So you know you want to paint. You walk into an art shop and are greeted by a plethora of different types of paintbrush; synthetic, sable, hog hair, squirrel mop... What do you do?! So we thought we'd put together a handy guide to help you select the right paintbrushes for you.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF PAINTBRUSHES
You'll need a different brush depending on the kind of paint you use. If you're a watercolourist, you'll need sable or another natural brush, but acrylic and oil painters will require hog or synthetic.. for example There are three main types to choose from:
• Natural Hair (Sable or Squirrel)
• Hog Hair (Bristle)
• Synthetic Hair
Natural Hair (Sable or Squirrel)
Natural hair paintbrushes are ideal for painting with watercolour or gouache because they are softer and more flexible than other brushes. They come in different types:
Sable brushes maintain a perfect point, allowing for great control and fine details. Sable hair is also naturally absorbent which means these brushes hold a lot of colour for excellent flow. Sable brushes are very high quality, with the best being hand made from the tip of the tail of the Siberian Kolinsky sable such as Winsor & Newton Series 7 Kolinsky Sable Brushes.
Our Cass Art Sable Paint Brushes, like the rest of our own-brand range, brings you very high quality at an extremely good price. You’ll find that they’re perfect for watercolours as their soft natural bristles can carry large amounts of water for long, consistent strokes of colour. They have good spring and durability and the short handles mean that they’re ideal when you need to create fine detailing and intricate work.
Hog brushes are perfect for painting with oil and acrylic. They are naturally stiff and each bristle is split into two or three at the tip, so the brush can hold more paint and apply it evenly. Remember, hog brushes come in different shades so if they are white then you need to make sure that this is natural and not bleached as this will have weakened the bristle.
Hog brushes are extremely resilient so that the brush keeps its working edge and shape for longer.
If you are on a tighter budget or would prefer an alternative to natural hair, then synthetic brushes are the ones for you. They can be soft or stiff; the soft brushes work well with watercolour, while the stiff brushes work well with oils.
Cass Art Grey Synthetic brushes are ideal for use with all brands and types of oil and acrylic paint, whatever technique you want to use. They’re long-handled brushes, with excellent durability and strength.
Like the rest of our own brand range, we designed our Cass Art Brown Synthetic Brushes to give you really high quality at an excellent price. You can use them with all brands and types of watercolours, acrylics and oils, gels and mediums, and all techniques. They have exceptionally soft bristles with fantastic spring which are very durable and particularly well suited to fine detail work, or when applying light washes.
Our Cass Art White Synthetic Brushes are exceptionally soft synthetic bristles with fantastic spring which are very durable and are particularly well suited to fine detail work, or when you’re applying light washes.
Winsor & Newton have used their brush making expertise to bring artists an innovative alternative to animal-based brushes. Their new Professional Synthetic ranges cover everything an artist looks for in an animal based professional brush: uncompromising quality and performance, now in a synthetic.
These brushes offer the quality and performance typically seen in a natural sable brush. They delivers excellent colour carrying capacity, the ability to make a variety of marks and resilient spring and shape retention.
Innovative synthetic bristle blend
After rigorous artist testing, the best blend of synthetic bristles offers the quality and performance you’d typically see in a natural sable brush. The Professional Watercolour Synthetic Sable brush delivers excellent colour carrying capacity, the ability to make a variety of marks and resilient spring and shape retention.
Ergonomic, sculpted handle
The unique Winsor & Newton sculpted handle with a matt finish provides the ultimate comfort and control while painting. The central dip on this short handled brush allows the brush to sit comfortably in your hand while the second curve of the brush handle allows for different painting positions.
WINSOR & NEWTON ARTIST'S OIL SYNTHETIC BRUSHES
Using synthetic flagged bristles to replicate the flags of a natural hog hair bristle the new
Artists’ Oil Synthetic Hog Brush range
from Winsor & Newton deliver an excellent replication of a hog-based brush. With a high level of colour carrying capacity and firm durable bristles for a controlled painting experience.
After rigorous artist testing, W&N selected the best synthetic bristles to replicate the flags of a natural hog hair bristle, allowing for excellent colour carrying capacity.
Ergonomic handle
The unique Winsor & Newton sculpted handle provides the ultimate comfort, control and balanced grip while painting. The central dip allows the brush to sit comfortably in your hand while the second curve towards the end of the brush handle allows for different painting positions.
Synthetic flagged bristles
After rigorous artist testing, we selected the best synthetic bristles to replicate the flags of a natural hog hair bristle, allowing for excellent colour carrying capacity. These Oil Synthetic Hog brushes are very durable, resilient and easy to clean, even after heavy use.
