Brushes. Part Deux.

I read a little about Raphael brushes earlier and decided that I had to give them a try and ordered a bunch of them from Jackson Art in the UK. And now, after having used them for about two months I thought I should do a little write-up on Kolinsky Sable brushes.

To be perfectly honest. There is absolutely no reason not to buy ”professional” brushes. The points stay pointy way longer than on budget brushes. The bristles don't separate while you're applying paint on your figure. And the springy-ness... they revert back to their straight pointy shape within no-time compared to the GW-brushes.

As you can see from the comparison picture above, even the size 2 brush is as pointy as the smaller ones. Which is perfect for when you need to apply lining with a wash in small areas but with a regular flow of paint.

To the right is three of my Winsor Newton brushes. They're also really really good. But as you can see they all have really short bristles / body compared to the Raphael brushes. Which for me isn't ideal. I prefer to have a longer working time. Some prefer the shorter bristles. It's all a matter of taste I guess. But if you're not using really really thinned paint with some slow-dri added to it, the W&N 3/0 is almost impossible to use for more than a couple of seconds. Sometimes that's all the time you need, sometimes not. (Like when doing checkers on orky parts -.-)

The two GW-brushes have been used for as long as the W&N brushes, and you really can tell that they're of an inferior quality. The points aren't really pointy anymore and they've started to hook. (Not to mention that the paint is starting to flake off from the handle. WTF is up with that?).

So, do yourself a favor. Get one or two Kolinsky Sable brushes from Raphael, Winsor & Newton, whomever. They sure are worth the higher price you pay. And they last longer... (as long as you care for them just like you should care for all your brushes) so really. You're saving money in the long run. :)

If you're curious about brush-caring. There's a pretty good article of it over at The Painting Corps. I usually wash mine every now and then under lukewarm running tap water with some soap in my hand. When flakes of paint stop coming off. Or the soap isn't colored when you turn the bristles in your hand. It's clean. Not the best of solutions. I should invest in some brush soap. Since my technique dries the brushes out I dip them in Vallejos cleaning solution and then for a tip and store them in a brush holding wallet until it's time to use them again.