Curly brushes - what am I doing wrong?

[sniffles]

I\'ve noticed over the years that all my brushes tend to curl up at the tip after a few months of use. Does anyone else have this problem? It occurs with both synthetic and natural bristle brushes.

I suspect if I thinned my paints more so I didn\'t have to push pigment into the crevices of minis, the problem might go away, but I wonder if I\'m alone in this.

 

[Wolf_Fang]

honestly i have no idea.... only problem ive had that with was my drybrush.... i have a standard brush and fine detail brush that i use (yes thats all i use) and used them for about a yr now and their still fine and going strong

 

[Ritual]

Synthetic brushes do that all the time, no matter how much I care for them. It has never happened for me with natural fibre brushes though. ???

 

[Shawn R. L.]

Had the same problem with most all my synth-brushes. So I hear if you dip them in boiling water and quickly pull the bristles straight you can fix that.

 

[No Such Agency]

Curly brushes can be handy, for various uses. I find they are good for doing eyes, also for painting \"around corners\" in poorly accessible portions of the miniature.

Natural brushes shouldn\'t hook at all, actually. You might get stray bristles etc. though. With all due respect to Shawn RL, his method could loosen the glue holding the tuft in the ferrule, thus ruining your brush. I wouldn\'t advise it.

 

[Equus]

Odd that you\'re getting that with your natural hair brushes as well. I\'ve had a badly abused and seldom cleaned drybrush curl all over the place (looks like the tip exploded or something), but my normal brushes usually just start losing their tip and body.

Do you use any type of brush cleaner or occasionally use shampoo or anything on your brushes?

 

[petey]

The paint should be as thin or thinner than milk

 

[dendawg]

i used to be in special effects and a trick i learned was to use lil hairspray or hairgel to straight them out.

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by sniffles
I\'ve noticed over the years that all my brushes tend to curl up at the tip after a few months of use.

This shouldn\'t happen with natural-bristle brushes, at least I\'ve never had it happen to a sable or Kolinsky brush as far as I can remember. Are they blends maybe?

BTW, this usually happens to my synthetic rounds after only one or two uses! It does get worse over time but it\'s practically immediate with rounds, although it doesn\'t happen with the flats (they tend to splay) which I\'ve wondered about...

Originally posted by sniffles
I suspect if I thinned my paints more so I didn\'t have to push pigment into the crevices of minis, the problem might go away...

Possibly, your paint should certainly be quite thin as a general rule. Consistency should be between light cream - if you want to go for maximum coverage with minimum coats - through about that of milk for general painting, all the way to something like non-fat milk for light glazes and very subtle layering - really, the paint can be little more than dirty water at maximum dilution.

Try some of these, ah, tips, for maintain your brush tips:
Use the largest brush possible for any job (you can undercoat and do basic shading with a #4 for example).
Always dampen a brush before dipping in acrylic or vinyl paints.
Roll the brush when you loading it.
Rinse brushes thoroughly and often during use.
If possible try to use synthetics for textures, saving natural bristles for smoother surfaces.
Reform the shape, rolling if necessary, after you\'re done painting. I use saliva for this instead of just water but don\'t point your brushes in your mouth.

Originally posted by No Such Agency
Curly brushes can be handy, for various uses...

Agreed, they can do things that a sharp brush won\'t do as well, or at all.

Originally posted by No Such Agency
With all due respect to Shawn RL, his method could loosen the glue holding the tuft in the ferrule, thus ruining your brush. I wouldn\'t advise it.

Heat will weaken the glue in most brushes but this is the standard advice for trying to straighten hooked tips on nylon brushes (don\'t know if it works as well on polyester but I think it should). You just dip the bristles, not the ferrule, and it does work up to a point (sorry, unavoidable pun!)

Einion

 

[cubeblue]

I\'ve had similar issues with some natural hair brushes of lower quality. Honestly, I\'ve had this problem in some form or another with just about all of my brushes that are not kolinsky sable. Some of the other sables hold up pretty well against curling but instead tend to fray easier.

I would suggest investing in some higher quality Kolinsky sable brushes (Windsor and Newton Series 7 preferrably). These beauties are amazingly resilient, they form a very fine point, and their \'spring\' is like nothing else.

 

[Legacy Account]

The answer.....

Buy good quality brushes!!!!

It\'s money well spent - get some Windsor and Newton Series 7\'s or Cirrus 220\'s(they\'re cheaper and I actually prefer them...)

Klute swears by his Da Vinci\'s - they look top notch too....

 

[TAB Studio]

Di Vinci\'s are great Klute is right I bought one but I do not yet deserve it , Now I see this and tonight I was painting shields and the lil sucker popped off the cork so you know touch of glue etc wait etc paint 20 dollar brush with super glue now gone
I am going for the cheaper one I have indeed been told of the WN series 7 and am off to see if I can get them local for once you use a good brush you can never go back. Real Hair Rules

 

[Ebonbuddha]

When I was home in December I picked up a jar of Mona Lisa Brush Shaper Brush Restoration. It\'s good stuff and only cost a couple of bucks. I used it on my old Vallejos and got a couple of more months out of them before they went to drybrush brush bin. Wash your brushes and dip them in the brush restorer. Use your fingers to gently reshape the tips and let them dry. I let mine mine sit overnight. When you are ready to paint, gently loosen the brushes and have fun.

 

[Ebonbuddha]

Where do you get these Di Vinci brushes? I would like to give them a try?
I have been wanting to get some Series 7, but a new mini comes out and says,\"Buy me instead\"lol

 

[atacam]

A good tip for you is dip them in hair conditioner shap them and leave them overnight.

 

[Ebonbuddha]

Thats never worked for me. But the brush shaper I mentioned earlier does the trick.

 

[sniffles]

Originally posted by Ebonbuddha
When I was home in December I picked up a jar of Mona Lisa Brush Shaper Brush Restoration. It\'s good stuff and only cost a couple of bucks. I used it on my old Vallejos and got a couple of more months out of them before they went to drybrush brush bin. Wash your brushes and dip them in the brush restorer. Use your fingers to gently reshape the tips and let them dry. I let mine mine sit overnight. When you are ready to paint, gently loosen the brushes and have fun.

Thanks for the tip, Ebonbuddha. I\'ll have to try some of the brush restorer.

I do purchase artist quality brushes, mostly Da Vinci but some other brands also; yesterday I picked up a couple of Windsor & Newton because the art supply store had them on sale.

I thought I had purchased some natural bristle brushes in the past, but on second thought I think all of them were blends.

Otherwise I take very good care of my brushes, rinse frequently during painting sessions, load carefully, wash with brush cleanser when I\'m done, roll the tips, and store them in a special brush case with plastic sleeves on the ends. My master\'s degree in fine arts does occasionally come in handy for something.

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys!

 

[TAB Studio]

Ebonbuddha

Here is a link to the Travel Brush
brush

Becca found a store local the only one in the few counties around Largo today that sell windsor and newton series 7 (saves on shipping for sure)

 

[Ebonbuddha]

thank you. I and my wallet thanks you.lol

 

[Levdir]

To keep my brushes in shape I just run them through my \'dirty\' water and give them a wipe with my designated painting cloth every time change colours or the paint on the brush starts to dry. It\'s worked fine so far, the old GW sable brush I\'ve cut down for fine detailing has lasted me a nearly a year with no other maintenence.