MORE ABOUT BRUSHES AND THINGS
by Gladys Nelson
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| SECOND ARTICLE ON BRUSHES |
So you have had a try at the square shader and scroller!
You can now begin to make those two brushes talk, and
(in a way) tell a bit of the story you want to tell about
the beauty and the life you see.
Are you now feeling the need for another brush?
or maybe two? Have you tried other sizes of these brushes
If you have not, then do so. If you like doing things
that are little, try smaller ones. If the larger things
are your bag, then try the larger sizes. Do include
those sizes that you like working with best in your
personal brush kit. You may now feel that some kind of
a background brush would help. But befire going on,
let's review some of the more common china painting
brushes.
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| Square shaders: |
These are excellent brushes for
general painting where flat brushes are needed, such as
washes, shaded strokes, etc. These come in both medium
and short lengths. Perhaps these are the most common
china painting brushes.
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| Pointed shaders: |
This brush is pointed yet with
a nice body, much used in Dresden type painting. Used
by some for washes and shaded stroke work. When kept
to a nice point, it can be used for larger shaded stem
work and other bold line work. All these brushes come
in a variety of sizes.
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| The scroller: |
A longer pointed brush, somewhat
slimmer than the pointed shader. It is a very flexible
and excellent for most line and accent work.
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| The liner: |
A small brush, pointed, used for tiny
finishing touches. Sometimes called a spotter, an
eyebrow brush, etc. It is used for tiny, fine detail,
especially figure painting.
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| Background brush: |
Select one of the larger flat
brushes one with the hair set in a metal ferrule. This
brush is called, in the trade, an artist's bright. Be
sure to get one that is made of squirrel hair. The hair
will be fine, soft, yet sturdy and have a nice spring.
Again, it will be tightly set in the ferrule allowing
no hair to come out and mar the painting. In some large,
new brushes there does seem to be a few loose hairs
which will come out in the first session, but any
looseness about the ferrule is not good.
This brush will be most useful on larger backgrounds
and the stroke is generally a small quick stroke
known as the feather stroke. With this series of small
overlapping strokes, one is able to draw out smooth
blending of colors into a nice varied background, blending
one color into another very subtly.
One may find that a quick cross hatching of
strokes is best for the most tender blending of colors.
Keep the colors sheer, never thick or heavy looking.
As you become more adept with brushes, you may
find that this brush is also a good brush for general
painting (I do not use it for most of my painting but
find that some artists do.) |
| Now for a change of pace: |
Let's consider just
what painting can do for you. First, I cannot stress
too much individuality in painting. There is no one
else that is just like you, so why try to make your
painting tell the same thing, in the same way that
someone else's does? Do first learn brush technique
and some basic art! Otherwise it's like trying to
communicate without knowing the meaning of the words
you are using.
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