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Just like the post suggests I am curious what some people use for their paint brushes. I have currently only ever used the GW line of brushes. I haven't had huge issues with them but want something that will last longer. Suggestions? What are the best things to look for in a better quality of brush?

Thanks Dakkamunnity

Generally most people will say winsor newtons series 7

sable brushes in general seems to be most favored.

Should add its what i use and still use for the past year.

Windsor Newton series 7 are good, and you may well find them in a local art shop

a cheaper alternative (I find equally good if not better) are

Rosemary & Co series 33

http://www.rosemaryandco.com/pure-kolinsky-pointed

I've also seen a lot of good painters saying they recommend Raphael 8404s

while it might seem counter intuitive using a really small brush can cause problems as it risks the paint drying in the brush, try and work with brushes in the range of 0-2, the point you get on a Kolinsky Sable brush should mean they'll be easier to paint fine detail with anyway

(with all of the above don't use them for varnish or dry brushing, as it wrecks them, use something cheaper)

Pretty much any pure 'Kollinsky' Sable' is usualy considered the flagship brush of any manufacturer. Meant for water colouring, so best works when you thin your paints out a fair bit.

Theres other sorts of sables, including blends, and 'red sable'.
These arent as good as pure kollinsky. Thge kollinsky is a small weaselish animal native to the mountains in Siberia.

I would suggest getting some brush soap along with the Kollinksy Sables purchase It helps to keep them in good nick for much longer.

for buying them, in SA http://www.dickblick.com/ comes up a lot. for in the UK I like http://www.artsupplies.co.uk/

Windsor and Newton Series 7 are certainly very nice brushes. Other brands are okay, potentially not as well made.

One other brand I quite liked was Rosemary & Co, a small family run bussiness based in Yorkshire UK, http://www.rosemaryandco.com/watercolour-brushes/pure-kolinsky-sable/pure-kolinsky-pointed

The Rosemary & Co brushes are good value but I find they lack "snap" and as such don't use them for detail painting. They do make excellent base coating and wash brushes however and are considerably cheaper than W&N Series 7 in the larger sizes.

For my detail brushes I use the Raphael 8404's in a 1, 0, and 00. With these 3 I can do pretty much everything, they really are excellent brushes, better than the Series 7 in my opinion as they have slightly larger bellies and hold more paint. They also have very good snap if you like a springy brush (I do).

One thing is if you're getting high quality brushes do yourself a favour and get some brush soap, and use it after every colour change it will prolong the life of your brushes massively.

I use the Davinci brush soap bar (just put it in a plastic box such as a "Really Useful Box") as it works as well as Masters and is much cheaper (around £2 a bar I think).

I'm glad to see the R&C brushes getting love here. I don't know anyone else who uses them locally.

1000moths is right, they do lack a bit of 'snap' when compared to a w&n series 7, but when compared to a citadel brush... well there not much contest.

Another great brush I got from rosemary and co is the 'masters choice' angular flats. http://www.rosemaryandco.com/watercolour-brushes/masters-choice/masters-choice-angular
made of mongoose hair, they make beutiful drybrushes, being really soft bristles with incredible durability. gives a much smoother drybrushing than the citadel ones do for me atleast.

Huh. Pleasantly surprised to see Rosemary & Co. mentioned as much as W&N. I picked up a few to try and actually found myself reaching for the S.99 more than the S.33 - it's red sable (pure, not blended with synthetics), not Kolinsky, but I only grabbed a size 2 from the former series. All that talk about larger brushes actually being better for most tasks is true - the size 2 has become my workhorse, to the point that I may not even reach for another brush in a painting session.

Rosemary & Co. definitely has a massive edge in value (without a commensurate drop in quality), but W&N Series 7 and Raphael's 8404 line are still generally touted as the best of the best. Whether that's still entirely warranted, I couldn't say - I won't pay for one trial brush from those lines when I can get four shipped from the UK for the asking price.

Whatever you pick, I highly recommend getting a puck of Master's brush soap, as well. Even the finest (perhaps especially the finest) brushes require care to stay that way. Master's performs admirably as a cleaner, conditioner, and tip shaper, all while smelling rather lovely (at least in my opinion).

Thank you everyone for all the great advice.

Happy Painting everyone!

I personally use a combination of GW brushes (I know), while they dont last long, I can paint to decently good quality with them; and my other main brushes from from the brand "The Army Painter" With the Army Painter brushes, I have bought a set of red handled brushes that are for "hobby" uses, and white handles ones that are for "wargamers"

Thus far, Ive gotten longer lasting pointy bristles from the Army Painter brushes than my GW ones, and their predominately triangular shaped handles is really quite nice.

For detail work I use W&N Series 7. Not necessarily a super fine brush but just where I need a lot of control and a single bristle popping out at a different angle heaving a streak of the colour in an area I don't want it isn't acceptable.

For table-top-quality paint jobs and most rough work I use whatever is cheap from the art store.

Brushes are usually divided into "academic" quality (for students, lowest end), "artist" quality (middle of the road), and "premium" or "professional" quality (near top end). Then there are the even better brushes usually locked behind glass or in a display case; this is where W&N S7 are usually found.

