I want to talk about brushes. My most essential studio supply outside paint. As long as I have one brush and one tube of paint I can always create a painting. I prefer to have more of both of course, but its like having a wooden spoon in the kitchen. As long as the essentials are covered you are good to go.
These two coffee cans contain some of my most precious friends. Some of these have been around for over 20 years. Some have one hair left. One is white with red letters, a Pearl brand red sable (that one is a great brush and brings so many memories). The coffee cans are my little tribute to Jasper Johns. Back in high school and college I actually had a Savarin can. I know, huge art nerd thing to do. If anyone ever sees a Savarin can, please feel free to send it my way.
After working at an art supply store for 10 years, I think I pretty much inevitably came out pretty fussy about my supplies. Art supplies are not cheap and if you're spending money on them you really should try to invest in things that will last. As a painter who stays relatively small in size of my works, my brushes also tend to be on the small side. The brushes I have to buy most often are the tiny ones. If you don't coddle the little ones they tend to curl or split and then your teeny tiny line just becomes impossible.
Oil paint is messy. Between the paint itself, the mediums, solvents, and the artist themselves, oil paint brushes have a lot going against them. I have been known to forget them out on the palette now and again and then I have to attempt to rescue them with brush cleaner and repeated washing. I'm usually fairly successful. On the other hand, watercolor brushes have it so easy. It's really impossible to hurt them unless you decide to forget common sense and store them upside down or perhaps have a moth infestation in the studio. But every brush is different. That's why we have so many. How an artist paints will obviously impact what brushes they choose. Obviously there are also people who choose alternative tools, like palette knives, spray paint, squeeze bottles, etc....but this post isn't about them. This post is about my about love of the construct of the brush. The different bristles, the feel of the wood handle in my hand. The filbert, the flat, the round, the liner.... Hog bristle, synthetic, sable, badger, squirrel.... So many variations and they all have a direct impact on the paint and how it is applied.
I remember a specific brush company that had photos of real brushes as their advertising. Real brushes. Used Brushes. They didn't show you the brush as it was on the shelf, brand new, they showed you the brush with paint on the handle, with a speckled and dented ferrule, the bristles broken. That company made the best brushes, and I feel like a large part of that was coming from them understanding how the brushes would be used. No brush stays the same after being used. Even those coddled and pampered watercolor brushes change ever so slightly over time. Some brushes become almost the only real constant in the studio. Paint gets used up and replaced. Panels get started and finished. Paper, canvasses....they get one chance to become something. Brushes get used over and over again. Not every brush gets used every time, but you learn when to use each brush and you come back to the same ones time and time again. A good brush becomes a good friend. You know to reach out for them when you need them and that as long as you treat them with respect they'll be there waiting.
Well, this morning I washed all my dirty brushes, so I guess its time to get some of them back to work again....
Comments