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Hey all, I'm a little confused on picking out brushes but one of my favorite painters is usually Lester Bursly. Recently my GW brushes were stored and frayed terribly so I want to replace them with the next step up, or a few steps who knows..

http://awesomepaintjob.wikia.com/wiki/Brushes

This is the sort of brushes I am looking for and I narrowed it down to these but I think one of them is watercolor but I can't quite tell.

http://www.dickblick.com/products/winsor-and-newton-series-7-kolinsky-sable-pointed-round/

http://www.dickblick.com/products/winsor-and-newton-series-7-kolinsky-sable-miniature-brushes/

Someone in another dakka post said not to buy the miniature set cause they are trash.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks!

I buy Kolinsky sable brushes from TheWarStore.com and have always bee satisfied with their prices and service.

Unfortunately, their Kolinsky brushes are currently out of stock.

If you can find them elsewhere they are great to work with.

Yes I saw them at the warstore, as well as a lot of other neat hobby stuff. I'll be watching them for sure. So you don't buy the miniature version, you buy the other one i posted?

Yes, the number 0, 1 and 2.

I have a couple of smaller ones for those very fine detail finishes, but do most of the work with these 3 sizes.

W&N Series 7 Miniature brushes have rather short bristles, which actually makes them inferior (for our purposes, at least) to the normal Series 7s. They all come to nice, sharp points and have good spring, so you aren't losing anything when it comes to fine work. The larger belly of the normal S.7 brushes allows you to load more paint for broad coverage and helps prevent it drying on the brush when doing detail work. The name makes it seem like the obvious choice, but I can't recall a single painter recommending the Miniature brushes over the regular, while several have actively warned against them.

Some may well prefer the miniature versions.. most do not seem to though.

The standard S.7 (are lovely!) are maybe a tad longer bristled than a citadel brush of equal size, while the S.7 Mini range is definitely smaller.

They might be useful for really fine detail or freehanding, but the regular brushes do just fine for me Go for those, and perhaps the mini ones later if you feel you need more control at freehanding.

Edit; get some brush soap/preserver to go with it it makes all the difference and keeps the point nice for much longer.

Ok this is a personal opinion, but I feel like Windsor and Newton series 7 are the Air Jordans of the brush world. The name sells the bush more than the actual quality of the brush. If you ask people they always blurt out this name, but if you ask them how does it compare to other kolinsky brushes they typically can't give you an answer because they jumped on the Series 7 train.

As a side note, in the 80s Marvel Comics released a "How to" art book, guess what brush they recommended for inking? Yup, Series 7 .

Since you are in Canada you may want to cruise some Canadian are stores (never ordered from DickBlick, not sure if they WILL ship to Canada).

http://www.currys.com they always have sales and free shipping on orders over $99. I think the warehouse is in Toronto.

Kolinsky brushes they stock:
Escoda 1212 Series - I have been using these for about 2 years, slightly cheaper than W&N and a nice overall brush, crisp point if you maintain the brush properly.
Raphaël 8404 Fine point - I have not used these, but they often get mentioned as a very good alternative to W&N.
Windsor &Newton - they stock both lines, at a discount but tend to sell out constantly.


http://www.islandblue.com/ Based out of BC, again good prices and better shipping times if you are in western Canada.

if you search kolinsky they carry a few brands I have no heard of and again W&N.

 Mecha_buddha wrote:
Ok this is a personal opinion, but I feel like Windsor and Newton series 7 are the Air Jordans of the brush world. The name sells the bush more than the actual quality of the brush. If you ask people they always blurt out this name, but if you ask them how does it compare to other kolinsky brushes they typically can't give you an answer because they jumped on the Series 7 train.

I have the opposite issue - I tried out the competition first and became so enamored that I won't drop the money on a Series 7 to compare! From the occasional grumblings I've picked up, I'd call them the Dremel of the brush world (since I have no experience with basketball shoes). They were THE brushes to have for years and still deliver, on the whole, but cost-cutting measures have resulted in occasional drops in quality control. The bigger rub, though, is that you pay a premium for the name which may or may not be justified.

If the OP is open to alternatives, I'm a big, if relatively recent, proponent of Rosemary & Co. brushes. Preference over W&N Series 7/ Raphael 8404 varies with personal taste (roughly even split of those who have tried both R&Co. and one or both of the "big two", from those I've talked to/noted in brush threads), but they're almost unarguably the leader in value, by a wide margin. In the US, at least, you can get two or three brushes bought and shipped (transatlantic, mind you) for the list price of one S.7 or 8404 on Dick Blick or Amazon. I imagine shipping to Canada would be similar.

I have one Raphael 8404 and one Windsor & Newton Series 7 and a tbh I prefer the 8404.

I've got W&Ns, Raphael 8404s, and recently acquired a Rosemary brush. They're all somewhat better at certain things than the rest, but the usual YMMV caveats apply:

1. The W&Ns are great for detail work. Freehand (or what passes for freehand for me), picking out details, that sort of thing. The bristles are crisp and sharp.

2, The Raphael 8404s are fantastic for applications that require larger volumes of paint, l use these almost exclusively for basecoating and washing and glazing. The bristles are also crisp and sharp, but it's springier than the W&N. The reservoir is also larger, which makes for less reloading.

