|
As noted above, better brushes make a difference only if you have sufficient technique to utilize the difference in materials. Your painting won't magically become better. That being said, I'm not a great painter, but I can definitely notice the difference between my W&N Series 7 brushes and the less expensive ones (I use a variety of different brands for various purposes). The point holds up better, paint flow off the brush is more predictable, and it's easier to make the brush hit the model the way I want it to. They're really quite excellent brushes.
I think the biggest problem with less expensive brushes is the sheer variety of them - there are so many different brands and every hobby/art store seems to stock a different selection. It's hard to know just what you're getting or to find the exact thing someone else recommends. But the W&N S7 is a known, stable quantity and that's worth something in itself - experimenting with random $5 brushes that don't work out adds up to a new S7 pretty quickly.
You've already done at least a little bit of painting, so you're probably beyond the point of outright abusing your brushes. So if you feel like the GW brushes aren't quite optimal, I'd go ahead and get a single W&N S7 from your local art store (or Dick Blick online, though shipping on a single brush is a bit tough). Pick whatever size you commonly use - a 0 or 1 is probably a good choice, as 2's get more expensive. The main thing I'd recommend is to choose the *regular* rather than the *Miniature* series of S7 brushes. The Miniature ones have shorter bodies, which gives you slightly better brush control at the cost of holding less paint and drying out more quickly. For general painting, the extra brush control isn't that big a deal, and the longer body means that paint is less likely to travel up into the ferrule. The only time I'd buy a Miniature S7 is for a 000 brush for painting eyeballs and such. Give it a whirl and see if you feel it's worth the cost. I feel mine are. At the same time, I keep some less expensive brushes around for slightly destructive things like painting over basing grit, drybrushing, and priming models (where I'm going to be jamming the point into recesses). I also use cheaper brushes for washes and similar super-thin paints too, since those tend to travel up into the ferrule very quickly. Properly cared for, a top-quality brush will last for a very long time.
|