Brush Care
Last week I got this resource guide from Utrecht in the mail, and found that it's a really nice catalog. Not only are there hundreds and hundreds of different art supplies to drool over in there, but there are also articles on how to do things like burning a silkscreen and the best way to spread gesso.
Anyway, I read the article on brush care in there, and realized that I didn't know some of those things they said. You'd think someone who went to art school would know those things, huh? I figured that someone else out there doesn't know some of these things either. So I'm going to transcribe what the article says here.
"Essential Brush Care" from the Utrecht Art Supplies 2007 Resource Guide, pg. 97.
The most important thing you can do to maintain good brushes is to keep them clean. Pigment particles are actually rock and mineral powder, with sharp, albeit microscopic, jagged edges. When left in the brush without a lubricating vehicle, they saw back and forth at brush hairs, chopping them down like tiny axes. This residue accumulates at the ferrule; this condition also bloats out a brush to the appearance of an old broom.
Although we are all guilty of it, mixing paint on the palette with the brush is a bad habit. In the immediacy of the act of painting, we forget what the palette knife is for - mixing piles of color on the palette. Mixing with the brush jams paint deep into the ferrule, making it difficult to clean. Moreover, it taints your colors, and makes it impossible to mix the same hue twice. Return to mixing with the knife, and see the improvement in your mixtures. Leaving brushes to soak in water or thinner will dry out the hairs and make them prone to breaking, and permanently bend the ends. For late-night painting sessions to be followed by more work in the morning, it's better to wrap the brush heads in aluminum foil to keep oil brushes fresh, or with plastic wrap for acrylics. When a proper washing is not possible, watercolor brushes should be rinsed, blotted, and laid flat to dry.
The materials necessary for good brush care are not exotic; all that's needed is a good brush cleaner for oil and acrylics or water for watercolor. The missing ingredient for most painters is the habit of using them.
Washing Brush Oil or Acrylic Paints:
1.Remove excess paint and residue with a rag or heavy duty paper towel.
2.Rinse out all color using solvent or water, appropriate to the medium.
3.Use a safe biodegradable brush cleaning fluid such as Winsor & Newton Brush Cleaner and Restorer. Place fluid in a Silicoil brush cleaning jar.
4.Brush the bristles across the coil spring in the jar. This gives the brush enough action to release the paint residue into the brush cleaning fluid. When satisfied, brush the bristles against the side of the jar and wipe with heavy duty paper towels.
5.Repeat step 4 until no color is visible in the brush.
6.Blot with a rag and groom hairs back to their proper shape. Dry horizontally to allow draining.
*****
that's it. hope it was informative. honestly though i think that last part was an ad for selling their stuff. you don't need a silicoil whatever thing. just put a small ball of chicken wire in a glass jar. does the same thing.
Anyway, I read the article on brush care in there, and realized that I didn't know some of those things they said. You'd think someone who went to art school would know those things, huh? I figured that someone else out there doesn't know some of these things either. So I'm going to transcribe what the article says here.
"Essential Brush Care" from the Utrecht Art Supplies 2007 Resource Guide, pg. 97.
The most important thing you can do to maintain good brushes is to keep them clean. Pigment particles are actually rock and mineral powder, with sharp, albeit microscopic, jagged edges. When left in the brush without a lubricating vehicle, they saw back and forth at brush hairs, chopping them down like tiny axes. This residue accumulates at the ferrule; this condition also bloats out a brush to the appearance of an old broom.
Although we are all guilty of it, mixing paint on the palette with the brush is a bad habit. In the immediacy of the act of painting, we forget what the palette knife is for - mixing piles of color on the palette. Mixing with the brush jams paint deep into the ferrule, making it difficult to clean. Moreover, it taints your colors, and makes it impossible to mix the same hue twice. Return to mixing with the knife, and see the improvement in your mixtures. Leaving brushes to soak in water or thinner will dry out the hairs and make them prone to breaking, and permanently bend the ends. For late-night painting sessions to be followed by more work in the morning, it's better to wrap the brush heads in aluminum foil to keep oil brushes fresh, or with plastic wrap for acrylics. When a proper washing is not possible, watercolor brushes should be rinsed, blotted, and laid flat to dry.
The materials necessary for good brush care are not exotic; all that's needed is a good brush cleaner for oil and acrylics or water for watercolor. The missing ingredient for most painters is the habit of using them.
Washing Brush Oil or Acrylic Paints:
1.Remove excess paint and residue with a rag or heavy duty paper towel.
2.Rinse out all color using solvent or water, appropriate to the medium.
3.Use a safe biodegradable brush cleaning fluid such as Winsor & Newton Brush Cleaner and Restorer. Place fluid in a Silicoil brush cleaning jar.
4.Brush the bristles across the coil spring in the jar. This gives the brush enough action to release the paint residue into the brush cleaning fluid. When satisfied, brush the bristles against the side of the jar and wipe with heavy duty paper towels.
5.Repeat step 4 until no color is visible in the brush.
6.Blot with a rag and groom hairs back to their proper shape. Dry horizontally to allow draining.
*****
that's it. hope it was informative. honestly though i think that last part was an ad for selling their stuff. you don't need a silicoil whatever thing. just put a small ball of chicken wire in a glass jar. does the same thing.