Brush and brush care advice?

[albionsangel]

Hi all,

So, I recently upped my painting game (properly thinning paints, making a wet pallet, etc) and I thought I was doing the right thing, but I have hit a problem.

Ages ago, I stumbled across Winsor and Newton brushes, and bought a Series 7 Miniature Size 0 brush to be a fine detail brush. I realise now I probably wanted a bigger brush to hold more paint in the body, and just use the tip, but I am not the worlds best painter and the small brush helped when I was using its edge for highlighting.

Well, when I "upgraded" recently, I went ahead and bought another size 0 (having badly mistreated my first one) and a size 2 from the Miniature range - and because I apparently cannot read, also a Size N2 from their watercolour range. And I have been trying to keep them clean and tidy - pot of water for washing when I am at the painting station, and then after every session, take them into the bathroom, run some warm (but not hot) water, work some basic bar hand soap into the bristles, and swirl in a circular motion on the palm of my hand.

Unfortunately, I was probably a little overenthusiastic with the water pot when using my Size 2, and I have some serious fraying that even hair conditioner does not fix. Also, the brush never seemed to stay together for very long anyway, with paint quickly causing it to fray as it dried at the base.

As you can see, it "sort of" keeps its shape, but its clear that it is fraying. I think a few hairs have even snapped off half way!

Those brushes are expensive, and now I have just read a couple of threads where people complained about the W&N Miniature range of brushes, and said people should be using the watercolour range (the NSize range). But the N2 brush I have is... well, HUGE. And the point is very floppy. It does not matter how fine it is, it just collapses/splits and therefore does not paint what I want. Also, the body gets in the way for some of the minis I am trying to paint (Warhammer minis).

So, anyone got any concrete suggestions on brushes? I have some nice fine detail brushes but I need some general purpose brushes for base coating and doing large highlights, etc. A "one size paints all" if you will. Specifically to tackle the standard sized minis for warhammer (rather than the bigger ones).

I am at my wits end, and sinking far too much money on "life long" brushes.

Also, can someone do a really detailed walkthrough of brush care? I am clearly doing something wrong. Just swishing it in a cup of water fails to get the paint out, but pushing the brush against the side or bottom of the cup ruins the bristles. The soap/water treatment after a session gets them very clean, but again I am worried I am damaging them as I try to work the soap up to the base of the brush to remove the paint that is causing fraying as it dries.

Even with a fairly long cleaning process, here is my N2 splitting as it dries. I cannot seem to get any paint out of it, so something else is going on here. 

[Ggom]

Hmm,  it’s late and I’m lazy to paint so I’ll share some thoughts here.

I do really like my Winsor and Newton Series 7 brushes, and mostly use the size 1. The size 0 is useful for painting pupils, but even then is superfluous if I have a new size 1. I typically paint for about 7 - 9 hours a week, and a size 1 brush kasts about 3 months. After that, I can still use it for tasks needing less precision, like glazing and blending, but it loses it’s point. Here is what I do:

1. Don’t get paint into the ferrule. When picking up paint, it should never come close to the metal cylinder. I like to avoid loading alot into the body as well, since that inevitably ends up in the ferrule. By extension - I never use washes with my good brushes. (I generally don’t do washes much, but when I do, I use my old brushes.) The reason your brush comes to a point is because the hairs are tightly bound in the ferrule. If you get paint build up in there, it can’t be cleaned, and it will mess up your point.
2. Get a good brush soap. I got a cap of Master’s and it has lasted me for years. After painting, I wet the brush with clean water and then stroke the tip in the soap to work up a lather. I massage this into the hairs gently and then rinse it out with water. I think hot water is not so good here because it can mess with the glue in the ferrule, which, again, mucks with the point.
3. Condition the brush! Two ways to do this. First approach, only suitable if you paint with acrylics, is, once you wash and rinse the brush, place it in your mouth like a lollipop and suck on it. I errr.... draw it out against the inside of my my cheek, which helps it form a point. There’s some tongue action involved. 😄Then I place the little plastic cylinder back on and put the brush back in it’s little pipe. The second approach, if you don’t want to put the brush in your mouth, is to spit into your palm and use your palm to shape it instead. Specifically,, there is a fold below your pinky finger - if you make a fist, that fold will form a little triangle with a little hollow. You can use that hollow to shape the brush gently as well.

The above might sound like much but it only takes 30s at the end of a painting session, and has worked well for me to keep my sable brushes spiffy. Eventually they lose their point anyway, but that is inevitable as friction wears away the tips of the hairs.

I generally accept that my brushes don’t last forever. Certain painting tehniques and paints wear out brushes faster (drybrushing, washes, thick paints, metallic paints, mixing colors aggressively on a palette) so I avoid using my new brushes for those. Old brushes are useful for those tasks!

Edited February 8, 2021 by Ggom

[Beastmaster]

Always have some cheap, rough or already out of form brushes handy for things like mixing paint, applying large areas of basecoat, shaders, drybrushing or putting snow etc on bases. These are all very destructive tasks. Save your good brushes for detail work.

If I destroy a brush (or any tool really), it’s often because I got carried away and didn’t switch to the proper tool in time.

[Popisdead]

On 2/9/2021 at 5:42 AM, Beastmaster said:

Always have some cheap, rough or already out of form brushes handy for things like mixing paint, applying large areas of basecoat, shaders, drybrushing or putting snow etc on bases. These are all very destructive tasks. Save your good brushes for detail work.

If I destroy a brush (or any tool really), it’s often because I got carried away and didn’t switch to the proper tool in time.

This.  

Even if you wanted only Series 7, just basecoat in your old brush and highlight with your new brush.

Keep in mind the old Foundations (no clue if they are now "base" regarding the same formula) are SUPER hard on brushes.  the excessive pigment wears out the hairs way faster.  I know people who went through 3 brushes for an army when using Foundations.