Liquitex Free Style Brushes

Attention Mural Artists!

Here are my new favourite brushes

Brushes Acrylic & Oil: Hog Bristle

Hog bristle is still the best for most oil painting, in part because of its unique ability to leave visible brush stroke marks, desired by many artists. Hog bristle is relatively economical but the range of quality is actually quite wide. The best bristle hairs generally come from China, and the best of these will be bleached, interlocked (inward-curved) and well-flagged to hold more paint. Economy bristle is identified by its straight hairs and lack of flagging.

Brushes Acrylic & Oil: Natural Hair

Sable, Mongoose, Badger, and Ox Hair (aka Sabeline) have been favoured for detailed and portrait painting in oil. These are softer but responsive hairs and generally don’t leave brush strokes in the paint.

Brushes Acrylic & Oil: Synthetic Hair

Until good synthetics came onto the market, painters in both oil and acrylic had only hog bristle brushes to work with. While some experienced artists still prefer to use bristle for their acrylics, most people find they get better service from synthetics. This is because synthetics retain their shape much longer than bristle - unlike bristle, they are not affected by water used in acrylic painting (and water-soluble oil paints). Bristles tend to absorb water and become swollen and distorted after a few uses, with the result that the brush just won’t have the same shape as when you first bought it. Synthetics are produced in a variety of quality and flexibility levels, to suit both the viscosity of the paint and your budget. Meanwhile, there are also some excellent synthetics that are equally well-suited for oil painting, such as the Aquatec brush.

Brushes Watercolour: Kolinsky Sable Hair

Still the best in water holding and water releasing, the genuine Kolinsky Sable watercolour brush brings the greatest ease and pleasure to your painting of all the hairs used today. It will have an excellent point for detail, and a fat belly for high water holding capacity. It has often been said and this applies particularly to brushes - buy the best quality you can afford. Red Sable - are generally high quality brushes with features similar to the Kolinsky Sable, but at a more affordable price. Try one for yourself and see how it behaves compared to what you are now using. A controllable brush will save you frustration and bring both pleasure and better results.

Brushes Watercolour: Natural & Mixed Hair

Synthetic Blends - Blended brushes are made with synthetic hairs with the addition of some natural hair, which in the case of the popular Chalice brush, is red sable. Blends offer performance and long life with some of the water-handling features of natural hair at a more affordable price than a pure sable. A requested brush on many class lists.

Brushes Watercolour: Synthetic

Economic and durable with a good spring makes synthetic brushes popular for beginner watercolourists and hobby painters. Beware! synthetic brushes do not hold or release water as well as natural hair brushes. If you are seeking to fill a large area with colour or create long smooth flowing lines, a synthetic will not perform as well as a mixed hair or natural hair brush. In our store, we let customers try before they buy to help them understand the performance of each brush. You may also call us for advice.

Brush Sets

An excellent gift idea! Remember a few good brushes are all you need - choose quality over quantity. Please contact us if you would like our advice in creating a special set of brushes for an artist. Wooden box sets from DaVinci include brush soap and holder.

Craft & Decorative Brushes

We have expanded our brush selection by adding a new line of decorative brushes. With the exception of the Deer Foot, all of these brushes are made from HJ's famous GOLD SABLE. This synthetic fibre performs like traditional red sable hairs with regard to spring, flexible point, sharp edge, and paint retention. These brushes have nickel-plated metal ferules and attractive short mauve-coloured white tipped handles. We stock stencil brushes, foam rollers and brushes, and many different shapes of brushes for your projects. Our Da Vinci brushes include beautiful and unique brushes for faux-finishing projects. Come in and see our current stock or place a special order for your brush needs.

Gesso & Utility Brushes

Sash brushes and spalters made of hog bristle are useful for applying gesso, staining or scrubbing in background colours, and large format or mural painting. Synthetic and natural mottlers are good for varnishing. It is just as important to use good quality brushes for applying grounds and varnishes as for creative painting. A bargain brush may have hairs that break or fall out into your painting. However, economy utility brushes, sponge brushes, sponge rollers and stencil brushes can come in handy for craft or decorative projects as well as some fine art applications.

Oriental Brushes

There is a variety of affordable goat hair and sable hair bamboo brushes. These brushes can be used with water-soluble ink, calligraphy ink and watercolour. We also carry Hake brushes (see picture) and bamboo pipe brushes. Check out the "Brush Accessories" section for ceramic palettes and bamboo brush roll-ups and wooden brush hangers.

Come to us for us if you are looking for unique brushes. What we don't stock we can special order for you from Da Vinci, a top quality German brush maker.

Palette Knives

Palette and painting knives are used for mixing paint directly on the palette, saving wear and tear on brushes, or as a painting tool in replacement of brushes. Painters often like metal knives over plastic ones because they last longer and have a finer, more flexible tip. Plastic palette knives are more economical and prove useful for scooping paint out of jars and mixing with heavy body mediums. Each shape will produce a different knife stroke. Raised handles can make mixing or the flat application of paint easier.

Brush Accessories

Brush holders and cases from ceramic and nylon to roll-up bamboo, washers, and soaps are also available. Brush soaps are a necessity when caring for quality brushes. We stock both Master's Brush Cleaner and Da Vinci Brush Soap. Check out our tips sheet info on caring for brushes.