Brushes

Brushes are one of the most important tools when it comes to making artwork. Everything from oils, acrylics, watercolors and even some drawings can utilize a brush to create wonderful works of art. Brushes come in several different varieties, shapes, and sizes and can be categorized by their control, responsiveness and longevity. Although the prices of certain brushes may be high we offer a good quality economy-priced brushes for a range of projects and needs. Each artistic medium tends to have their own specific brush type that works best with their paints but there are some brushes that tend to work well with all mediums.

Below is a list of the brushes we carry and their characteristics.

Daler Rowney

Robert Simmons Expressions

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Robert Simmons Expressions
Designed for the decorative artist, Expression offers a silky smooth, synthetic filament blend, with the perfect spring, edge and point needed for precise stroke work in acrylics and oils. Its unique, ergonomic and balanced handles prevent fatigue through hours of painting. Complete range of styles and sizes for all techniques.
Robert Simmons Signet

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Robert Simmons Signet
Finest artist quality, resilient Chungking bristle brushes. Their interlocked construction faces the natural curve of every bristle inward to ensure a controlled stroke and permanent shape over years of rigorous use. Long natural flags on the tip of each bristle spread any viscous paint smoothly and evenly. Ideal for oils and heavy-bodied acrylic.
Robert Simmons Simply Simmons

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Robert Simmons Simply Simmons
Simply Simmons comes from the original brand Robert Simmons, without the lifetime guarantee, but offers superior quality at a single price point. These brushes are easily recognizable with their shiny black ferrule and striking pearlescent white handle. In Spring 2011 the Simply Simmons  line extended to watercolor with a beautiful range of an additional 36 brushes and 6 sets in natural hair (Pony, White Goat, Black Goat and specially constructed synthetic mix) to suit the demanding techniques of watercolor artists. The full range now includes 144 individual brushes (72 short handle for acrylic & multimedia, 36 long handle for oil & acrylic and 36 short handle for watercolor) and 36 sets.
Robert Simmons White Sable

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Robert Simmons White Sable
The original synthetic filament blend developed for fine art applications in watercolor, acrylic and oil. The unique tapering process duplicates the characteristics of pure red sable hair with a full belly, precise point and high degree of spring.

Escoda

Pure Kolinsky Oil

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Pure Kolinsky Oil Óptimo
Optimo Kolinsky Sable Oil Brushes are expertly shaped, molded and assembled by hand to give you the finest brush possible.  With its unique look and feel in hand, this brush fit your painting style. Every brush receives a special curing treatment to ensure that the brush tuft keeps its shape, increasing its spring and recovery. Each Escoda Optimo watercolor paint brush features the finest Kolinsky Sable and a triple-crimped nickel plated ferrule attached to a long, lacquered blue wood handle.

Winsor and Newton

Artisan

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Artisan Water Mixable Oil Color
Designed for use with Winsor & Newton Artisan Water Mixable Oil Color. Made from synthetic fibers, Artisan brushes perform like hog bristle yet maintain spring and shape when in contact with water. This is useful during long painting sessions with water mixable oil colors as the brushes maintain strength, a fine point and excellent spring. The brushes are durable and perfect for working with thick, full bodied color straight from the tube. They can also be cleaned (when used with Artisan oil color) with soap and water, no solvents are needed.
Artist Oil

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Artist Oil
Handcrafted using the finest interlocked Chungking bristles.The natural curve of the bristle provides excellent spring and is extremely resilient, retaining its shape far longer than other brushes. The brushes are stiff, the bristles flagged (i.e. split at the ends) allowing large amounts of colour to be carried and applied evenly to the surface. The uniquely crafted handle offers great balance and control.
Cotman

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Cotman
Cotman Water Color Brushes are very popular, due to their blend of differing thickness fibers. The thicker fibers give strength and spring whilst the thinner fibers improve color carrying capacity. Together they retain a perfect point, time after time. The handles are designed to provide balance and comfort when painting. The ferrules are made from high quality nickel-plated brass which helps to prevent corrosion, clogging of hair and enables easy cleaning. The range features a wide selection of head shapes and sizes to suit all water color techniques.
Eclipse

