Some say buy a set of these for figure work what exact set are they talking about ? they have several to choose from
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i think they mean Winsor & Newton Series 7…195$ for 5 brushes
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If you buy Winsor&Newton get the regular Series 7, not miniature series 7, they are with shorter bristles (paint will get easily in the ferrule).
Other good brushes are Raphael 8404 series, DaVinci maestro, Rosemary&Co, Greenstuffworld Silver and Gold series. Depending on availability and price.
Cheers!
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Yeah- as @Venko says- DaVinci Maestro are great brushes and GSW Gold and Silver brushes are excellent as well. Just be sure to take care of them with something like Masters Brush Cleaner and Preserver.
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W&N series 7 and as said above not miniature series. A few years back they seemed to go through a bad phase (hard to find with good points, a couple with good points didn’t last very long) so I experimented with Raphael 8404 (outstanding) and Rosemary and Company (excellent). Agree with Karl about Masters Brush Cleaner.
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Yes, Masters soap is great and will last long time. I tried other cleaning solutions, but I use it the most.
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Winsor & Newton Series 7 are excellent Kolinsky Sable brushes that will last you 30 years if you take care of them. You can buy them singly to suit your needs. Usually a 2, 1, 0, 00, and 000.
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Also bear in mind that different brands have different size of the bristles, even with the same brush size. GSW are the thinnest from what I have, Raphael 8404 are with the largest belly.
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I have found as they are quite expensive that I get along nicely with a #1 & #2 for most needs and synthetic brushes for smaller grades. As anything with this hobby it’s what works for you.
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To paraphrase Shep Paine, “You can’t make a silk purse out of a pig’s ear, nor can you paint miniatures with the pig’s tail.”
So, really good brushes won’t make you a really good painter, but really good painters do use really good brushes (and take care of them, too.)
My experience is that if you can PERSONALLY inspect the tips, then almost any Kolinsky sable brush can be good (if the tip’s not sharp, then pass it by). You can find good value brushes that ate much less expensive than W&N Series 7, but you have to be able to shop for them in person.
However, if you have to buy your brushes online and trust that you’ll get goods ones, then W&N Series 7 are the safest bet, especially from vendors who you don’t have any sort of experience with. Once you have done some business with a reputable artist supply company, then you can take a chance with less expensive brands of brushes and have some hope that you’re going to get good ones.
The tip is everything, though. Sables for oils. Squirrel and sables for modeling acrylics (i.e. “watercolor brushes”). Nylon for abusive uses (weathering, landscaping, etc.).
You need short, somewhat firm bristles for oils, since they need to be pushed around. The brush doesn’t need to hold lots of paint. It is used to transfer the paint from the pallet to the model and then to move it around and blend - wet-on-wet. Rounds are the ones I like.
I prefer long natural bristle brushes for water-based acrylics. These brushes need to be soft and able to hold paint as you “flow” it onto the surface. For detail and figure painting, my favorites are 10x0 long-bristle liners. When painting hobby / model water-based acrylics, clean the brush often and don’t allow the paint to start to dry in the tips of the bristles. The paint cannot flow through and off of the tip if the bristles are starting to stick together.
Generally, use the largest brush possible consistent with the size of the surface being painted. So, don’t use a 00 when a 1 or a 2 is a better match for the size of the area. The 00 will require more “brushing” to spread and smooth the paint, so it will also take much longer, will not hold as much paint and will potentially leave more brush marks.
Tiny detail brushes are for just that, tiny details.
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Yes, that’s why I stopped going to the art store with the weekly coupon for paint brushes. Instead, I buy my Kolinsky sable paint brushes online from Amazon or the online brush manufacturer. I rarely if ever use my art store paint brushes anymore, even if they’re advertised as sable hair brushes. They’re essentially large sable canvas brushes, not for delicate finescale modeling.
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