Paint Brushes and Painting
October 3rd, 2007 | by Art Supplies |Some people take up painting as a hobby while other turn towards it as a profession. Painting has long been a focus of the world and this profession has provided the world with many well known painters. No matter from which region or country you belong, you will find a painter there. But painting is not such an easy task. It requires expertise, knowledge and love for the profession to produce a masterpiece. And even if you have all these things you will still need to have a brush to paint a picture.
Paint brushes are the main contributors to any good painting. It is for this reason that painters take special care in selecting a paint brush. There is wide variety of paint brushes that are available in market but it must be kept in mind that different paint brushes fulfill different needs. A typical painter uses many different types of brushes on one painting alone. Some brushes have stiff hairs while other have soft ones. If you wish to give a great detail to the painting and spread the color easily then the brushes with soft hairs are meant for you. These allow precise painting due to the sharp edge of the brush. On the other hand if you want to push around thick painting and want to give develop brush marks in your painting then the brushes with hard hair are ideal for you painting.
There are two types of hairs used in brushes that give them the soft or hard characteristics. The hairs used in any paint brush are either natural hairs of some animals or synthetic hairs. But you must keep in mind that both of these have there own advantages and disadvantages. Just a few years ago the synthetic hairs in a brush used to be very hard to touch but with the advancement in technology you will succeed in finding somewhat soft synthetic brushes. However, no matter how much the technology advances there is no beating the softness of natural hairs. They will provide you with great flexibility and control over the way you paint. Due to its soft nature you will be able to paint in areas in which it would be a bit difficult to reach the edges.
Given below are some of the natural hairs that are being used in paint brushes
- Sable Hair: although a bit expensive then other natural hair brushes, sable hair brushes are renowned for the flexibility and its softness. These hairs taper naturally therefore when they are put into a brush they make a point naturally.
- Squirrel Hair: squirrel hairs are also very soft and if you can not afford to buy the sable hair brush then squirrel hair brush can stand in its place. But while purchasing a squirrel hair brush you must keep in mind that it would be better to buy larger squirrel hair brushes because they larger mass means more support.
- Camel hair: these do not literally come from camel hair as camel hairs are not suitable for painting.
- Ox: these give you long hairs that are strong and springy.
- Pony: these hairs are used in cheaper brushes and do not form a good point.
- Goat: these are ideally found in Chinese brushes and calligraphy. Although they lack spring like the ox hair but they provide you with good point in a paint brush.
