11/24/2023 0 Comments Oil paint brush holderSafflower oil too, is questionable, because there are several varieties of it, some of which do not dry, and of those that do dry, some are now known to re-liquify years later. The reason is that any of it that gets into the paint that goes on the painting will cause problems. Clove oil in oil paint makes weaker, less durable paint films.ĪNY non-drying oil is a poor choice for brush cleaning: olive oil, corn oil, coconut oil, baby oil, Wesson oil, should not be used for anything in oil painting. I recommend avoiding anything with clove oil in it if there is a chance that any of it will get into the paint that goes on the painting. Warning: some commercial brush soaps contain clove oil. (The Masters brush soap has an abrasive in it.) But if you don’t want to wear them down, don’t use Lava or any other soap that has an abrasive in it. Years ago I used Lava soap, which has pumice in it, to wash my hog bristle flats in order to wear down the edges and turn them into filberts. Washing brushes in soap that has an abrasive in it will cause the bristles to wear down faster. I prefer white bar soap, simply because any color in the lather lets me know the brush isn’t clean yet. For this I use binder clips on the ends of the handles, and hang them from push pins stuck in the side of my tabouret.Īny kind of non-abrasive soap will work, as long as it’s rinsed out thoroughly at the end of the washing. Hang the brushes up to dry overnight with the bristle end pointing down. Too hot and it could loosen the glue that holds the bristles in the ferrule, and possibly harm the bristles. Not hot water, though, but lukewarm to cold. In a given session, I might use as many as 24 brushes, so it does take a lot of time to clean them after I’m done painting for the day.”Īt end of the day, I wash the brushes with soap and water. After the soap-and-water wash, I hang them from push-pins stuck in the edge of my tabouret, with a binder clip holding the end of each brush handle so the bristles are pointing down. I’ve gone back to cleaning each brush with either oil or mineral spirits and then washing with soap (not detergent) and water, no matter how tired I am. “However, I’m not an advocate of laziness, so I no longer do it that way, though it didn’t cause me any problems that I noticed. It’s very tempting to look for a way around cleaning brushes after the day’s painting session is over, and for a while, Virgil was suspending them in a can of linseed or walnut oil so that the bristles were submerged below the surface of the oil but the tips were not resting on the bottom of the can. Once this is done, the brush is ready for a new color. He wipes the brush again, and then swishes it in the second container, wiping again. He wipes paint off with a rag or paper towel, then swishes the brush in the first container. Virgil has two containers of linseed or walnut oil on hand for brush cleaning. Hang them up to dry with the bristles pointing down, and after the water has left them, they’re ready to use for painting with oils. Washing them thoroughly with soap and lukewarm water will remove the stiffener. If you don’t, the bristles will break off more easily. Tip: Before using new brushes, wash the stiffener out of them. Mediums with polymerized oils and perhaps balsams work well in conjunction with soft-hair brushes on smooth panels.įor something between hob bristle and sable, you might want to try badger or mongoose brushes, or synthetics that are made to replace them. On smooth panels and with long paint, soft-hair brushes such as sable, ox hair, badger and mongoose work better than do hog -textured bristle brushes. Impasto touches are best applied with them. They hold more paint than softer brushes and more readily accommodate a heavy application of paint. On medium- to course-textured canvas, hog-bristle brushes work well in conjunction with oil paint straight from the tube or thinned with a bit of cold-pressed or alkali-refined linseed or walnut oil. Tied bundles of hair were inserted and glued into ferrules, which were sections of goose quills. Stiff bristle brushes were traditionally made from the backs of hogs while soft hair brushes came from animals such as sables. Pages 144-145 of Virgil’s book include descriptions of brush types and their best applications.
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