The Oil Paint Website

Paint Brushes

There are many kinds of paint brushes used in oil painting. Paint brushes are fundamental to oil painting since a paint brush is an extension of the artist's hand. Paint brushes are important tools to oil painting.

What are paint brushes for oil painting made from?

Paint brushes for oil painting are often made from exotic materials. Paint brushes are categorized by their texture or shape.

How many different textures do paint brushes for oil painting have?

Paint brushes for oil painting come in just two textures: soft paint brushes and hard paint brushes.

Hard paint brushes are called bristle brushes. Bristle paint brushes are resilient, flexible and tough. Hard bristle paint brushes are made from hog's hair imported from China. Bristle paint brushes are stiff and strong and they often leave mark in the oil paint strokes they make.

Soft paint brushes for oil paint are made from the softer hair of smaller animals such as squirrel, monkey and sable. Soft paint brushes are often smaller then bristle paint brushes. They are also shorter and denser than bristle paint brushes.

Soft paint brushes are often used to finish an oil painting and perform detail work. Soft paint brushes made from sable are often the most expensive.

Consider synthetic paint brushes

Synthetic nylon paint brushes are often as soft as sable paint brushes but they paint with more resiliency. However, synthetic paint brushes are cheaper. They can spread a lot of paint in a big smooth way and can also handle detail work. Since synthetic paint brushes are considerably cheaper than natural hair paint brushes, they are suitable for oil painting beginners.

• Holding an oil paint brush
• Oil Paint Brushes
• Proper Use of Oil Paint Brushes
• Hake Brush
• Vanishing Brushes

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