Small Paint Brushes

[Bharath Capelle]

Oneof the big questions that I get asked all the time is about choosing the best brushes! I even have another post about choosing brushes for door hangers here. Choosing the right paint brush is a big part of getting your door hangers to turn out exactly how you want them to look. Especially for detail work like hand lettering!

Hand lettering can be such an intimidating part of door hanger painting. I recently talked about that in my last post, where I shared a favorite technique for easy hand lettering. And part of that is because there are so many different kinds of brushes out there for door hangers. So in this post I wanted to focus on two of my favorite kinds of brushes for hand lettering: round tip and filbert tip.

If you want more details, or just want to see each step in action, check out this hand lettering brush video tutorial I recently did live on my facebook page. You can watch me paint each step and show you more details of the different brushes I used:

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I've provided links below to the relevant products so that you can easily find them on Blick Art Materials, my favorite online art supplier. I'm a member of Blick's affiliate program, which means if you make a purchase after clicking on one of these links, I'll receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you). See my Disclosure Statement for more info.

These paintbrushes are excellent value! The American Painter product line by Loew Cornell is a legend among artists from coast to coast. Starting with the finest blend of double-filament, dyed synthetic golden Taklon hair, each brush is made by hand to work flawlessly, allowing the artist a high degree of control and maximum dexterity.

The extra sharp needle-like point and longer tapered hair length result in faster action at the tip and the tightest snap at the point. Expect superior spring and control, plus unsurpassed water-carrying performance. All brushes have plated brass, seamless ferrules.

I can also recommend a couple of paintbrush sets, which gives you the added benefit of acquiring all your paintbrushes at once. The Maestro Series XV Paintbrush Set includes 15 paintbrushes of various sizes and shapes, such as round, filbert, flat, angle, etc. 11 of the brushes are synthetic and 4 are natural hog hair brushes. The Minute Series XII Paintbrush Set includes 12 synthetic brushes designed for painting in small details, which is especially handy when it comes to painting photorealistically. The Minute Series includes pointed rounds, flats and liners. I've used both of these sets with acrylics, gouache and watercolors and found them to be great quality brushes at an affordable price.

These little paintbrushes from The Cookie Countess are perfect for PYO (Paint Your Own) Cookie Kits. Include them with a cookie canvas and paint palette (available in my shop) for a fun and delicious activity.

A good brush is essential, no matter what level of miniature painter you are. With the right brushes, you can achieve amazing painting results and that is why we offer top-quality paint brushes that cater to both beginner painters and seasoned painters.

In our range of brushes, we offer both Brush Sets and individual paint brushes. You can begin your toolkit of paint brushes for miniatures with the different Brush Sets, and with the individual brushes you can expand your arsenal or choose just the one you need for a specific painting method or technique.

All our brushes in the different Brush Sets are chosen for a special purpose and combined they make a well-rounded paint brush toolkit for any army painter. Many of our miniature paint brush sets consist of 3 brushes, making them both a budget-friendly and a comprehensive choice. Because they consist of 3 different brushes, the brush sets cover the basic needs within miniature painting, such as detailing, base coating, and dry brushing.

Ergonomics play a pivotal role when we design our brushes. Our miniature paint brushes with triangular handles are designed to provide precision grip for perfect control and comfort, ensuring maximum comfort during long painting sessions.

Now that you have your acrylic paint brushes picked out, you want to be able to keep them in their best shape so they can deliver great results time and time again. In my acrylic brush care blog, I walk you through the best products and ways to clean your brushes.

I am guilty of letting my brushes sit the water cup a little longer than they should be after painting. Do as I say, not as I do ? Make sure to at least give them a good rinse, squeeze them off in a towel, and lay flat if possible till they are dry to prevent any access water running down to where the ferrule and handle join. BUT this trick has fixed so many of my damaged synthetic brushes.

I especially love them for painting the backgrounds of my paintings. You have a lot of surface area to cover with a beautifully blended sky or lots of heavy texture, and the large size of this brush helps me create both.

The fan brush is a unique one. Its long, wide bristles create more give, and that means you only need the lightest touch to get wispy grass, or to dab snowy tops on trees and achieve an organic look.

In my round brush blog, I show you how to paint a cute truck, simple flowers, and even do some lettering, ALL with round brushes. With practice, you will get a hang of the amount of pressure to use with each brush and how it changes your brush stroke.

The filbert acrylic paintbrush is perfect for painting petals thanks to its unique shape. The filbert is similar to a flat brush, but the tips of the bristles form a curve that you can use to easily paint small petals as hydrangeas have.

Then a few years after I started blogging, I decided to spend a little more on a Purdy brush (true story,) and my mind was BLOWN! I could not believe the difference in how well the paint went on and how much better the finished results were! Those professionals were right after all! haha.

Another brush that I have used on smooth surfaces for several projects is the Purdy Clearcut! This brush (which also comes in different sizes,) is AMAZING for cutting in on trim and using on projects with edges.

I hope this post has been helpful to you! Be sure to save this information for future use on one of your own paint projects. I will be sharing another post soon that will share with you the best paint brushes and roller covers to use on semi-smooth to rough surfaces.

This was very helpful. Like you, I also learned years ago that good quality brushes make a paint project so much easier and more professional looking. How do you clean your brushes? A post on that topic would be helpful.

There are six categories of paint brushes: Disposable Paint Brushes; Economy Natural Bristle Paint Brushes; Economy Synthetic Bristle Paint Brushes; Fine Finish Natural Bristle Paint Brushes; Fine Finish Synthetic Bristle Paint Brushes; and Specialty Paint Brushes.

These six categories are composed of 24 different brands with a choice of six different fill materials and nine different fill types, set in either a plastic or wood handle. There are also seven handle styles and seven handle types to choose from. Other selectable parameters include: trim length; trim type; size; thickness; brush type; handle shape; brush grade/quality; bristle type; bristle quality; brush shape; bristle shape; use; features; and density.

Contact Redtree Industries, LLC at 323-450-2758 or [email protected] for all of you painting needs. If you need an industrial brush, contact our sister company, Gordon Brush at 323-450-2758 or [email protected]

Looking at the possibility of purchasing a whole set of brushes from scratch can be daunting, both in knowing which brushes to choose and managing the cost. My recommendation if you are just starting out is to find a cheap set of large filbert or flat bristle brushes (perhaps 4 or 5 between sizes 12-20), an inexpensive set of flat or filbert synthetics of medium to small sizes (5 or so brushes between sizes 4-12), a couple of very small synthetic rounds (size 0 or 2) and then choose 2 or 3 higher quality brushes to try out. This way, you will have enough brushes to cover your needs at the lowest price, which also having a couple high quality brushes to show you the impact quality tools have on your work. As you learn what you like in a brush, you can slowly add to your collection over time.

Please note that while this is the case for oil paints in my experience, that does not necessarily hold true for other media. For example, in watercolor natural hairs are far superior to synthetics due to their capability of absorbing and releasing water. My understanding is that acrylics do better with synthetics since they more easily resist the effects of water and won't become overly supple or floppy when saturated. A floppy watercolor brush still does a good job of carrying water, while a floppy brush for acrylics lacks the strength to scoop and apply the paint.

The difference in long and short handle brushes has to do with the distance from the painting surface one usually is when working. For example, watercolor brushes have short handles since work is usually done on a relatively flat surface and so the artist and their hand remain close to the paper. Oil and acrylic painting are usually done on an easel, and painting from life or on larger pieces often necessitates physically stepping back from the canvas while working, and having a long handle can help you paint while maintaining a distance from the work.

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