One Stroke Brushes for use with Oil paint in Tole and Decorative painting

One-stroke brushes were designed for the 'One-stroke' painting technique taught in the Schools of Art of the 17 and 1800's, at that time it is known that some Schools of Art made their own brushes. As brush manufacturing developed in the UK and the Schools of Art took on more apprenticies, they appointed brush manufactures to make their brushes.

Since then the main brush manufactures have maintained a supply of this type of brush, these days they are not always suitable for use with oil paint. Some of the main requirements of these brushes were; they were made from a hard wearing filament that was soft and flexible; they had a longer length of hair between the ferrule and tip; they also needed to hold the weight of the oil paint. The usual filament was Sable, ideal for Tole painting which is 'one-stroke' on tin or metalware.

Brushes are an important tool for expressing skill. Therefore it pays to buy the best available for the media and technique you are using.

These (Artists Brushes) have been crafted and designed to fulfil the requirements for 'one-stroke' painting with oils, although they are excellent for use with other media. The brush head for the flat one-stroke brushes is a mix of sable and synthetic filaments, this makes them soft, flexible and with good 'spring'. They have a long length of filament, longer than most flat brushes of this type. The mix of sable and synthetic makes them hard wearing and strong enough to carry the weight of the oil paint.

One of the reasons for the longer length of filament is to facilitate the loading of the brush. The ruination of any brush is paint in the ferrule. The dried paint forces the filaments apart, this in turn prevents the brush coming back to it's normal shape, be it round or flat. (see brush cleaning) The longer length allows for greater carrying capacity when loading the brush, without the paint penetrating the ferrule. It also offers greater flexibility when applying the paint.

The mix of filament allows for less natural hair (a by-product of other trades) to be used, the synthetic filament used was designed by the company who makes these brushes and is superior to most on the market today. This imitation and natural sable mix is ideal as it gives to the brush head all the needed requirements, flexibility, strength and spring.

The seasoned hardwood handles give the correct balance to the brush, making it comfortable and easy to use. These brushes in the Pro Arte ® range are the Series 99 Connoisseur One Stroke and Series 100 for Round brushes, ideal for Tole and Decorative painting using oil paint.

Brush components.

The tip of the filaments is referred to as the 'point' on a round brush and the 'chisel' end on a flat brush. The hairs and filaments form the brush head.

The metal area that holds the filaments and the brush handle is the ferrule, this is seamless nickel plated. The filament is inserted and glued in the ferrule, the ferrule and brush head are then glued and 'crimped' to the lacquered, hardwood handle.

Lacquered hardwood handle.