A Fan of the Fan Brush

  This entry was originally posted on Monday, June 4, 2012

A synthetic fan brush works great for making grass.

They can usually be found in the acrylic section of your local art store.

The synthetic ones separate nicer than the real hair brushes which makes for better grass.

Go Bigger

   This entry was originally posted on Tuesday, May 1, 2012

This may seem obvious but the bigger the painting, or the bigger the area to cover,
the bigger the brush.

That doesn't mean that you need to stick with the big brush through the whole painting.
Just use it to cover a large area quickly before you do your detail work.

Use Your Biggest Brush

   This entry was originally posted on Monday, April 30, 2012

When I started to work small, I discovered not only how satisfying it can be 

but that I became a better watercolorist.

Prior to doing these sketches and studies, I had always just used a #6 brush.

For everything.

I wanted to break free from that #6.

 

Another guideline I gave myself for these small paintings was to use my biggest brush.

My biggest brush at that time was a #12.

What a difference it has made to my painting!

In fact I love using a big brush so much that I have gone even bigger (#30!) for when I do my large pieces.

 

So pull out that big brush and paint away.

If you don't have one, be sure to invest in one with a good point.

 

In the Belly of the Brush

   This entry was originally posted on Thursday, April 19, 2012

In Saturday's post, I discussed that when painting wet-in-wet, it is important to have more paint in your brush than water. 

Sometimes what happens when you rinse out your brush and then dip your brush into your paint, a drop of water likes it hide in the belly of your brush.

This drop of water will sit there until the most inopportune time.

Then it will come rushing forth into your beautiful wet-in-wet wash, pushing everything out of its way, and create a bloom.

Yikes!

 

To avoid this from happening, tap that beast of a water drop out of your brush onto your towel.

 

It helps to tap out some excess water from rinsing before picking up the paint.

Then you can also tap the belly of the brush onto the towel after picking up your paint. If you tap just the belly, it will catch that water drop, leaving the paint behind on the tip, ready to help you create a masterpiece.

 

Sunday Secret's #13

   This entry was originally posted on Sunday, April 15, 2012

This week's Sunday Secrets comes from Lorraine in Surrey, BC.

Her question is "What do you use a mop brush for?"

Thanks, Lorraine. That is a good question.

 

A mop brush is a natural hair brush made from squirrel hair. It is very absorbent, holding a lot of water and paint. It is also a soft brush. In fact it is so soft that it becomes floppy when loaded with paint which makes it difficult for painting fine detail. 

 

A mop brush is great for putting down large washes of color and or water quickly and loosely. 

It is good for skies and for a quick undercoat of diluted color. 
Just remember floppy and sloppy.

 

Watercolor artists such as Joseph Zbukvic and Sandhu Singh use a mop brush to block in large washes of color before they begin to paint detail. 

 

Losing Hair

 This entry was originally posted on Monday, April 2, 2012 

 

Sometimes you get a brush that is losing its hair.
Or you have a dog that likes to shed.
Either way, you might end up with hair in your beautiful wash.
It can only be removed when the paper is really wet or if it is completely dry.
If you try to remove the hair while the paper is in between those two stages, you will ruin your wash.
When it is really wet, take another brush and try to carefully lift or push it out.
If you have missed that opportunity, wait for it to dry, and then brush it off.

How To Apply Masking Fluid

 This entry was originally posted on Friday, February 17, 2012

Since masking fluid is so temperamental it can be difficult to work with. 

One important thing to remember is to never, ever use your good brushes with it.

It will ruin them. 

Instead, use an inexpensive brush found at your local craft store or dollar store.

My preference is for a long, thin, rigger type brush.

My reasoning for this is that when the masking fluid dries, it clumps up at the base and splays the hairs out.

If you have a bigger brush, the splay gets bigger and more cumbersome to work with.

My other reason is that if it clumps up on the end, I can just snip it off and I still have a brush to work with.

When using a brush, keep a jar of soapy water close by.

Dip your brush into the soapy water before you dip it into the masking fluid. 

The soap coats the hairs on the brush and keeps the masking fluid from clumping up as quickly.

Continue to dip it into the soapy water throughout the application. How often do you do this? I will usually dip it back in and swish it around in the soapy water when I feel the brush start to drag across the paper. 

 

There are other tools that I use to apply masking fluid which I will tell you more about throughout the rest of the week.

Where Did I Put My Brush?!!

 This entry was originally posted on Saturday, January 14, 2012.

I am constantly losing my brushes. I put the big one down to use the little one. Then I put that one down to use a scrub brush. Then I go back to the big one and it has rolled somewhere under my painting or my palette or off the table. Ugh! I feel like I spend more time looking for my brushes than actually painting.

Then a friend suggested that I cut notches into the top of my water container. And viola! no more lost brushes! (That is if I remember to put it back into the notch).

The Best Scrub Brush

 This entry was originally posted on Thursday, January 12, 2012.

Sometimes that hard edge is just too stubborn for the synthetic brush.

That is when the big gun needs to come out.

It is THE SCRUB BRUSH

(not to be confused with the soft synthetic scrub brush, of course)

Mine is similar to the Fritch Scrubber that is sold at art stores as a very special scrub brush.

 I once left my Fritch in the water and the handle cracked (oops!) then I lost it (probably on purpose),

then I found myself in Canada with no suppliers of Fritch Scrubbers. Oh no!

What to do?!!! I panicked!! Okay, not really cuz that would be breaking my third rule.

Instead I found a brush that was among my oil brushes but had never been used. It was a hog's hair bristle type brush. And I cut off the end and made it look like my Fritch Scrubber. Only I discovered that it worked better. Ha!

 So you don't need any special brand of brush. Any type of hard brush will work. Just cut off the tip and you can scrub away those little mistakes.

Soft Scrub Brush

 This entry was originally posted on Wednesday, January 11, 2012.

Sometimes you want to soften an edge that has dried or lift a color just slightly. An old synthetic round watercolor brush works great for times such as these.

It is also good for mixing large puddles of paint and you don't want to ruin the tip on your beautiful, expensive kolinsky sable.

Rigger Brush

Rigger Brush Illustration

This illustration is mostly seen as a painting in the book since it is only a portion of the illustration.

However, I have shown the combination of the photo and painting above and will show the fully painted version and the original photo.

Here is the painting:

And here is the photo: