[Paint] Help with "tip curling" on my brushes
Ernest
"tip curling" on my brushes. I've tried cheapo brushes and even a few
mid-grade brushes with both sable and nylon bristles and still the same
problem. I'm hesitant to invest in any high quality brush until I've
figured out what's going on.
With some brushes, my tips will start to curl after 20-30 minutes of use.
Others it might take a few days. I'm using Delta Ceramcoat acrylic paints
thinned with "magic wash." Here's a link to an image of a few of my
brushes. The middle one is kinda of beat up because it have been retired to
a drybrush. http://home.insightbb.com/~sweeprman/brush002.jpg
Any advice?
MJB
"Ernest" <h.sh...@insightbb.com> wrote in message
news:T3ppf.654693$xm3.426666@attbi_s21...
Well, all my acrylic paint brushes look pretty much exactly like what you
show in the photographs - and if they're digital photos, I'd like to know
what model of camera you're using. Because I'm in the market for a new
digital camera to take photos of my miniature figs and I want what you've
got.
<grin>
Seriously, tip curl is what acrylic brushes seem to do - cheap, mid-range or
expensive. I've never found a solution to get a point again and I've been
using acrylic brushes pretty much exclusively in my painting biz for the
last twelve years or so. And in fact have discovered that I can actually
paint pretty well with curled brushes - seems like the little curl is like a
dental tool. It allows one to get into the hard-to-reach places.
So either learn how to make the 'curl' work for you or switch to sable-hair
natural brushes. And taking care of natural hair brushes is another art of
it's own. Soon you'd be posting photos with the header 'help with 'bristle
splaying' on my brushes.'
<smile>
MJB
Mr. Tin's Miniature Painting Workshop:
http://web.newsguy.com/Mrtinsworkshop/
John Hwang
> "Ernest" <h.sh...@insightbb.com> wrote:
>>I'm having a terrible time with "tip curling" on my brushes.
[SNIP]
> Seriously, tip curl is what acrylic brushes seem to do - cheap,
> mid-range or expensive.
Yup.
> So either learn how to make the 'curl' work for you or switch to
> sable-hair natural brushes.
I generally don't like the curl, so I prefer sable brushes. I find
sable more consistent over time, and better suited to my painting style.
> And taking care of natural hair brushes is another art of it's own.
> Soon you'd be posting photos with the header 'help with 'bristle
> splaying' on my brushes.'
True. Clean religiously.
--
--- John Hwang "JohnHwang...@cs.com.no.com"
\-|-/
| A.K.D. F.E.M.C.
| Horned Blood Cross Terror LED Speed Jagd Destiny
Myrmidon
Varfed out the following in Timo speak...
>
<snip>
> and if they're digital photos, I'd like to know
> what model of camera you're using. Because I'm in the market for a new
> digital camera to take photos of my miniature figs and I want what you've
> got.
I really like the Nikon Cool Pics 5700 that I'm using. Straight
out of the box it's ideal for shooting Minis. (About the only thing
you'll want is a larger memory card so you can shoot more than 10 or 12
pics before having to upload your images to PC.) The Nikon CP series
also seems to be a favorite among GW employees that have shot pics for
White Dwarf, etc as I've seen several articles/threads in various forums
where folks who (claimed) to work for GW talked about their photography
equipment and techniques. The only other thing you'll likely need is
good 'blue-white' high intensity light lightbulbs for good 'true color'
photography. GE makes the 'reveal' series which work well for me and
are available in wattages that work in typical indoor light fixtures.
The other alternative if you've got money to burn are high quality
photographer's lighting stands and bulbs. The drawback to these are
they're expensive bulbs, and require the special (i.e expensive) ceramic
stands with built in air fans due to their high high heat output (you
can damn near heat your house with these things).
Hope that helps,
Myrmidon
P.S. The 5700 may be more than you want to spend, but it's a solid and
well recommended unit for the price that does a lot more than just minis
photography. It's worth looking into.
--
"I'm already impoverished from buying wargames minis,
and I'm too knackered for riotous living..."
-- Moramarth
RGMW FAQ: http://www.rgmw.org
Or...
Myrmidon
h.sh...@insightbb.com Varfed out the following in Timo speak...
