Brushes that push thick paint

5 min read · written in the studio

A brush that floats a watercolour wash will collapse under gouache straight from the cup. The paint is thicker, and the brush has to push it rather than carry it.

Spring is the property to care about

Softness sells brushes and spring paints with them. Load a soft brush with thick gouache and the belly gives way, so the stroke starts wide and finishes vague. A springy synthetic bends under the same load and comes back, which is what puts a clean edge on the far side of a shape.

We blend filaments of different diameters in the same head for this. The thicker ones carry the spring, the finer ones hold the point and the paint.

The shapes worth owning first

Round. The one that does most of the work. A good round lays a broad stroke on its belly and signs a corner with the tip.
Flat. For filling and for cutting a straight edge without masking. Turn it side on and it draws a line as fine as a round.
Detail. Short handled, small head, for the last ten minutes of a painting when everything else is too blunt.
Filbert. A round with the corners taken off. Useful anywhere a hard edge would look mechanical.

Brush sets in the current range
Set	Brushes	Format
Paint Brushes Set 8 Pcs for Acrylic Oil Gouache Paint	8	Brush set
Gouache/Watercolor Paint Brushes Set 5 Pcs for Acrylic Oil Watercolor Face	5	Brush set
Little Bird Paint Brushes Set 5 Pcs for Watercolors Paint	5	Brush set
Little Bird Paint Brushes Set 5 Pcs for Acrylic Oil Gouache Paint	5	Brush set
Gouache/Paint Detail Brushes Set 5 Pcs for Acrylic Oil Watercolor Face & Body	5	Brush set
Watercolor Paint Brush Set, 5 Pcs - 1 Flat, 3 Round	5	Brush set

What actually ruins a brush

Not the painting. It is the parking. A brush stood in a water cup bends against the bottom, and the bend sets. Gouache dried into the ferrule is the other one: the paint expands as it dries and splays the hairs from the root, and no amount of reshaping brings the tip back.

Rinse before the paint has a chance to set, not at the end of the session.
Squeeze water out of the ferrule with your fingers, then reshape the head.
Dry flat or head down. Water running into the handle lifts the ferrule glue.
Keep one round back for pale colours only. It is easier than getting a grey cast out of a white well later.

Sizes are not a standard

A number six from one maker is a number four from another. Judge a set by the span it covers rather than the numbers printed on the handles, and buy in sets rather than singles until you know which two you reach for every time.