For general painting needs I just use academic grade brushes. They don't last super long (better than GW brushes) but keep their point well (which GW brushes don't) and are fairly inexpensive (which GW brushes aren't).

On table-top-quality jobs I usually do everything but the eyes with academic brushes. For display grade jobs I'll use premium brushes for the whole thing.

Good brushes with cheap paint still doesn't yield great results though. GW's old paint from Coat d'arms where fine but the new paints since the name changes have had a lot of issues reported. I switched to Vallejo a little while ago as they are both more consistent and cheaper.

After reading some reviews I got a couple of Kolinsky hair brushes - they are worth their weight in gold.

From the "spring" to the bristles, the taper of the point to their ability to hold paint.

Amazing.

davethepak wrote:
After reading some reviews I got a couple of Kolinsky hair brushes - they are worth their weight in gold.

Funny you should say that

' The high cost of the hair being the only major drawback (usually weight for weight three times the price of gold). Once used however the difference compared to others is well worth the difference in price.'

http://www.rosemaryandco.com/watercolour-brushes/pure-kolinsky-sable

Lucazi wrote:
Just like the post suggests I am curious what some people use for their paint brushes. I have currently only ever used the GW line of brushes. I haven't had huge issues with them but want something that will last longer. Suggestions? What are the best things to look for in a better quality of brush?

Thanks Dakkamunnity

You should listen to the advice I didn't, when I asked the same question. I too went with W&N Series 7, but I was told just to buy a few specific sizes. I instead bought 4 brushes - a 000, a 0, a 1, and a 5.

The 5 is much too large for painting miniature; I don't think I've used it once. It's vehicle sized but not vehicle shaped. Don't buy one.

The 1 is a great all around brush. The 0 is slightly smaller, but they are very close in size. Do not buy them both - buy one or the other. The 1 is maybe a better buy if you also get a 000. The tips are very fine so if you are on a tight budget you can probably just but a 1 as your single brush.

The 000 is great for very fine details. Buy one.

I'd also strongly recommend a Reaper 30-0 for eyeballs. I don't use it very much but it's great for what I do use it for.


I also have found the GWS brushes pretty solid for the money, but they tend to shed hairs and eventually fall apart. Better to just buy the W&N up front, after you realize that those "cheap" golden taklon brushes that fall apart in 2 weeks are actually super expensive over time.

 Ouze wrote:

I also have found the GWS brushes pretty solid for the money, but they tend to shed hairs and eventually fall apart. Better to just buy the W&N up front, after you realize that those "cheap" golden taklon brushes that fall apart in 2 weeks are actually super expensive over time.

Once my GW brushes cease to maintain their point, I use them for drybrushing/heavy washing until they completely fail.

Here's my take on the subject:

I like the Winsor & Newton Artists Water Colour Sable brushes and get good results from them.

What's going on with Series 7 and resellers? All the big ones like Dickblick are backordered with no date of restock.

http://www.artdiscount.co.uk/brushes/winsor-newton-series-7-finest-kolinsky-sable-brushes.html

http://www.artsupplies.co.uk/brushes-series-7-kolinsky-watercolour-brush.htm

In stock at both of these places, I suspect its a usa shipping thing. UK certianly seems to have stock of them, but they are made here... so go figure.

A little research says there's some import ban or some nonsense atm. Guess us Yankees will have to settle for Red Sable.

Do they kill and skin the animal to make these brushes, or keep them in captivity and pluck the hairs?

Considering they grow back im sure they just give em a hair cut to harvest it

The animals will most likely be bred in captivity for their fur, and other parts used. Yes they are killed.

The ban doesn't even apply to the kolinsky sable... It is just a fringe or grey area and this requires lots of paperwork to clear the import requirements from what I have read.

http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2013/05/kolinsky-sable-brushes-not-banned-in-us.html

Sadly I think the Kollinskys are killed for their tail hairs.

Theyre actually classified as vermin where they are native to, so I really would be suprised if they dont kill them each time they catch one.

There might well be someone around farming the hair a little more ethically mind you. Its upto the consumer to research where it was sourced from and how if it matters to you. I'm sure any reputable brush maker would answer questions on that subject.

I know the mongoose hairs I reccomended for drybrushes are tricky to get, before i bought mine, mongooses were made protected, and the hair can no longer be legally sourced. Some brush makers (rosemary and co) had stock piles of the hair from a time when it was legal to get a hold of and are allowed to deplete their stocks, just can't get more.


edit; done a little reading up on this ban... sounds again like someone who doesnt know a lot, piping up with problems that arent really problems; being as the kollinsky is a vermin where it comes from. If something as good as kollinsky brush were made from rats or pigeons there would likely be no problem with it. But because the animal is far far away in Siberia we like to pretend we know whats going on. Classic western politics approach tbh.

This is probably the best explanation about the Kolinsky situation: http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2013/11/dick-blick-talks-about-kolinsky.html

Right now I see that Dick Blick has the Raphael brand brushes back in stock. So that's a good sign. Kolinsky brushes are made from the fur from a branch of the weasel family: mustela siberica. I'm not sure where the name Kolinksy comes from but I would guess its from the guy that decided to try out that fur for a brush.

I just ordered some of those raphael brushes from blick, I'm really excited to try them out.