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I don't want to buy sable brushes and am looking to purchase good quality synthetic brushes though I understand they may never be quite as good as sable.
One option I am considering is Winsor and Newton Galeria brushes. Thoughts or suggestions?

I got great mileage out of my Galeria brushes ( I had size 1 and 3). They eventually flayed and they've now become my dry brushes.

I have since switched to sable and I don't see myself going back, the quality is just better.

Ruckman65 wrote:
I don't want to buy sable brushes and am looking to purchase good quality synthetic brushes though I understand they may never be quite as good as sable.
One option I am considering is Winsor and Newton Galeria brushes. Thoughts or suggestions?

I only own one sable brush (bought before I knew what a sable was) and the quality is outstanding. I have yet to find something matching it, especially the longevity of the brush. Synthetics seem to clog up more and suffer even with good care and cleaning - but I've been happy to sacrifice quality so that I'm not using animal products in a paint brush as it made me feel a little uncomfortable.

That said, I have noted that sables are often not killed for paint brushes... the sable fur paint brushes are often made of the fur of the creature that doesn't go into fur coats and would otherwise be turned into something else or wasted. Paint brushes are a by-product of the fur industry, not the driver of it. That doesn't necessarily justify it (I'm not making moral judgement, just providing information), but I think it's akin to buying glue or sweets with animal products in, or even bone and fish fertilisers for your garden - not the main purpose of the animal but a by product. Why we can't look after them nicely and occasionally shave them for a brush I don't know.... saying that my cats leave enough fur around... I wonder if cat fur brushes are any good, haha.

As much as I would love to, I just can't bring myself to buy sable, even if the hair collected is a by-product. So, perhaps Galeria brushes may be my best option.Thank you for the advice Tyranid Horde and Tarkin Larson.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
TyranidHorde, just as a matter of interest, you say you got great mileage out of your Galeria brushes. What constitutes great mileage in your view?

At least nobody is using the black nylon brushes you get with airfix models and enamels which is a recipe for disaster

TarkinLarson wrote:
Why we can't look after them nicely and occasionally shave them for a brush I don't know.... saying that my cats leave enough fur around... I wonder if cat fur brushes are any good, haha.

As you said, sable brush hairs are a byproduct of the fur industry. The fur industry is really just a subset of the leather industry. The reason you can't just leave the animal alive is that you are taking its skin to make clothes, like you can't leave a cow alive to make leather boots.

While fur farming exists and sable hairs are a waste product of that, it won't make any economic or environmental sense to have a separate farm where animals are sheared like sheep to make paintbrushes. I'd be interested to see someone try though- 'ethical sable brushes from pet animals'. I imagine the brushes would be so expensive that only rich people would buy them.

Finally, I tried making a paintbrush from doghair when I was a kid. It didn't work well, but it was very poorly made.

I used my size one as my work horse brush for about 2ish years before it got relegated to my basecoat brush then it became my drybrush and it's still used to this day. I have it at least 7 years now. I tend to work brushes to death and keep using them though, so I'm probably not the best opinion out there for looking after brushes.

@Rybrook The very beginning of my painting was done with enamels and those black nylon brushes! Awful paint jobs but it was something

Seven years use out of a single brush is mighty good value, methinks!

 Rybrook wrote:
At least nobody is using the black nylon brushes you get with airfix models and enamels which is a recipe for disaster

I've got one of those - it's indestructible! Makes for a great crude drybrush and any other rough tasks that otherwise kill brushes. I've abused it for years and it's still like it was when I got it in an airfix kit as a lad. For normal painting though, kolinsky all the way.

 =Angel= wrote:

TarkinLarson wrote:
Why we can't look after them nicely and occasionally shave them for a brush I don't know.... saying that my cats leave enough fur around... I wonder if cat fur brushes are any good, haha.

As you said, sable brush hairs are a byproduct of the fur industry. The fur industry is really just a subset of the leather industry. The reason you can't just leave the animal alive is that you are taking its skin to make clothes, like you can't leave a cow alive to make leather boots.

What absolute twaddle.

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Using animal byproducts helps to prop up the archaic and dying leather and fur industries. It makes them more profitable. There's no essential difference between a sable brush and a cheeseburger, and no essential difference between a cheeseburger and an AR-15. They're all tools of violence.

First they came for the Northern White Rhino...

