Brushes

[Sim>on]

Hi. I know that you can be bored with this question but i must ask So, what Winsor & Newton bushes i should buy ? Im was thinking about Windsor & Newton University Series 233 because ive heard that they are very good.. but id like to hear your opinions :innocent:

Edit : Im curentlly using Rembrandt brushes, and they are very good.. but maybe W&N Series 233 brushes are better ? The main difrence is that S 233 are nylon, Rembrandt is natural..

 

[vincegamer]

should

That\'s a word packed full of opinion, subjectivity and judgment.

If I had to answer I\'d say you should buy any synthetic brush. The fur industry is inhumane.

 

[THuff]

The set you will see recommended most are the Windsor Newton Series 7 (either the miniature or regular). They are red sable and as long as you keep them clean, they hold a point very well and very rarely have the point curl like most synthetic brushes.

They are all I use any more.

Don\'t buy them retail as they are too expensive. There are a few online companies like Dick Blick that carry them.

-Terry

Mageworks

My Gallery

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by Sim>on
So, what Winsor & Newton bushes i should buy ?

Stop right there, brushes should be bought on performance and price/value for money, not by name alone. Test brushes for yourself as what may suit someone else might not suit the way you paint - I prefer stiffer natural bristles for most of my mini painting, others prefer something softer.

Check this thread on planetFigure for other brands you might try.

Originally posted by Sim>on
Edit : Im curentlly using Rembrandt brushes, and they are very good.. but maybe W&N Series 233 brushes are better ? The main difrence is that S 233 are nylon, Rembrandt is natural..

A good natural-hair round will outperform a synthetic equivalent for most jobs but nylon and polyester brushes have their place too so it\'s worth having both for different tasks.

Originally posted by vincegamer
should

That\'s a word packed full of opinion, subjectivity and judgment.

If I had to answer I\'d say you should buy any synthetic brush. The fur industry is inhumane.

Good answer! Although I\'m not sure the petrochemical industry is actually better in the grand scheme of things.

Originally posted by THuff
The set you will see recommended most are the Windsor Newton Series 7 (either the miniature or regular). They are red sable...

Not red sable, Kolinsky is (should be I mean) a different kind of hair.

Originally posted by THuff
...they hold a point very well and very rarely have the point curl like most synthetic brushes.

I\'ve never had a natural-hair brush curl over in the same way as synthetics do.

Einion

 

[vincegamer]

Good point about petrochemicals. I\'ll have to check, though I don\'t think they cause direct animal pain.

As to curling, I\'m one of the two voices out there that keeps telling people curling isn\'t necessarily a bad thing. There\'s lots you can do with a good hooked brush you can\'t do with a straight one.

 

[Legacy Account]

It\'s a shame they don\'t taste good. Wouldn\'t have to chuck the bodies away then

 

[Ebonbuddha]

Just get the series 7s. They will last a long time. Don\'t buy GW.Its over priced for mediocre quality.

Originally posted by Sim>on
Hi. I know that you can be bored with this question but i must ask So, what Winsor & Newton bushes i should buy ? Im was thinking about Windsor & Newton University Series 233 because ive heard that they are very good.. but id like to hear your opinions :innocent:

Edit : Im curentlly using Rembrandt brushes, and they are very good.. but maybe W&N Series 233 brushes are better ? The main difrence is that S 233 are nylon, Rembrandt is natural..

 

[Drake Farstrider]

I keep meaning to get some Series 7, but I never seem to have the extra cash lying around. So I still use my crappy brushes.

 

[Helga]

brushes, funny story there

I have several synthetic brushes, some red sable brushes and one red sable brush I bought about 30 years ago (No 1 HABICO, echt Rotmarder, # 122-02650) that I really cherish and handle with extreme care, my absolute favourite.

Comes to be my not-yet-husband, who\'s not a mini-painter, but into radio controlled helicopter models, asked me what to do with a certain custom made hood: he had no decals for edges where hatches and some windows are. I told him to paint them on. I gave him my acrylic black, showed him how to dilute it and gave him a synthetic #1, a (da vinci) red sable #1 and my cherished HABICO #1 to try which brush suited him best.
He went straight for my HABICO.

so there, my conclusion:
- synthetics are stiff but don\'t hold much paint and have a tendency to curl
- (normal) red sable hold paint better but are very soft and therefore difficult to handle
- HABICO red sable holds the paint very well, has a certain spring and doesn\'t loose the tip.