Well, Mr. Blow & Mr. Hwang have done a nice job covering a lot of
the ground, but there are a couple things I can suggest. One, just in
case you haven't already read this...
http://www.rgmw.org/paint/paintbrushcare.html
Two, while John doesn't mention it in his post, he does point out in the
above article that cleaning your brush frequently (particularly using a
good brush soap) helps greatly increase the life of your brush. In
regards to the curling issue, from personal experience I'm going to
guess that it's from holding and painting (pulling) the brush in the
same direction over time. Stopping frequently to clean the brush (at
least for me) results in my grip changing. Looking at my current brush
collection - I've got a few with tip curl, but not many. I mainly use
the inexpensive 'Plaid' and 'Crafter's Select' craft acrylic style
brushes for most of my work, and good synthetic or sable brushes (0-000)
at $4-$6 a pop (or more) for the detail work. You might also simply be
pressing harder than you need to / should be when dragging the brushes
across the surface of your minis while applying paint. Getting a good
paint job includes having paint that flows easily from the brush (which
is why I use a lot of the 'Plaid' and 'Applebarrel' paints over GW's -
the fact they're cheaper too is a nice bonus).
Which leads me to the question, is 'magic wash' a commercial
product or the 'thinned with Future Floor wax' trick? If it's the
latter, ditch the floor wax and get a commercial flow aid product or
even use an acrylic medium. I use 'DecoArt Easy Float' as my flow aid
(though any decent commercial surficant will do) mixed with water and I
also use Liquitex 'Slow-Dri Gel Retarder' which slows down the drying
rate of acrylic paint making it easier to brush on and blend. You might
also consider acrylic medium (comes in matte and gloss) which is
basically acrylic paint without any of the color pigment added. Adding
in a bit of medium can improve the way the paint flows and handles
making it easier to paint with, and if you use a lot of medium to low
amounts of paint you can make your own transparent glazes for creating
layered effects with a lot of rich colors showing through.
If none of these suggestions help, you might also try asking your
question on the Yahoo mini-painters group. There are tons of
knowledgable folks there who might have a working solution.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mini-painter/
Hope that helps,
Myrmidon
P.S. post a few shots of your minis. We'd love to take a look. :)
MJB
"Myrmidon" <Im...@home.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.1e107b52d...@news-server.woh.rr.com...
> In article <do58n...@news3.newsguy.com>, MJB, mrt...@OLDSguy.com
> Varfed out the following in Timo speak...
>>
> <snip>
>
>> and if they're digital photos, I'd like to know
>> what model of camera you're using. Because I'm in the market for a new
>> digital camera to take photos of my miniature figs and I want what you've
>> got.
>
> I really like the Nikon Cool Pics 5700 that I'm using. Straight
> out of the box it's ideal for shooting Minis. (About the only thing
> you'll want is a larger memory card so you can shoot more than 10 or 12
> pics before having to upload your images to PC.)
The only digital camera I've ever owned is my Olympus d-460 zoom which is
now a little dated. I've had it for almost six years and it's taken well
over 5,000 photos of miniatures since then. It was a fabulous little camera
and well worth the 500$ I spent when it was just releaseed - but now it's
getting a little iffy and has also developed a 'hot-spot' that's making me
unhappy.
>The Nikon CP series
> also seems to be a favorite among GW employees that have shot pics for
> White Dwarf, etc as I've seen several articles/threads in various forums
> where folks who (claimed) to work for GW talked about their photography
> equipment and techniques.
Don't visit other forums so I thank you for your insight.
> The only other thing you'll likely need is
> good 'blue-white' high intensity light lightbulbs for good 'true color'
> photography. GE makes the 'reveal' series which work well for me and
> are available in wattages that work in typical indoor light fixtures.
> The other alternative if you've got money to burn are high quality
> photographer's lighting stands and bulbs.
I'll burn up to 500$ on the camera. And whatever else is required. It is
for my biz, after all...
> The drawback to these are
> they're expensive bulbs, and require the special (i.e expensive) ceramic
> stands with built in air fans due to their high high heat output (you
> can damn near heat your house with these things).
It's been 24 degrees below zero here in Montana - I'll take all the heat
sources I can get right now.
>
> Hope that helps,
Certainly doesn't hurt like some of the beatings I've seen you inflict...
>
> Myrmidon
>
> P.S. The 5700 may be more than you want to spend, but it's a solid and
> well recommended unit for the price that does a lot more than just minis
> photography. It's worth looking into.
If it's not more than 500$, it's right in my price-range.
Thanks for advice, it is appreciated.
smithdoerr
"MJB" <mrt...@OLDSguy.com> wrote in message
news:do718...@news4.newsguy.com...
>
> "Myrmidon" <Im...@home.com> wrote in message
> news:MPG.1e107b52d...@news-server.woh.rr.com...
>> In article <do58n...@news3.newsguy.com>, MJB, mrt...@OLDSguy.com
>> Varfed out the following in Timo speak...
>>>
>> <snip>
>>
>>> and if they're digital photos, I'd like to know
>>> what model of camera you're using. Because I'm in the market for a new
>>> digital camera to take photos of my miniature figs and I want what
>>> you've
>>> got.
>>
>> I really like the Nikon Cool Pics 5700 that I'm using. Straight
>> out of the box it's ideal for shooting Minis. (About the only thing
>> you'll want is a larger memory card so you can shoot more than 10 or 12
>> pics before having to upload your images to PC.)
>
> The only digital camera I've ever owned is my Olympus d-460 zoom which is
> now a little dated. I've had it for almost six years and it's taken well
> over 5,000 photos of miniatures since then. It was a fabulous little
> camera and well worth the 500$ I spent when it was just releaseed - but
> now it's getting a little iffy and has also developed a 'hot-spot' that's
> making me unhappy.
<big snip>
This site is pretty good for camera reviews and makes it easy to compare
specs and prices of various modes:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/
--
-smithdoerr
Ryan Elkins
get some Masters brush soap, and clean them religiously. And also rotate the
brush when changing your grip, like everybody else has suggested. And when
using the soap, try leaving a tiny bit in the brush when putting them away.
Rotate the brush as you draw it across the cleaning cloth/paper towel,
making a fine point. It will stiffen as it dries out, and will keep the
point of the brush nice and...well, pointy. I've rescued a few "dead"
bruhses by doing this.
drgrbek
Myrmidon
> >
> > P.S. The 5700 may be more than you want to spend, but it's a solid and
> > well recommended unit for the price that does a lot more than just minis
> > photography. It's worth looking into.
>
> If it's not more than 500$, it's right in my price-range.
>
> Thanks for advice, it is appreciated.
>
> MJB
Doh - should have thought of this before... If it is above your
price range for a new model, don't forget to check out the possibility
of getting a good deal on a 'refurbished' model. I help folks do that
when they're looking for PC's and Laptops and it's amazing how much
extra 'bang' one can get for the buck when buying refurbs while still
getting a quality product.
Myrmidon
Myrmidon
askmef...@vodafone.it Varfed out the following in Timo speak...
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2002_reviews/nikon5700.html
Ohh.. I'd forgotten about that site. And looky - it should be in his
price range too. Thanks.
Myr :)
Ernest
"John Hwang" <JohnHw...@cs.com.no.com> wrote in message
news:%Iqpf.42368$fY5.32590@trnddc02...
> MJB wrote:
>> "Ernest" <h.sh...@insightbb.com> wrote:
>>>I'm having a terrible time with "tip curling" on my brushes.
>
> [SNIP]
>
>> sable-hair natural brushes.
>
> I generally don't like the curl, so I prefer sable brushes. I find sable
> more consistent over time, and better suited to my painting style.
>
with MJB that on few occasions it can be beneficial. But for most of my
applications I find it quite annoying.
Any preference to brand names for sable brushes? I walked into a craft
store the other day and was quite overwhelmed by the choices. I had a hard
time just trying to figure out what the bristles were made of.
Ernest
From: "MJB" <mrt...@OLDSguy.com>
Newsgroups: rec.games.miniatures.warhammer
Sent: Sunday, December 18, 2005 10:16 PM
Subject: Re: [Paint] Help with "tip curling" on my brushes
> [SNIP] I'd like to know what model of camera you're using. Because I'm in
> the market for a new digital camera to take photos of my miniature figs
> and I want what you've got.
>
> MJB
Actually I cheated. I merely laid then on a flatbed scanner.
John Hwang
> "John Hwang" <JohnHw...@cs.com.no.com> wrote ...
>>>So either learn how to make the 'curl' work for you or switch to
>>>sable-hair natural brushes.
>>
>>I generally don't like the curl, so I prefer sable brushes. I find sable
>>more consistent over time, and better suited to my painting style.
>
> I don't care for the curl either, hence my inquiry. Although I must agree
> with MJB that on few occasions it can be beneficial. But for most of my
> applications I find it quite annoying.
>
> Any preference to brand names for sable brushes? I walked into a craft
> store the other day and was quite overwhelmed by the choices. I had a hard
> time just trying to figure out what the bristles were made of.
I stick with pure sable Atlas or Windsor & Newton brushes. The Vallejo
sables should also be good. Avoid sable blends, which are just
semi-acrylics.