Xenogears is still probably my favorite game, though I'll always wish the second disk was more developed.
The last Nintendo console I had was the SNES, but I thoroughly enjoyed the Zelda games I got my hands on for the previous game boy variants. Too bad I'm one step behind on this one though, don't quite feel like forking over the cash when I have a perfectly good DSi XL already.
My DSlite crapped at just the right time to justify buying the 3DS (although I was planning on blowing the cash on it anyway just for this game). Back in the end of April, I think, my DSlite stopped reading game cartridges, so it was a "Thanks... I think?" for giving me a reason to buy the 3DS. :P
I still owe you a birthday present, too. Do you still use DickBlick, or is there someplace else like HobbyTown that you'd like instead?
Mkay. I don't want you to think I just try to brush it off with a gift card, either... I just understand that when you're doing something creative you have certain brands and certain types of things you prefer to use so to me it's easier to just give a gift card so I can be sure you get what you really want (and can actually use for that matter) rather than some... thing... that you'd probably never use. :P
Your tigersharkiv gmail account still works, right?
Thing is I don't tend to buy supplies often. Even then I haven't found a paint brand that I like, everything seems to be give and take in one area or another, and I destroy brushes no matter the manufacture, I use soap and try to follow some basic care pointers but I don't seem to get more than maybe a week or two out of even the Winsor Newton 7 series.
You should try getting a slightly longer bristled brush and every time you use your palette to put paint on your brush, roll the bristles against the palette surface (while pulling the brush towards you) to make them come to a point. That point only lasts for a few strokes before you have to roll it against the palette again, but that's the way you do it.
I kind of do something similar already in the way of trying to bring the brush to a point, my real problem is that my brushes develop a curve at the end of the point that seems to be in correctable.
That's the kind of soap I've been using for a couple of years now :\
Are you storing them bristles down in a cup or something? Or not shaping the bristles into a tip after you've washed them? Do you mash them on the bottom of your water cup to clean them out while you're painting? Unless you're using the same side of the brush every single time you paint with it, there's no reason whatsoever for it to develop a curve on the end of it. I've had fine brushes for years that haven't done anything like that. I know I've said it before, but if you shape the bristles to a point in your mouth after they're thoroughly washed the saliva will harden and make the bristles keep that shape until you dip the brush in water again.
I have a wire thingy above a dish that the brush handle goes into so they hang downward in the air. After I finish a painting session I clean the brush out as gently as possible just swishing it around in the water above the bottom and stroking it in the direction of the bristles against the side of the cup. With that done, I get a little bit of that soap that is still moist on the brush and turn it gently backwards against the palm of my hand to shape it into a point. The soap dries just like that and keeps the brush point that I make until I wash the soap out again. Another miniature painter said this is kind of like conditioner for your brush.
What I've picked up on is that this curve could be the result of how I make strokes on the miniature, sometimes there are small crevasses I need to paint where I can't just make a normal flat stroke. I've taken to using another brush for this so that the good brushes stay maintained longer but it still happens like I was saying.
I personally wouldn't recommend leaving soap to dry in the bristles... soap has a tendency to dry itself out, so it might damage the bristles if left in too long. I don't know that for a fact, but none of my classmates or professors did that with their brushes at Ringling. For cleaning the paint out of them while you're working, I'd recommend one of these. It has a coil in the bottom of it with a snail-shell-like coiled surface to run your bristles across to thoroughly work the paint out of them. It was a recommended piece of supplies in my painting classes, so I don't think it's harmful. Don't leave brushes sitting in the water while you're working, though, because that can bend the bristles
( ... )
Yep, I have been using one of those for about as long as the soap. I stopped running the bristles over the coils because it seemed to make things worse, it's not really made for brushes this small.
Massaging... after using these tiny brushes for a long time that point feels like quite a temperamental beast to me, and fragile too, so I am hesitant to try cleaning them with my fingers. Before I used the soap I used to basically did what you described but with a paper towel between my fingers, however any point was lost after the brush had thoroughly dried (they start fraying out)
I think I also have problems with water getting trapped in my ferrules, which is why some of my brushes start to have bristles that come off when painting (also depends on the manufacturer). That's an unrelated matter though.
The last Nintendo console I had was the SNES, but I thoroughly enjoyed the Zelda games I got my hands on for the previous game boy variants. Too bad I'm one step behind on this one though, don't quite feel like forking over the cash when I have a perfectly good DSi XL already.
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I still owe you a birthday present, too. Do you still use DickBlick, or is there someplace else like HobbyTown that you'd like instead?
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Your tigersharkiv gmail account still works, right?
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Thing is I don't tend to buy supplies often. Even then I haven't found a paint brand that I like, everything seems to be give and take in one area or another, and I destroy brushes no matter the manufacture, I use soap and try to follow some basic care pointers but I don't seem to get more than maybe a week or two out of even the Winsor Newton 7 series.
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As far as cleaning goes I would recommend "The Master's" Brush Cleaner and Preserver to prolong the life of the brush. The same brand's hand soap is also stellar at getting paint off of your hands and fingers.
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That's the kind of soap I've been using for a couple of years now :\
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What I've picked up on is that this curve could be the result of how I make strokes on the miniature, sometimes there are small crevasses I need to paint where I can't just make a normal flat stroke. I've taken to using another brush for this so that the good brushes stay maintained longer but it still happens like I was saying.
Reply
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Massaging... after using these tiny brushes for a long time that point feels like quite a temperamental beast to me, and fragile too, so I am hesitant to try cleaning them with my fingers. Before I used the soap I used to basically did what you described but with a paper towel between my fingers, however any point was lost after the brush had thoroughly dried (they start fraying out)
I think I also have problems with water getting trapped in my ferrules, which is why some of my brushes start to have bristles that come off when painting (also depends on the manufacturer). That's an unrelated matter though.
Reply
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