Tuesday, April 26, 2011

My Favourite Paint Brushes


Imagine if the best paint brushes you could buy were also the cheapest you could buy.
It sounds too good to be true, but I haven't found any brushes that are better for a day's life painting than these cheapy ones from Create.
I originally started to use them because using Liquin tends to kill your brushes, and I wanted some that were cheap enough to chuck after one use. (Liquin is the fast-drying medium I use)
However I quickly came to appreciate their sharp edge and firmness. And I found that unlike a lot of more expensive, natural brushes, they really keep their shape after they have been used a few times.
I only use the three flats in the set, and they probably aren't really soft enough for glazing, but I would recommend them to anyone doing a painting session in the life room or an alla prima landscape.
I know this sounds like a really bad, blatant advertisement but I promise you it isn't.



This is a painting I did of Geraldine last Thursday afternoon.
You may notice also that I use the tear-off disposable paper palettes. Again this is because Liquin dries so quickly and so hard that it could easily ruin a nice wooden palette.
The brushes cost less than three Euro for a set of five.
Let me know what you think if you try them.

6 comments:

John Larriva said...

I agree, cheap brushes are the way to go. I've been using a cheap set of flats for months as my primary brushes.

theresa said...

Must try these! Where did you find them?
I also use greaseproof cooking paper as a disposable palette, it's cheap, comes in a pretty long roll and in a variety of colours. I like using the medium grey.

PJ Lynch said...

Hi John and Theresa,
thanks for the comments guys.
You can get them in Art and Hobby shops, Theresa.
Reads of Nassau St if you are in Dublin, but I have just bought their last twelve sets. Give it a week for them to restock.
I like your tip about the grease proof paper.
PJ

yaamas said...

hehe, great post by you, my friend! I will certainly take your advice. If you look on the front of the package it says "Ideal Beginner's Set"...truly classic. If the company only new that a true master was using their brushes...well, that's just priceless!

Great painting, too, PJ!

PJ Lynch said...

Ah James, you are just making my head swell.
Many thanks, and I hope you can get hold of these brushes in the U.S. I think you will like them.
I buy ten or twelve sets at a time, I just use the flats and let my kids use the spare brushes.
All the best
PJ

Anonymous said...

oh..so that was it :)

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