The famous Winsor & Newton Series 7 do come closest to my old HABICO of all red sables I ever used.

 

[Drake Farstrider]

So where can one get a beloved HABICO brush? 30 Years you say? I am lucky if my brush lasts 3 hours.

 

[Helga]

Orginal gepostet von Drake Farstrider
So where can one get a beloved HABICO brush? 30 Years you say? I am lucky if my brush lasts 3 hours.

For company information
http://www.habico.info/
and the store list is here http://www.horst-w-budweg.de/HABICO_haendlerliste.htm
and as far as I know they don\'t sell by internet, sorry to say.

 

[Sim>on]

Ok, can you tell me which size of W&N series 7 brush should i buy for highlithing etc ? You know... most useful brush..

 

[darkartminiatures]

I use a No2 brush for almost everything
The no2 brush (no2 high peak, pure sable)I\'m using at the moment has a better tip on it than any 000000 brush I\'ve had. Okay so you can tell in my work.

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by vincegamer
There\'s lots you can do with a good hooked brush you can\'t do with a straight one.

That\'s true.

Originally posted by Drake Farstrider
I am lucky if my brush lasts 3 hours.

I hope this is an exaggeration? What are you painting with, hot battery acid?

Originally posted by Sim>on
Ok, can you tell me which size of W&N series 7 brush should i buy for highlithing etc ? You know... most useful brush..

<sigh> Series 7 are overpriced and not made to a consistently high standard as before, check the link I provided as some of those brands may be available to you.

Brush size is a very personal thing, I prefer to paint with the largest brush possible for any given job, some people use the smallest they can. You\'ll need more than one brush really, a 000 and 0 will get you started but larger sizes are useful for undercoating, these though can be a good choice for a cheaper line as you don\'t need the sharp tip as much.

Einion

 

[Dammekkos2]

I\'d highly reccomend W&N CIRRUS. They\'re a much cheaper version of series 7, but the quality is (imo) just as good.

 

[Medved]

my tastes for brushes are as follows:

gw anysize: good for getting the paint out of pots and mixing with water.

i mainly use a 000 kolinsky brush for my display stuff ( handover series 66 kolinsky sable) they have long bristles and act like a caligraphy pen for me. they can put down a lot of paint in one go or produce long fine lines, which is handy for freehand.

then for really fine details (eyes, and eye highlight) i use a 0000 synthetic brush. these hold almost no paint, but only put the paint down where you want it.

the rest of the time i use 0 size brushes.

find a brush you like then go out and buy quite a few of them.

i have a brush for doing faces, one for the whites of the eyes, one for pupils and teeth, and loads for general work. just look after them!

 

[sebrushworth]

What size to use is a very subjective question and depends on what painting style you use. As an example, Anders (Ritual) uses size 00 brushes for pretty much everything, while Tammy (Minigrrl) uses size 2 brushes for most stuff I think. Personally I use the size 1 brush for most stuff, and the size 00 brush for fine details. I use Winsor and Newton series 7, and think they\'re good, but get the normal ones, not the miniature ones, as they hold hardly any paint and I just find them annoying to try and work with.

Another thing to think about is that the bigger the brushes are the more expensive they are. A W&N series 7 size 00 costs under 10 dollars, but a size 2 costs over 20 dollars. If you can afford it I think you should buy one of each 00,0,1 and 2 and find what fits your style. Otherwise just get the 1 and the 00. You don\'t really need anything else in my opinion.

As for the GW brushes, they also fill a function: I use them to mix paint lol

 

[tzor]

I use a toothpick myself. (To mix and move paint to palette.) But I have this really cheap brush that I use to move my diluting mixture (water with a twist of dish washing soap) to the palette.

I have a range of brushes but the odds are it\'s the two smallest brushes that I use all the time. I really need to get a larget mini (other than the 25mm and 35mm) to paint I suppose and give those other brushes a chance once more.

 

[Dragon Forge Design]

For those interested and living in the USA. Dick Blick is running a sale on W&N Series 7 brushes..I just bought 11 of them

They say the prices are 63% off retail

Prices were
size 3/0 $6.28 each
size 2/0 $6.58 each
size 0 $6.98 each
size 1 $7.98 each
size 2 $9.58 each

Plus shipping

 

[Einion]

Dick Blick are often the cheapest of the big online suppliers and when they are having promotions prices are regularly 60-70% off RRP. In addition they have good shipping rates, as well as not charging extra if they have to ship an order in more than one lot.

Einion