Brush care

bobsart · #1 07-06-2000, 03:36 PM

I've never seen this before, perhaps you all have been doing this for years. I put a plastic cup full of water in a 1 pound coffee can. Then I drill various size holes in the plastic coffee can lid to accomodate various size paint brushes. I drill the holes smaller than the brush diameter so that there will be enough tension to hold the brushes in suspension. Then I insert the brushes in the holes with bristles pointing down so that when I put the lid on the can, the brush hairs will be immersed in the water. I came up with this idea to keep the brushes from hardening while I had been interrupted answering the phone or any other temporary emergency. I don't recommend this for overnight storage. I did this once and forgot about them for about two weeks only to find the wood and furrule attachment damaged when I returned to the studio. Anyone have a better idea?......bob

aspiring artist · #2 07-30-2000, 09:55 PM

Sounds like a great idea for watermedia, bobsart! For oil painters, I have a great tip that maybe some of the newer artists to oil haven't heard about yet. It's wonderful for those who are sensitive to solvents. To clean dirty brushes after oil painting: swish the brushes in the cheapest brand of vegetable oil you can get at the grocery store. Do this until all the color is out. Then use a gentle dishwashing liquid, (I prefer a "clear" ones, so I can really see that all the color is out), and thoroughly clean all the oil out of the brushes. You can also swish the dirty brushes in the vegetable oil if you are interrupted while painting, and can't wash your brushes immediately. I think my brushes have benefitted from the vegetable oil, too!

Rod · #3 08-01-2000, 03:47 AM

Hi,
No I have never tried the idea, are you referring to watercolour brushes or acrylics,
Rod

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Rodzart from New Zealand

claudine · #4 08-01-2000, 10:02 AM

I confess... I am a brush mutliator. I totally wreck my brushes and mash and scrape with them and then I just throw them away.

I actually like them to be all crusty!

~Claudine

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http://www.collageartist.com - mixed media collage paintings

bruin70 · #5 09-12-2000, 07:45 AM

since it's for a short while,,,,wouldn't it be easier to just water out your brushes and go answer the phone? keep the brushes loaded with water.

kg7er · #6 09-16-2000, 04:00 AM

Along the same lines as veggie oil and dishwashing liquid...I use GoJo hand cleaner. After superficially cleaning an oil brush with turp, I dip it into the GoJo can and work it around in my palm real good. Then finish it off with soap and water.

I don't know what this would do to good brushes, but it doesn't seem to hurt my cheap ones.

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Ron Marshall

Degas5 · #7 09-17-2000, 08:24 PM

I like your method of using veggie oil and following with a mild soap. Gonna try that one! I've been using WN Artgel for years and love it, but it's pricey. Vegetable oil I can afford

Keith Russell · #8 11-07-2000, 02:12 AM

I found a great product called the 'fresh water rinse well'.

It is basically a reservior with an upside down bottle, which I fill with one part ammonia, and three parts distilled water.

(Recommended by Iwata Japan as the ideal solution for cleaning water-soluble paints out of their high-end airbrushes.)

You clean the brushes out in the pool of water at the base of the thing, and then drain it. As it drains, fresh cleaner runs into the pool.

I use brushes to paint details in my airbrush paintings with acrylic paints, and my brushes seem to last a lot longer than most of the acrylic artists I know.

Dick Blick's sells these things, I love mine.

Keith.

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Keith Russell
Synthetic Sky Studios
Science Fiction Fine Art
synthsky@aol.com

oleCC · #9 11-07-2000, 07:02 AM

Thanks bunches for the veggie oil tip...as a newcomer to oils I was having a terrible time with constant interruptions...brush cleaning was becoming irritating. Still have a problem with my white plastic palette though, wonder if coating that first with veggie oil before adding my little paint puddles would be ok?

Carol

CarlyHardy · #10 11-07-2000, 08:03 AM

Carol...it might cause your oils to slide off the palette if you turn it sidewise like I do when I'm painting. I use a palette that you hold in your hand sort of like masonite but has a white surface (which is not white anymore!) Love them when they get that greyish tint from mixing all the oils together.

I use baby oil on my brushes AFTER painting with them...it breaks down the oil paint in the same way the veggie oil does...then I wash them with a mild soap and water. The baby oil really keeps the bristles in good shape! I don't use my oil brushes when painting with acrylics any more because of the drying effect that acrylics have on the brushes.

If you try the baby oil..its for clean up only...it will cause the paint to bubble if mixed in.
carly

oleCC · #11 11-07-2000, 01:29 PM

Thanks for the tip Carly. I have a really hard time cleaning this white plastic palette from the H2O oils..even though it is supposed to be soap and water clean up..have to scrub with a brush.
I will try the baby oil on the brushes..

Carol

Degas5 · #12 11-10-2000, 10:43 AM

oleCC,
I it just the staining colors like phthalos, alizarin crimson, prussian etc. that are hanging on to that white plastic palette? Staining colors will do that and it's just the nature of the pigment. If you're using a plastic palette you're going to have that problem with other colors once the surface starts to abrade with cleaning. You're going to have to learn to live or, if you like working on a clean white palette, use palette paper. Personally, I prefer glass. You would like the one where the underside is covered with a white vinyl-like material.

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oleCC · #13 11-11-2000, 07:15 AM

Thanks Degas.. I have so many white plastic palettes around (extras for students who forget theirs)...guess I am stuck using that for now, but glass sounds better to me!

Carol

paintfool · #14 11-11-2000, 10:19 AM

Carol, i used to worry about getting all of the stains off of my palette, even threw a few out! Then i realized that it was starting to take on a nice grey tone which i find to be easier to use. It helps determine tonal value as opposed to using that stark white background. I now use a grey, glazed ceramic tile. 12" x 12". less than two dollars at the hardware store & i love it! If your paint hardens on it you can just scrape it off with a razor blade. The thing is indestructable!
Cheryl

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