In the last post I talked about the size of your brush, and as promised, today I’ll write about the shape of the brush.
The different shapes of brushes are: Round, flat, bright, and filbert. They are the principal brushes you will need and, by and large, what I use. There other, more specialized brushes such as fans, scrubbers, angle brushes, liners and riggers (which were originally made specifically for painting the rigging on a sailing ship).
First we’ll look at the flat brush. A flat brush can go from a wide swath to a fine line with a simple circular movement. The best brush for making a straight line is a flat, because it keeps its edge, holds more paint and releases it evenly, making it ideal for long, straight lines.
Whereas a round can’t hold as much paint to sustain a line of any length, it is the ideal brush for short-stroke details. A bigger round will hold more paint for a longer line but won’t give you a fine point.
A bright is almost identical to a flat, just with slightly rounded ends of the brush. You won’t get a left-over edge line like you can get with a flat.
A filbert is a good all-around brush. It holds enough paint that you get broad strokes to cover an area and is good for blending. A fan brush I made for painting large areas, like a field, a lake or a sky. It is also used for blending.
Just as important as the shape or size is the flexibility of the bristles. Hog hair bristles are stiff, for when you need a stronger stroke to get into the paint and move it around. A softer, more flexible bristle, such as a sable or similar natural bristle or many of the synthetic brushes available will help stay on top of the paint surface, which is good for blending.
Here is the Dick Blick page for brushes.
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