This is actually an important topic to me. I've been looking into what the "best" synthetic might be in the context of what is closest in subjective performance and feel to the lauded sable. I'm still in the research stage right now though.

ALLEGEDLY Escoda's synthetics are top shelf...expensive as heck though so I haven't pulled the trigger. My local art store has suggested Princeton's synthetic sable are viable, but they only have $120 sets in stock right now (supposed to get open stock eventually, if/when they do I'll try a #2.). I was talking to someone at Rosemary's Brushes (who have a generally excellent reputation) who said that their current best would be the gold synthetic but that is nothing special. They are coming out with a synthetic sable, but not for several months yet. If they do, by reputation that could be a solid contender.

Its a bit of a pisser that we have the technology to put a super computer in my pocket, we have all sorts of miracle materials at our disposal to make cars, skyscrapers, and rocketships, the use of plastic has been perfected to such a degree that its an environmental problem... but we cant make a synthetic hair which mimics the physical properties of a real one...

 Bellerophon wrote:

 Rybrook wrote:
At least nobody is using the black nylon brushes you get with airfix models and enamels which is a recipe for disaster

I've got one of those - it's indestructible! Makes for a great crude drybrush and any other rough tasks that otherwise kill brushes. I've abused it for years and it's still like it was when I got it in an airfix kit as a lad. For normal painting though, kolinsky all the way.

I use one for pushing glue and flock around bases. It’s a crappy tool for putting paint on a mini in any sort of controlled fashion, but a solid workhorse for other assorted hobby projects.

And we all probably have one kicking around from when we were 8.

 Nevelon wrote:
And we all probably have one kicking around from when we were 8.

I mean...I think my girlfriend might have a bunch of them in her paint box.

All I've got are a pile of W&N 7's, Raphael 8404's, and Handovers. Old size 2's and 3's with dead tips get relegated to basing/drybrushing work.

 DV8 wrote:

 Nevelon wrote:
And we all probably have one kicking around from when we were 8.

I mean...I think my girlfriend might have a bunch of them in her paint box.

All I've got are a pile of W&N 7's, Raphael 8404's, and Handovers. Old size 2's and 3's with dead tips get relegated to basing/drybrushing work.

I’d kind of like to see what someone like you could do with one of those old crap nylon brushes. Might be an interesting technical painting challenge, although a very niche one. “A poor craftsman blames his tools” but sometimes the tools are at fault...

Paint a model with brushes that are:
curled/hooked at the tip
split at least once
nylon enamel starter brush
< 5 bristles sticking out of a paint-caked ferrule. (for detail work)

Bonus if you can hit all those points with a single brush.

Ive been using Windsor and newton cotman lately. They're very good, and look nice too.

I do use synthetic brushes a bit, but the ones I have I wouldn't recommend to anyone really. I have a friend who is an incredible painter (this guy - https://opponenttheory.com/welcome) who uses exclusively synthetic brushes, and he reckons the best he's used are Princeton's Heritage and Velvetouch series.

The main issue with synthetic brushes is that the tip tends to bend over.

 Nevelon wrote:

I’d kind of like to see what someone like you could do with one of those old crap nylon brushes. Might be an interesting technical painting challenge, although a very niche one. “A poor craftsman blames his tools” but sometimes the tools are at fault...

Paint a model with brushes that are:
curled/hooked at the tip
split at least once
nylon enamel starter brush
< 5 bristles sticking out of a paint-caked ferrule. (for detail work)

Bonus if you can hit all those points with a single brush.

I'll see about giving it a try; I think some of my drybrush/basing brushes might be in that bad condition.

 Nevelon wrote:
Paint a model with brushes that are:
curled/hooked at the tip...

I love a good curl in a small brush, it can poke into bits other brushes can't reach. My favourite brushes are Rosemary & Co Golden Synthetic and Windsor & Newton Cotman Watercolour brushes. I have some expensive Kolinsky sables but to be honest I don't use them much, I prefer the harder spring of a quality synthetic.

I recently heard that you can straighten a curl in a synthetic brush by dipping it for 10-30 seconds in boiling water and immediately reshaping (suck it!) I tried it on one of the few synthetic Rosemary brushes I have and it seems to have worked. I don’t think it’s quite as defined as new and can’t speak to lifespan yet, but it’s definitely worth a try if you’re using synthetics. Key thing is not to get the ferrule too hot, otherwise you risk melting the glue.

I like a good hook tip on a 4/0. It's good for getting details like eyes etc.