3. The Rosemary is .. well, acceptable at either task. This one will probably be relegated to my stippling brush. I'm not very fond of it - the bristles are much softer than the W&N, but the point is still wonderful.

Overall, at least for me, I will stick to a mix of W&Ns and Raphaels.

 Mecha_buddha wrote:
Ok this is a personal opinion, but I feel like Windsor and Newton series 7 are the Air Jordans of the brush world. The name sells the bush more than the actual quality of the brush. If you ask people they always blurt out this name, but if you ask them how does it compare to other kolinsky brushes they typically can't give you an answer because they jumped on the Series 7 train.

Most people do instantly recommend them, but that's because they're beautiful brushes!! My other favourite brand is Rosemary and Co, https://www.rosemaryandco.com/
Much cheaper, but not available in all art shops in the world lol. Postage to anywhere not UK might be a bit steep (Im in UK so I don't know just expect it to be more) - you can get two R&C series 33 kollinsky sables for the price of one S.7. but I have to say the S.7 has nice spring to it, other than that theyre very very similar. - I've just had some brushes from R&C delivered actually, am trying out their cheaper ranges, red sables, and sable blends. But I already hvae a nice set of their kollinskys that are aging very well.

I bought a Winsor & Newton "university series" size 0 brush for $3.59 at my local hobby store and its just as good as the Citadel fine detail brush I paid $10.00 for. The Citadel brush is great but I can buy three of the other brushes for the price of one Citadel brush so you might have a look at them. http://www.winsornewton.com/products/brushes/for-acrylic-colour/university/series-233-round-short-handle

Wow lots of replies, awesome!

DickBlick does not appear to want to ship to Canada they stated something about the hair uses in the brushes won't really work across customs? I don't really understand that.

As for the length of the bristles, the spring, I'm still somewhat of a novice but I understand enough to know this is exactly the problem I am running into. Currently trying to do some highlighting and really fine detailing like you see on the Chaos Aspiring Champion, the orange tones they use around the edges of the bronze colors to make it all pop more has been terrible with the citadel brushes. Either I constantly have to keep wetting the brush or the bristles all fray out. I keep good care of my brushes, a liquid cleaner as well as a wax like cleaner that dries and holds the brush tips (I had them in storage for about 8 months). But now I'm just getting frustrated with them as these new Chaos models are very detail heavy and painting within the lines is a rough go.

I'll check out all of these stores, I don't have a problem dropping good money on good brushes. While I'm not sold to any name brands I do tend to stick with what works.

It's a shame the warstore is out, there's so many other products I would of ordered with the brushes like the files, and small hobby containers, chaos gets a little ridiculous on my desk cause I enjoy kitbashing.

Thanks all, proving the dakka community is forever helpful even if I am Chaos.

For Canada, check out Deserres. Factoring in shipping and exchange rates, it may end up being the most cost effective. If they are local, you could always just go and pick them up.

http://www.deserres.ca/en-ca/search/winsor-newton-series-7-paintbrush/WNSEVEN/

I actually am going into Deserres today just to check to see local stock as its only a minute drive across town. Knowing what to buy was the greatest hurdle to me hah.


I ordered a few different brushes for some options...

ReaperPaints Size 00, 0 and 1
W&N Size 00 and 0
Raphael 8404 00 and 0

I had a problem at first because I kept looking at acrylic paint brushes, and I thought GW uses acrylics.. but the moment you start to water them down watercolor brushes is apparently what I should be looking at. Makes senses, plus I've almost always watered down my brushes so maybe that's been part of my frustration. Going for some paint and it dries out so quickly on the GW brushes and the inability to hold a fine tip over time. (I've had my brushes for nearly 2 years now). I do clean them quite well, using an acrylic paint cleaner and " the Masters" brush cleaner.

Most of what I know is from reading here, Lester Bursley and the odd few things I picked up in college. Digital painting doesn't really tell you much about ACTUAL painting hah.


Cheers, and thanks for all the comments... hopefully I can upload something sweet to show them off.

I am extremely cheap and did not believe the hype about buying a good brush but after doing so, I am strong convert.

 Rickfactor wrote:
I am extremely cheap and did not believe the hype about buying a good brush but after doing so, I am strong convert.

Mostly its about the material the brush is made of. Slightly its down to craftsmanship.

The W&N Series 7 that is so highly touted as the best, is hand made here in the UK by experienced hands, made from the finest available Kollinsky hair they could get (fun fact; the series 7 was originally designed for the Queen and first sported gold ferrules and ivory handles - what we know of today with the black handle and somewhat less precious ferrule has the exact same hair specifications as what was made for Royalty only with more affordable other components, the name '7' came from the Queens favourite size of brush)

However you could go 'cheap' so to speak, by looking at other brands also using the finest Kollinsky hair they can get (Kollinsky is a Siberian rodent, kind of like a weasel and has the best currently known natural hair for water colouring)
There is a difference between kolllinsky hair and other kinds of sable. It should be noticeable when you use them. Mostly its in the quality of point, the snap of the bristles, and the capacity to hold fluid - the three main important things when designing a paintbrush - Kollinsky costs more simply because its better and somewhat rare. Weight for weight the hairs cost more than gold according to Rosemary and Co's website.