Brush experiments

I’ve been trying to make more brushes using squirrel tails. I start with soap and water and a comb. The next step is heat tempering, which makes the hair softer and more resilient. None of my sources go into detail, so I just stick them (wet) in the oven at a low temperature for half an hour. This is the first lot I’ve tempered.

Either the tempering or the soap has made the hair very slick and impossible to bind into brush heads. It bulges to one side or the other or slides right out.

I’ve tried silk thread.
I’ve tried cotton thread.

I’ve tried a sticky gum arabic/honey solution on the thread.
I’ve tried the sticky solution on the hair (that did tame it a bit).

I tried wetting the tail in water before cutting (mistake!)

I’m reluctant to turn to superglue because hard dried glue will interfere with inserting the brush head in the ferrule later. Do you think dipping the handle end of the bundle in melted beeswax would work? None of my references mention beeswax, but it might do the job.

 

 

Brush Review: Handmade Squirrel

The longer the hairs of a brush, the more expressive its strokes and the harder it is to control. I made this brush from the longest hairs off the ends of a squirrel tail, before I read that the tip of a tail isn’t any good for brushes. The source didn’t say why.

This sketch is the most expressive of the four, with all those sharp edges. The brush wasn’t turning corners or sharp curves and I couldn’t control thick or thin. I like the sketch because of its energy and decisiveness. The lady looks disgusted with something, but she is looking off to the side. Whoever interrupted her tea deserves her scorn.

The woman is wearing a Regency morning dress, a sort of dressing gown that ties at the side with two bows. She has a dish of tea in her lap, and she is wearing some sort of hat over a great deal of frilly stuff, with a few escaped curls of hair and something like a cravat at her chin.

I will make the next squirrel brush half the length and look for improvement.

Brush Review: Kolinsky Sable

Kolinsky sable has a great reputation, but it is hard to know how much of it is just hype, or if you get the genuine article. There is a lot of dishonesty when money is involved.

This brush was advertised as winter male Kolinsky tail hair with a gold plated ferrule, and it is my splurge for the year. It didn’t have gum sizing in it when it arrived, like most new brushes do, but I washed it anyway and shaped it to a point.

I am used to inking with short round brushes in size 1 or 2. This is a 7, so a bit less delicate. It has a very long handle, which is fine for oil painting but inconvenient for watercolor.

The responsiveness of the brush is all I could ask for. See how the lines of the hair are thin and delicate, but the lines become more substantial toward the bottom of the dress. Of these ink sketches, I’m happiest with this one. A little practice with this brush could yield some fine results.

I will have to see how this brush holds up before I pass judgement. One of the selling points of Kolinsky is that they will last a long time when cared for, as opposed to cheap brushes that wear out quickly. My $4 brushes were good for about 25-30 drawings, although I’d keep using them until the hairs were too split to draw a good line.

Script Brush Review

I’m starting to think I should have laid these on the scanner. The desk lamp is adding a yellow hue that isn’t actually there. The ink is blue, because I happened to have a bottle of J. Herbin’s and thought I might prefer it to India ink.

These are sketches, not finished drawings, so I haven’t troubled to erase the pencil lines. I am freehanding these (that means, not tracing) while looking at a book of Ackermann’s costume plates.

Now, on to the review.

This brush is a script, also called a liner, I believe. I think they are used by calligraphers? The thick “belly” of the brush holds a lot of ink, so it doesn’t run out in the middle of a stroke, but the long thin tip draws fine lines. It is natural hair, but I don’t know what sort.

The brush showed its quality immediately, as I was washing the store gum out of it, and the hair reformed into the ‘flame’ shape without any coaxing on my part.

The longer the hair on the brush is, the more expressive the stroke can be, but at the same time it is less controllable. It drew fine lines very well, but applying pressure does not make thick lines, the way I am used to with my short round brushes. I will need a different brush to lay in shadows- see attempts at lower left. I will need some practice to get the most out of this brush. I think it could lay in very fine lines, similar to engravings, once I am more familiar with the way it handles.

Dip Pen Review

I paid $7 or $8 for a dip pen last summer, a “colonial” style with a removable nib and turned wood handle. It happened in one of those “I might need this” moments.

You know what good intentions are like.

I’ve used pens before, but not consistently. I had a Kohinoor Rapidograph for a while, but wasn’t using it enough to justify the cleaning. The skritch skritch of dip pens is mildly annoying, and that they only stroke one way. I prefer to ink with brushes. The smooth strokes and versatility are reminiscent of poetry.

I was having some anxiety over the brush reviews, so I grabbed the dip pen for a warmup. It was sadly unimpressive. No flexibility in the nib, not responsive to pressure, bled all over when I just wanted to make a darker line. It was rather like painting with a letter opener.

That is a parasol handle in her hand, by the by, not a bloody stiletto.

If I mean to use this pen again, I’ll see if I can’t dig up some other (better quality) pen nibs and see if they fit the handle.

Testing paint brushes

This week I will be testing these 3 brushes. I made the one on the left myself in the 18th century style, with squirrel hair, a turkey quill, and a whittled twig for a handle. A turned handle might be more typical, but I don’t have wood turning equipment.

I bought the other 2 brushes for comparison purposes. The center brush is a script/liner. It has the name of a local art instructor, but I was told that she orders them in bulk from Cheap Joe’s so her students can get quality brushes.

The brush on the right is a splurge. Artists talk about Kolinsky Sable as THE best, so I paid $19.50 (plus shipping) for a Kolinsky script brush/rigger. It is advertised as being made in Germany with winter fur from the tail of the male Kolinsky sable. There is no telling if this is actually true. There is a lot of dishonesty surrounding “sable.” It is the right color, in any case. I usually ink with cheap $4 brushes in size 1 or 2, so we will find out if this expensive brush is an improvement.