Winsor & Newton Series 7

[gforceman]

I only use W&N serie 7 brushes because they seem to have the finest tip among all brushes. There are two sorts of serie 7 brushes: long hair which are best for acrylics and short hair which are better for oil. The short hairs are often called serie 7-12

Hope this helps,

Gino.

 

[KeithP]

IMO, these are absolutely the best brushes for acrylic painting. This is my opinion only.

I use the Series 7 Mini's. These have slightly shorter and broader brushes (?) than the standard series 7.

For me, they just seem to hold more paint and reduce the brush marks to nothing.

For me, you don't need ALL series seven in your collection. But, I use the 00,0,1 and 2 the most.

Good luck and let us know how they work for you!

Keith

 

[slaj]

Believe me ,they are the best you can buy. A bit more pricey but worth it. I use them for nearly everything.

Stephen Mallia

 

[Lou Masses]

I guess I will be the voice of dissention.

I use them very little. I found that they require too much maintenance for my tastes and when using with acrylics and oils (they are actually intended for watercolors) they don't last very long without the aforementioned maintenance. I'm in this to paint, not take care of brushes.

Believe it or not I use "Golden Eagles" or similar synthetic. For me they last for 4-5 figures (although I use different brushes for different parts of the figure-so they last longer) and when they are no longer any good for detail work, they become my metallic brushes.

For the W&N 7's are good for blending since I can never seem to keep a good point on them anyway.

 

[KeithP]

Lou-

Interesting comment on the maintenance aspect.

For the acrylics, after a thorough rinse in water, I give them a quick swab thru a brush soap rinsie again. Dry with TP and I am done. Takes an extra maybe 5 minutes. I do the same thing with oils except use thinner.

Keith

 

[slaj]

Lou I agree with you regards the maintenance but after all don't all the brushes need that? So why not spend a little more time on something that's a little superior ( for me anyway). But then again it's a matter of choice and preference

Stephen Mallia

 

[Guy]

I still have and use some series 7 that Joe Keenan gave me years ago. Its been worth the lil effort to keep them clean.

 

[Lou Masses]

I guess for me, my focus is on the figure - anything else to me is a waste of time (and I get very little painting time). I buy a cheaper brush that in the end lasts longer, requires much less maintenance, and for me anyway I get the same result at the end of the day. So for me, I don't feel the need to use Series 7's-not to say no one should, but I personally don't.

I guess for me a car analogy would be good. A Ferrarri is a fine and beautiful autmobile, they are fast, impressive but require to be tuned regularly. If my goal is to be fast and impressive, then a Ferrarri is my car, if my goal is to get to work every day then the last thing I want to do is have to tune my car once a week.

It's also my experience that they lose their points quickly, could just be I don't take care of them enough.

 

[Lepman]

IMHO the best brushes you can buy. W-N brushes hold their points longer, and if looked after properly will last 2-3 times longer than cheaper "as good as" brands. Keep two sets on hand: one for your regular painting media (oils, acrylics, whatever): a second for metallics.

 

[KeithP]

JL-

IMO, you should use seperate brushes for both acrylics/oils and metals. Too much risk of contamination of the acrylics if you have not adequately cleaned brush. Metal pigments should only be used with their own dedicated brushes (IMHO :lol: )
May be I am a bit paranoid, but I use a seperate brush soap container and thinner jar, too.

Keith

 

[Lepman]

I rarely use acrylics except for undercoating. Paint mainly in oils and enamels. I agree 100% with Kieth on using separate jars of thinner, brush cleaner, and even a cleaning rag for metallics. It does not take much gold or silver pigment to pollute everything !!!

 

[Lepman]

Forgot to add. I have 2 sets of 5 #1's. #0's, and #00's (n=30 brushes). One set for general painting, the other for metallics. I use acrylics mainly for undercoating and as long as they are cleaned properly, use them for oils and enamal painting as well. Proper cleaning is a must regardless of the medium you use.