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Eclipse
Made from blended natural hair, Eclipse has a perfect balance between stiff and soft hair brushes. Designed for oil color, Eclipse brushes have slightly more body and snap than red sable, but are softer than hog bristle while minimizes brush strokes and making them ideal for subtle blending and fine glazing. Highly resilient and responsive, the brushes are perfect for lightly thinned oil color. Eclipse brushes feature a double-bodied handle which provides stability and comfort. It offers a balanced grip at the tail as well as below the ferrule, making it perfect for both easel painting and close-up work.
Galleria

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Galleria
Specifically designed for use with acrylic color. The versatility of acrylic color can place heavy demands on brushes so this range has been created to be strong, resilient and flexible. The mix of synthetic filaments provide responsiveness and control for thicker application of color, whilst maintaining shape retention, regardless of how much water you use. The synthetic filaments in the flat brushes are curved, helping to retain the original shape during use. The round brushes offer a good point for delicate linear application. The brushes with short-handles have a softer head, ideal for glazing or a water color style of painting. The long-handled brushes are made from stiffer filaments, allowing thicker application on tougher surfaces.
Regency Gold

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Regency Gold 
Handmade with fine quality golden taklon fibers which simulate the feel and handling of sable. Regency Gold brushes hold sharp points and chisel edges for precise detail work and blending. They perform equally well with oil or acrylic colors.
Sable

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Sable
The Professional Watercolor Sable brush range has been created using our unique brush-making expertise and feedback from professional water color artists. The brushes are hand-made with high quality Kolinsky sable hair, Birchwood handles and seamless nickel ferrules. The range includes the most popular and useful brush shapes for watercolor painting and each brush has a unique sculpted handle with a matt finish for the ultimate in comfort.
Secptre Gold

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Secptre Gold II
Secptre Gold II brushes are great watercolor brushes that preform like sable hair brushes at a synthetic brush price. This high sable brush content allow for the brush to hold larger washes in one stroke. The Secptre Gold II brushes have a tapered point for control and detail work which make them great for touching up detailed areas when working with watercolors.
University

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University
University brushes are an all purpose brush that has great quality with its white synthetic hair. The University brushes are stiff enough to use with oils and acrylics but they are also think enough to use with watercolors, this makes them the perfect versatile brush.
Winton

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Winton
This is a natural bristle brush developed for use with Winton Oil Color paints. It is made from good quality Chinese hog bristles, Winton Hog brushes are interlock constructed and hand-set into seamless corrosion-resistant ferrules. The bristles’ natural curve is retained even after heavy use, allowing more control and accuracy, whether painting with oils or acrylics.

 Brush Accessories and Other Necessities

Palette Knives can be utilized in a unique technique in which an artist can paint with a steel or plastic knife specifically for the use of acrylics and oils. They are used for mixing or applying paint while having a flexible steel or plastic blade. The edges and curves of a specific palette knife produce different marks, line variations and textures.

Painting Palettes are surfaces in which artists can mix and test paint colors before they apply it to a canvas or art surface. Painting Palettes can be wood, plastic, metal, ceramic and even Plexiglas. Each has their own feel and cleaning process to remove the paint for future use. Painting Palettes are largely based on personal preference there are palettes that can be laid flat on the table or ones with holes that can be comfortably be held in the palm of ones hand.
A wet palette is a sealable container with a layer of absorbent material (such as tissue paper or sponge) that can be soaked with water. It is specifically used for acrylic paints because it tends to keep them wet while sitting in the palette. A layer of semi-permeable paper (such as parchment, greaseproof paper or baking paper) is laid the absorbent material and is soaked into the paint by osmosis. This helps lengthen the drying time of the acrylics and allows them to remain in a container so it can be stored easily.

Brush Cleaning is one of the most important ways to keep your brushes long lasting and gunk free before each and every new painting. Old brushes that have hardened over time with paint can easily be revived with a thorough cleaning. Cleaning paint brushes is very similar to cleaning your own hair. Just like hair, brushes need essential oils and conditioner to hold more color and help lay down a smooth even flow. There are several different techniques and methods to cleaning your brushes. Typically soaps, thinners and brush washers are utilized to clean brushes thoroughly and quickly. Brush washers are a great choice for when you need to clean your brushes on the go. The sturdy build of the stainless steel allows for the washer to be durable and secure enough to carry around in a bag or container. The washer features a grate at the bottom of the cleaning chamber which allows paint sediment from your brushes to fall to the bottom of the outer pot. This helps keep the fluid fresh for the next use, saving you time and preserving your solvent.