, I tried to squeeze them into the car without damaging the canvas. It was tricky, but I managed to do it.

I'm only showing nudes at this show because I want to present a cohesive body of work, which means I need to pick a series and go with it. So I’ll show nudes in San Francisco, abstracts in Palm Springs and landscapes in the suburbs. I won’t know what works until I actually do a show, but at least I have flexibility when I enter. (i.e., I was just denied entrance into show because they don’t want nudes, then re-entered with my landscapes and got in).

Back to the Cambria show… I barely sleep the night before. Lists are floating around in my head. I still need to remember to pack the tent instructions.

The next morning, I forget the tent instructions. Luckily, there are a few practice set-ups under my belt and the poles are marked with color-coded Sharpies. I get to the site on time. It’s 8:00 in the morning, and everything needs to be up by 10:00. Jeff is helping with this show, so we finish 30 minutes ahead of time. My anticipated tears of frustration never show.

Whew! Here it is, all set up:

and me, trying to look awake...


Stay tuned for Part 2!