Artist Paint Brushes will become your favorite tools the more you use them! As you create, you will become increasingly more familiar with the way the brushes handle the paint and what they can accomplish for you. Soon the paintbrush will become a part of you that you intuitively know how to master its capabilities.
If you're just starting out, it can be a bit overwhelming standing in the Paint Brush aisle at the art store, with such a large selection of Artist Paint Brushes presented before you. Such selection can be very challenging.
No fear – Royal & Langnickel has created this easy to use guide! In this section we will provide you with everything you need to know in order to select the right Paint Brushes to suit your needs.
Taklon Round Paint broad lines, round areas, stroke work
Taklon Fan Blend colors, create texture, grass, fur, foliage
Angular Paint angled shapes, sharp edges and float colors
Comb™ Paint multiple lines in one stroke for fluffy Santa beard
Natural Mop Blend delicate colors and soften edges of objects
Shader Blend or float colors, lettering, and basecoating
Natural Round Paint broad lines, round areas, stroke work
Ox Glaze Blend colors, apply glazes, and basecoat
Natural Flat Blend or float colors and basecoating
Glaze/Wash Float and blend colors, make broad square strokes and basecoat large objects
Filbert Paint and blend round petals, leaves and strokes
Stencil Stencil painting or stippling on any surface
Bristle Flat Blending heavy colors, dry brushing, and basecoating
Bristle Round Blending heavy colors, dry brushing, and basecoating in rounded areas
Bristle Fan Blend colors, create texture, grass, fur, and foliage
Liner Extra thin lines, small strokes, and the tiniest details
Detail Paint angled shapes, sharp edges, and float colors in tight areas
Script Extra long strokes, lines and scrolling
Triangular Triple load with color to create unique blends in stroke work
Dagger Banding fine lines, stems, long leaves and stroke designs
Wisp™ Angular Paint multiple lines in one stroke, feathers, foliage, plaids and hair
Wisp™ Fan Paint multiple lines with one stroke, banding multiple lines, curlicues and splattering
Wisp™ Flat Paint multiple lines in one stroke, cross hatching and squiggles
Wisp™ Filbert Paint multiple lines in one stroke, grass, hair, fur and detail flower petals
Funky Pouncer™ Add texture with gels, acrylics, oils, watercolor stains and glazes
Natural Fan Large area washes, ceramic underglazes and glazes
Hake Large area coverage, washes, ceramic under glazes and glazes
Bamboo Ceramic glazes, underglazes, lettering, strokes and washes
Tight Spot Paint in hard-to-reach spots
Mr. Big Sweep Fine lines, large area washes, ceramic underglazes and glazes
Choosing a brush can be challenging. There’s wide range of hair types, head shapes and handle lengths. The terms listed below should assist you in selecting a brush type.
A
Acrylic Brush:
Is a synthetic brush, the hair mixture is specifically made for use with acrylic paints.
Angle:
Like a filbert, these are versatile and can be used in both general painting as well as detail work.
B
Blunt:
Hairs which are missing their natural tips. Blunts or trimmed hairs are not found in Quality brushes.
Bright:
A chisel ended, square headed bristle brush that are typically short and flat.
Bristle:
A Coarse hog hair brush. Its strong hair works well for thick brushwork in oil and acrylic painting. The better the quality, the easier they can carry more paint and keep their shape when wet.
D
Designers:
Commonly used in illustrations, has an elongated round sable.
E
Egbert:
Is an extra-long flat brush that has oval shaped heads, available in both bristle and soft hair.
F
Fan:
A flat fan, is used for blending, available in both bristle and soft hair.
Filbert:
Are flat brushes with oval shaped heads, available in both bristle and soft hair.
Flag:
Is the natural, split tip of each bristle. Flags carry more paint and are found in the higher quality hog brushes.
Flat
Are long and flat hog brushes with a chisel end.
G
Goat
Are used to make good mop wash brushes.
M
Mop:
Is a large, round, domed brushes, often goat or squirrel, used primarily to cover whole areas in watercolor.
O
One Stroke:
A flat soft hair brush which allows an area to be covered in one stroke, traditionally used in signwriting for block letters.
Ox:
Are flat wash brushes created from ear hair.
R
Rigger:
Are very thin, long round sable and are traditionally used for painting rigging in marine pictures.
Round:
Has a pointed tip and long closely arranged bristles for detail.
S
Sable:
Produces the best soft hair brushes, especially for watercolor. The conical shape and scaled surface of each hair provide a brush with a preferred point, responsiveness and paint carrying capacity.
Script:
very thin, long, chisel ending sables, that are traditionally used for lines and letters in signwriting.
Spotter:
Has extra short and small sable rounds, is used for retouching photographs and other high detail work.
Spring:
The degree of resilience of the hair and its ability to return to a point.
W
Wash:
Large flat soft hair brushes, used primarily for flat washes in watercolor.