Types of Brushes used for Oil painting. How a brush is made, brush shapes, Hogs and other bristle brushes.

Oil Painting Brushes

Brushes are an important tool for painting and it is false economy to buy cheap ones. Buy the best you can afford, respect and look after them well and they will last for many years.

Bristle Brushes for Oil painting.
Artists brushes are hand made and for the oil painter finest 'Chungking' is often the preferred hog bristle, which hold the paint well and has plenty of 'spring'. Natural bristle doesn't come to a point, it actually has two or three splits at the end, these are called 'flags'. This allows the bristle to hold more paint, with use, the 'flags' often change colour after being stained by strong pigment, but this has no detrimental effect on the brush.

The bristle is cleaned, sorted, sized, sterilized and wrapped into bundles for each brush, this is then hand tied and 'cupped' to form the various shapes. The bristle is then set into the metal 'ferrule' using a special type of resin glue. The best ferrules are seamless nickel-plated copper and they contribute to the size, balance and shape of the brush. The ferrule is then crimped on to a lacquered hardwood handle, the handle carries all the information about the size, make and type of brush. Brushes for oil painting, more often than not, are long handled, this helps the balance of the brush and allows you some distance from the work, very helpful when painting large canvases.

Standard brush shapes for oils are:- Filbert - shaped like a filbert nut; Bright - flat with short bristle; Flat - flat with long bristle; Fan - shaped like a fan and sometimes referred to as a fan blender; Round - shaped like a bullet which comes to a blunt point. Hogs are often used for expressive brush work, the imprint of the bristle remaining in the applied paint to give texture.

Reading from left to right the following hog bristle brushes are -
Fan Bright Round Flat Filbert

Brushes courtesy Daler Rowney

Other Brushes used in oil painting.
Besides using bristle brushes for oils, you can use sable, sable & synthetic mixed or synthetic. The sable and sable/synthetic mix will usually give a softer, smoother look to the applied paint, these are also useful for detail work. The synthetic type, range from soft to bristle effect.

The brush shapes in general use are:- Filbert, Bright, Flat, Fan, Round, and Rigger. The effect you wish to create, dictates the choice of shape and filament. The one on the right is a 3/8" Pro Arte Flat One-stroke, a mix of Sable and synthetic filament.

Tip when buying brushes - when you go to an art shop to buy a brush, they will usually have a pot of water available for checking the brush point. Don't be afraid to as for the water to check the pointing of the brush filaments before purchase. Wet the filaments and shake the water off with a gently flick, inspect the filaments for good shape and no rogue hairs. Also hold the brush as if painting with it to see if it feels 'balanced' in your hand and right for you.

We have a good selection of high quality brushes in our online shop at J and T's Art and Calligraphy

Click this link for cleaning and care of your brushes. Click this link for brush components