Having a sound knowledge about the types of watercolor brushes will help you master the medium with ease. The process is particularly responsive to the excellence of the brushes used. It is also too receptive to conceal any flaws in the tools used. All the premium watercolor paints and all the classiest papers cannot reimburse for a watercolor brush that does not carry out well. Hence it is must to select a quality brush for watercolor painting.
These brushes perform finest when they are drenched in water for at least five to ten minutes previous to they are used. Wetting a watercolor brush initially allows for the eviction of all air bubbles, which can make stripes in the applied color, and allows the brush hairs to soften and come into an appropriate shape. To take the maximum probable benefit of a brush, it must be held as vertical to the working platform as can be managed.
Types Of Watercolor Brushes
A method has evolved over the years to reimburse for imperfectly made or badly damaged brushes. It includes holding a brush at a 45-degree angle to the working platform and gradually slanting the brush as the tip is drawn across the paper to create a constantly drawn line. A well-made brush held at the suitable 90-degree angle produces this result with little talent and attempt.
Selecting the watercolor brush for your painting is often a tough decision for beginners in this platform. Being a tough medium, it is imperative to understand the usage pattern of each brush type to work well with this medium. On the basis of the material used to craft the brush, we can categorize it into two:
• Natural hair brush
• Synthetic brush
The natural or sable brushes are good to work with. But there are synthetic alternatives with high quality. They are numbered on the basis of quantity of hair and length. It is often better to work with medium brushes. The brushes with small numbers can be used to spice up the details.
If shape is the major criteria, we can classify brushes in different ways. The most widely used type is round brush. Flat head, rigger, mop, Chinese, fan etc are the other types. It would be enough if you buy only some of the selected types for your painting.
Testing is of key significance when purchasing a brush. Whenever probable you must check, or at least methodically examine, a brush previous to you acquire it. The following are a few ways of examination.
- Check the uniformity.
Most of the brushes come with starch in the hairs to guard them until use. The stiff tip has to be relaxed to check it. This may be completed by lightly undulating the starched brush tip stuck between two fingers. After you have finished this, the single hairs can be extended out by tenderly pressing the hairs close to the ferrule to fan them out for examination. Now you can look for regularity in length and appearance. There should be no dull ends and the tips must not have been slashed or trimmed in any manner
- Check fullness
The hairs must be congregated firmly so that there is a sense of fullness when the hairs are strained jointly near the end where they go into the ferrule.
When you buy watercolor brush, make sure that you purchase the best quality materials at the best price.
This information is extremely helpful. I’m just starting to paint using online tutorials. While they explain that brushes are important, they never explain the types of brushes.
By seeing the brushes, along with their names, it’s beginning to make sense to me. Thank You So Much!