What size brushes do oil painters find most useful?

[Adamski]

Hey guys. Im hitting the shops in the next week and want to pick up some series 7 brushes. Instead of getting a load and then finding i never use some i thought id ask what common sizes all you oil painters are using for good coverage/ detail work etc.
Feel free to say what shape too.

 

[1969]

Adam I use primarily #0 round for all my oil painting work, i tend to use oils for flesh and acrylics for clothing, my #0 works well for figures from 75mm up to 1/9 busts.

Be aware W&N series 7`s can vary in quality now days and I have purchased a couple that would not even compete with a cheap synthetic brush.

Best to test the brush in the shop, any good art shop will have facility for this and allow it, just dip brush in water and drain of water with tissue before tapping ferrule onto your hand to make sure the point snaps in place and remains sharp, if it splays discard it.

Steve

 

[megroot]

I use serie 7 numbers, 00,0,1 and 2

 

[Adamski]

Are you guys using pointed brushes for everything? Would stippling the paint not contribute to damaging the tip?

 

[megroot]

Are you guys using pointed brushes for everything? Would stippling the paint not contribute to damaging the tip?

You never asked that.
For stippling ( í'm a oilpainter) i us a flat 2 sometimes 0 for smaller areas from a very cheap manufacturer. It has Kolinsky hair also. I've tryed synthetic for this, but that doesn't work for me.

marc

 

[thegoodsgt]

I use a W&N Series 7 #000 and #0 about 95 percent of the time.

 

[1969]

Adam I use the side of the pointed(round) brush for stippling without any problems, have used flat for larger areas, like Marc suggests use a kolinsky flat rather than synthetic.

Steve

 

[tonydawe]

It's probably worth pointing out that W & N Series 7 red sable brushes are "top of the line" and are priced accordingly. Here in Australia you can pay up to $25 for a Series 7 000 brush, which seems ridiculously expensive to me.

I buy synthetic (taklon) round brushes in a variety of sizes (000 to 0) because they are cheap and easy to replace when they lose their point. I'm rather tough on my brushes, and I tend to paint in acrylics, so it makes sense for me to buy cheap ones and replace them regularly.

I do most of my acrylic painting with brushes sized between 000 and 2, so I tend to buy cheap ones and replace them often. I do have some better quality flat sable brushes which I use for painting with oils and some long round sable brushes for applying washes.

I bought three new taklon brushes today for less than $7. They will probably be thrown out after I finish my next project and then I'll buy new ones.

For beginner painters, I'd suggest you decide for yourself whether investing in W & N Series 7 brushes suits your style of painting and your budget

You may find you spend almost as much money on brushes as you do on figures. If that happens, I suggest you switch to taklon brushes and buy them in bulk.

 

[Sambaman]

Small ones.

Jay H.

 

[Einion]

Adam, brush size tends to depend a bit on the scale(s) you're normally working in but most people would find rounds in sizes 000, 0, 1 and maybe 2 would cover a fair range of subjects. There's also quite a bit of personal preference when it comes to what size is comfortable to use for specific tasks; I tend to follow the advice of some top painters and use the largest brush possible for any job, after all if you're paying for a sharp tip might as well make good use of it!

For non-round brushes my favourite shape is a filbert or cat's tongue (langue du chat) which I find work better than a bright or a flat, although I have some of those too.

Size issues aside here are a few past threads about Series 7 quality issues and viable alternatives:
http://www.planetfigure.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33150
http://www.planetfigure.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16734
http://www.planetfigure.com/forums/showthread.php?p=241017#post241017

The W&N brushes used to be the cream of the crop but that is long past now and despite this they are still among the most expensive of Kolinsky rounds (especially if you pay full retail). This thread on CMON might be helpful:
http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums/showthread.php?43945-Quality-paintbrushes-in-the-UK

Would stippling the paint not contribute to damaging the tip?

If you do it a lot, definitely.

If you want to stipple much my recommendation would be to get a few synthetic brushes and some smaller hog-bristle brushes (these may have long handles I'm afraid) and compare how they perform. Some of the stiffer synthetics (e.g. Cryla) might be just the ticket over the softer golden-coloured nylon brushes which are intended to mimic sable but bristle brushes are probably the type for this as they're so robust.

@Tony - what are you doing to your brushes mate?!

Einion