Picking the Right Brushes for Oil Painting with Katie Blackwell

http://www.cheapjoes.com -- Welcome to Cheap Joe's Test Studio! I'm going to talk with you about how to choose your oil brush. There are lots of different kinds to choose from - synthetic, natural, blend of both, long hair, short hair - it's hard to pick out which one is best for you. I personally like a nice, soft synthetic that's still synthetic. By soft I mean it's not a hog's bristle brush. Hog's bristle brushes are what traditional oil painters use, and these are great if you're doing en plein air painting, or you want to do impasto - you want to just get something quick, thick, and textured with painterly brush strokes. If you do something more blended and smooth like I do, you might want to go with a synthetic brush that's a little bit stiffer. These, the Titaniums, are my favorite because they're not too expensive, but they last a really long time. I abuse my brushes like nobody's business. I've had this Titanium brush for 6 months, and I've completely destroyed it, but it's still workable and not a lot of brushes can do that. If you're willing to spend a little bit more money there are synthetic Mongoose brushes, and these work great. They're a little bit stiffer than Titaniums, so it pushes the paint a little bit more than absorbing it. If you want to get into the most beautiful, gorgeous brushes, we have the natural Mongoose. This brush is about $30, it's a 24 Filbert, but you paint with this and you're blending like a dream -- it's gorgeous. You can touch it and it feels kinda like a makeup brush. If you want something even softer, there are sable brushes for oils that are a little bit stiffer. You can use watercolor brushes for oil brushes. I like to use them for my details. You can tell they're watercolor brushes because the handle is shorter because traditionally watercolorists paint much closer to their paper so they have a shorter handle. Oil painters traditionally paint father away. That's the only difference. The hair sometimes is exactly the same. The only thing I would be careful about with watercolor brushes is they are meant to absorb a lot more and you don't necessarily want that in oils. You want something a little bit stiffer to push the paint around. The best thing to do, especially if you're not sure what technique you're trying to get or effect you're looking for, just try a couple of different kinds. You don't have to buy everything all at once. Try one from this display and that display, and eventually you'll get the perfect setup for you and on the way you'll find out a bunch of new stuff about brushes.