ArtBistro

How To >> Browse Articles >> 2-Dimensional Art Materials

Essential Artist Brush Care

All brushes wear out. Just like a favorite pair of shoes, just when they’re most comfortable, they fail you. Despite the intense affection all painters feel for their brushes, we seem to treat them much less well than they deserve. With a minimum of care, brushes can last much longer, and perform like new for a good deal more sessions than most of us are currently experiencing. The number one way to maintain good brushes is to keep them clean.

Pigment particles are actually rock and mineral powder, with sharp, albeit microscopic jagged edges. When left in the brush without a lubricating vehicle, they saw back and forth at brush hairs, chopping them down like tiny axes. An accumulation of residue at the ferrule is where this happens; this condition also bloats out a brush to the appearance of an old broom.

Mixing paint on the palette with the brush is a nasty habit we all indulge. In the immediacy of the act of painting, we forget what the palette knife is for- mixing piles of color on the palette. Mixing with the brush jams paint deep into the ferrule, making it difficult to clean. Moreover, it taints your colors, and makes it impossible to mix the same hue twice. Return to mixing with the knife, and see the improvement in your mixtures.

Leaving brushes to soak in water or thinner will dry out the hairs and make them prone to breaking, and permanently bend the ends. For late-night painting sessions to be followed by more work in the morning, it’s better to wrap the brush heads in aluminum foil to keep oil brushes fresh, or with plastic wrap for acrylics. When a proper washing is not going to happen, watercolor brushes should be rinsed, blotted and laid flat to dry.

If your brushes have a sanded-down appearance, it’s because not enough paint is being used. A properly loaded brush should have enough paint to slide across the surface with very little friction. The habit of microscopically smearing paint by vigorous rubbing on the canvas is a poor substitute for a light, controlled application. The analogous practice in drawing would be grinding in dark values with extremely hard pencils, because one fears a lack of control with softer leads. Instead of driving the brush against the surface of the painting, use a touch of medium or thinner to dilute the paint; your brush will last much longer.

The materials necessary for good brush care are not exotic; all that’s needed is a good brush soap and water. The missing ingredient for most painters is the habit of using them.

Washing a Brush:

1. Remove excess paint with a rag

2. Rinse out all color using solvent or water, appropriate to the medium.

3. Wet the brush and rub onto brush soap in a gentle, circular motion.

4. Lather in the palm of the hand in a circular motion.

5. Gently squeeze out soap from the ferrule to the end of the brush

6. Repeat all steps until no color is visible in the lather.

7. Blot with a rag and groom hairs back to their proper shape.

8. Dry horizontally to allow draining.

Shop for brushes

How to Prepare Watercolor Paper

All you Need to Know about Brushes

---