 

[Lou Masses]

I have to agree with the separation-those little gold and silver bits are impossible to remove or cover once on a figure.

I "label" my metallic brushes so as not to get them mixed up. Different thinner, different rag all segregated.

Although I predominatly use the golden eagle synthetics, I don't mix my oil brushes and my acrylic brushes. Not matter how clean you try to be, some acrylic matter always seems to build up at the ferrule barely visibly and for some reason when oils get mixed in, the point seems to spread open-that has been my experience at least (including with Series 7's - even moreso).

I'm also of the belief that one should learn with the "worst" and practice one's skill there, if you can do well with "bad" tools, imagine what you can do with great ones. I kind of equate it to golfers who buy $1500 clubs to start and wonder why they're no good - it's not the clubs, it's the golfer - learn how to play well regardless of the clubs, and you'll play even better with the great clubs. Same applies to painting.

 

[Guy]

I have found that unless you are in an artist shop and can hand pick the W/N brushes, you are better off buying quality brushes through a large Arts / craft store (Michaels). I tried ordering W/N brushes through the mail with disasteric results. I also keep my oil brushes away from my acrylic and even have seperate brushes for enamels. I have found that the special acrylic brush cleaner fluid does help and clean the brushes better, thus lasting longer.

 

[amherbert]

On the topic of brush care, I remember Bob Tavis saying to use a coating of glycerine on brushes to help condition them and keep the point.

Perhaps Bob can elaborate on this.

Andy

 

[Lou Masses]

Guy,

Me too. The only place I ever received decent ones from sight unseen was Mike Roberts Ltd. Mike seems to look at them before shipping. Mail order you generally get what looks like a make up brush by the time you get it.

 

[Pete_H]

I have to agree with Lou re: maintenance. I've heard of guys who use their wives' shampoo & conditioner for maintaining their W/N brushes. People, since when have our workbenches become beauty salons? All that time spent on maintaining the tip of a Series 7 brush means less quality painting time. You'll typicall find 2 Series 7 brushes of sizes 00, 0, 1, and 2 on my workbench, with older beat-up ones for metallics and acrylics (used strictly for undercoating). As for blending, try the Loew-Cornell comfort-grip flats; you can't go wrong with these.

Getting back to my W/N 7's, I've never had the need to do any funky maintenance to keep them in good shape; mind you, many of mine are at least 1 year old. I only clean them with Silicoil and once/month with lacquer thinner (to get that crap out of the ferule). I guess I've been lucky ...

 

[Mongo Mel]

I'm a Series 7 user too and I think they're the best available and well worth the little bit extra cost.

I had a guy explain to me once about their quality and it seemed to make sense to me. He said that the Series 7's were from the first cutting on the fur from the sable. That is, the very ends or tips of the fur. That way each individual hair ended in it's own natural sharp point. And the story goes that they were first commissioned for the Queen of England back in the 1800's.
Hey..if it's good enough for the queen, it's good enough for me :lol:

One more thing....I get mine mail order from Cheap Joe's Art Supply and they have good prices and the brushes have always come to me in great shape.
Just my own experiences.
Craig

 

[KeithP]

I really have no local Art supply stores. So, I have to rely on mail order for almost all my art and figure supplies.

I would agree with Craig on Cheap Joe's Art Supplies. Cannot go wrong with Dick Blick either, IMO.

Keith

 

[Lou Masses]

J.L.

DOn't get me wrong, by no means am I saying not to buy the Series 7, if it works for you, use it, whatever it may be. What makes me shudder is the devotion to something simply because it is "in". Same applies for acrylics if you're an oil painter, or 54mm if you prefer 90mm.

I've had bad experiences with Series 7's so I typically don't use them-I do sometimes, mind you, but typically I don't. If you can get the best cheap, then get it. Just don't get it (for extra money) because everyone says they're the best. There are people who use things simply because everyone else does.

Lou