Which brand of oil painting brush is best?

[DAK723]

I have had pretty good luck (so far) with the Princeton 6300 synthetic bristles. I use both regular and water-mixables and synthetics work better with the water-mixables as the natural bristles absorb too much water and get bloated.

Don

[Orph]

Originally Posted by CLS Portrait Artist

Hi Orph,

The Manet line of brushes are named after the French impressionist painter, Édouard Manet.

Cindy

That's what I was telling hubby.. that it was the name of business or artist..
Thanks Cindy,

Orph

[number19]

I like Utrecht Natural Curve White Hog Bristle Brushes ( the ones with the light natural wood colored handles). They are very good - and cheap. Here's a link: http://www.utrechtart.com/dsp_view_p...l=1&criteria=0

[matthewstiles]

another vote for trekell here.

[boomerbeach]

I commenced oil painting under the occasional tutelege of an elderly Laguna Beach knife painter two+ years ago. One late afternoon, a sizeable family walked into the gallery, the grande matriarch perusing the displayed works. Seconds later, casting judgement, she remarked to her brood, "What 'magical brushes' this artist uses"!!
We had a great laugh after they departed, these were 100% knife works done by this artist instructor. To this day, I'm still seeking those "magical brushes", please, let me know when they're found. The gallery artist had the last laugh by exclaiming, "'Magical brushes!' ... After-all, it has NOTHING to do with the person behind them...!!

[CLS Portrait Artist]

Originally Posted by boomerbeach

I commenced oil painting under the occasional tutelege of an elderly Laguna Beach knife painter two+ years ago. One late afternoon, a sizeable family walked into the gallery, the grande matriarch perusing the displayed works. Seconds later, casting judgement, she remarked to her brood, "What 'magical brushes' this artist uses"!!
We had a great laugh after they departed, these were 100% knife works done by this artist instructor. To this day, I'm still seeking those "magical brushes", please, let me know when they're found. The gallery artist had the last laugh by exclaiming, "'Magical brushes!' ... After-all, it has NOTHING to do with the person behind them...!!

That's a great story!

[Realgar]

Geez, boomerbeach, she was just being floral - do you really think that an outside observer would be commenting literally on the specific qualities of the INDIVIDUAL BRUSH THE ARTIST USED?

I heard someone say that Vermeer was a great painter of light - I suppose that meant that they thought he used a lit candle as a medium, right?

Aren't you grasping at straws here in an attempt to demonstrate that you know more than a person who knows nothing?

[giorgiovino]

for me the best brand may be the best price-quality and Escoda makes good brushes with a good price.My favourite Kolinsky sable brush for oil is Old Holland and Isabey next in Mongoose and black sable.For bristle Escoda is one of my favourites.

[Skyenorth]

Cryla synthetic brushes. They are just great for my thin glazes. After terrible frustrations with bristles coming off my 'proper and new posh Isabey and hog brushes' I called it a day and am keeping to my synthetic brushes, no bristles ever escape onto my paintings. I now paint in peace.

[oilpainter98]

W&N Monarch brushes are definetly the very best i've ever used. i use a no.8
for alot of my work. they are also a very good value, for a no.8-around $16.00. W&N artisan brushes are good, too. i use them not only for water-soluble but also my normal oils every once in a while.

[boomerbeach]

RE: Langnickel Royal Softs --
These past few months Michaels' Art Stores in SoCal have been blowing- out Langnickel brushes. I've acquired about 50 assorted bristle (green handle) and synthetic (blue handle) flats, rounds and other shapes.
I regularly use the 40-50% off weekly coupons which equals net costs @ $1- to 1.50 per brush.
These are all long-handles, much better for Plein Air work at some distance from canvas boards on my SolTek easel. Being mostly a knife painter and using student grade Winton paints in the past, I wasn't all that concerned about high brush quality. I didn't think there was that much diff between bristle brushes either.
Now that I'm using brushes about 75% for my plein air work and higher quality W&N Artisans (pigment) paint, I wonder if these brushes were such a great deal? .. I'm well stocked-up.. Years in flats #2,4,6 & 8s' for plein air!
Langnickel brushes aren't rated very high on this thread and I wondered if there might be some other feedback on these LR "Softs"?
I like the grips, feel, weight and they seem to wear fairly well too. I'm not experienced on brush variety, am I missing anything? The Trickell bristles seem highly on this thread.

[kcooper]

My fav:
W&N Monarch Flats (for detail) (syn sable)
Robert Simmons SIGNET Flats - my work horses. They are fabulous and go forever to establish my whole painting. I achieve lovely soft edges with them as well.

[rorschah]

Escoda - I got into them through their synthetic acrylic brushes and their watercolor brushes, and love their oil brushes just as much. Their natural hair brushes - both watercolor and bristle - seem to be much less attractive than you'd expect when dry, but just about perfect when wet/oiled.

My favorite acrylic brush is their synthetic mongoose - Tadami - which works just as nicely for oil.

And their Tekady brushes are cool - significantly stiffer than hog bristle, just a hair less stiff than a knife. Very useful for thin underlayers.

Da Vinci bristles are also a good - excellent brush at a reasonable price.

-thi

[WFMartin]

I've been using Loew Cornell imitation sables (Taklon, I believe) for my glazing techniques. I seldom use stiff, bristle brushes. My Loew Cornell brushes almost never shed hairs, although they may tend to splay once in awhile.

I don't baby my brushes during the painting process, although I do take care of them, as far as cleaning is concerned. Any brush worth its salt should be able to withstand nearly any sort of stroke you wish to apply to it--scrubbing, stippling, etc. If it doesn't, I simply buy another brush. Not another brand--another brush.

I consider my brushes a relatively expendable item.

Bill

[RhondaAnn]

I have some brushes that seem to splay, flare open, which make doing detail difficult. Can you all tell me how you care for your brushes and is it only the novices like myself that have this problem?