by Diane; My changing ideas on teaching about paint brushes

Students in the past pressed me to teach them the uses of each kind of brush. They were used to artists on TV always talking abut the kind of brush they were using for different painting tasks. I believed brush detail to be just chatter to fill in the empty times as well as making it easy for listeners to copy.
My approach was to leave detail unanswered so students could embark on a painting as though it were a journey of getting to know what their tools can do as they paint. The brushes were unimportant as compared to quality paper and color and composition. These other basics were all I wanted to tackle in my short hour and half workshops at the Oregon State Fall Creek Hatchery and Research Center Fall Festival the first Saturday in November the past nine years.

The natural hair1/4 inch Blick Master stroke Eclipse one stroke inch and a quarter length holds enough ink to continue painting for a long time.

The 1/2 inch synthetic oval Golden Fleece was the only brush used on this 12' x9" watercolor.The oval shape challenges me when trying to fill in corners so in response I abstracted the hands. The tool can make for shaping differences.

 

The 1/2 inch synthetic Simple Simmons 1 Stroke plat long brush holds a reservoir of paint. It has so much body that the squared off edge works its way into the painting.

 

This much abused 1/2 inch sable brush has been used extensively with my acrylic paints and there is build up of hard paint at the base near the brush ferrule. Some hairs are broken and it separates as the brush empties the paint. Love these brushes with character.   At the workshop I will provide some of my old brushes.