I have used a variety of brushes for blending oils. For small areas I use very small cat’s tongue types and square shaders but find that the bristles fray after a bit of blending. What material should the brushes be made of? And what shape brush should I use to blend shadows and highlights on folds etc?

I use Windsor and Newton series 7 brushes for oils. They are expensive but keep a great point and last long. You can find them at most good art supply stores.

Gotta agree with Dave. The series 7 are the best that are out there. There are WN Series 7 Mini's that I like better than the std. The length of the hair is a little shorter. I like the shorter working distance The series 7 are actually for watercolor but I keep a seperate set for acrylic, too.

I also acquired some Daler-Rowney brushes that hold up pretty well and they are about 1/2 the price of the WN. They are quite serviceable for the application and removal of the oil base.

Keith

I use watercolour brushes - they wear out after about 3 - 4 figures but are still cheaper than Series 7 brushes

I used to be a die-hard Windsor Newton brush user but after the last 4 I bought for about $65 and they didn't last the figure before the tips went wild. I now go to our local Michaels about 4 times a year and buy my brushes. No more Windsor Newtons for me. They're not what they used to be.

I must agree with Keith and Dave - Winsor Newton Series 7 are THE way to go!

Mind you, I also use Leow Cornell white nylon and Golden Taklon synthetic brushes for drybrushing, terrain, et cetera because I do 15 & 25mm wargaming miniatures as well. Though I do use the WN 7's for the bulk of my work and detail and especially when I work with oils!

I just recently bought two Winsor Newton Series 7 brushes and i have to say that they are very very good. But i found in an old store some brushes from Rembrandt and they are super quality.They are red sable, natural hair and after 6-7 months of use, they are in great shape.

It's about ten years that use W&N brushes and, with very very rare excepions, I have no problem with them. I'm still using brushes buyed five or more years ago (and I paint everyday...).
The most important thing for all the brushes is a very good care: washing them very gently a first time with white spirit, and then with a neutral soap.
I use the series 7 for all the basic work and the series 7 miniature for blending and retouching small parts.
Buy them without doubts.
Bye

Marco

Guys, if you're still buying only Series 7 do yourself a favour and test out some other brands already

I posted this before but it's worth repeating, apart from being about the most expensive kolinsky brushes on the market W&N's quality control for these obviously ain't nowhere near what it used to be. Raphaël and daVinci make brushes of the highest standards that can be about the same price as Series 7s but are available in some places for less, so shop around. Rekab and Escoda are just as good but at much better prices. Cheap Joe's, Dick Blick's, ABS and Kalish are all worth trying too and for larger sizes have a look at Utrecht's 221 range. It's worth testing a number of brands for yourself as personal preferences and painting technique can play a large part in finding the brush that suits you best - some people prefer longer bristles, some more spring etc.

If you want to become a discerning buyer of quality rounds:

• First, the name kolinsky on a brush is no guarantee whatsoever of the type or quality of the hair used. Without going into exhaustive detail about why, even if correctly labelled as kolinsky they can vary from floppy, poor-quality brushes barely able to form a point all the way to top-notch needle-tipped rounds of unsurpassed spring.
• Be wary of brushes labelled as "kolinsky red sable" as this is a contradiction in terms; red sables and kolinskys are related members of the marten family and the names are not interchangeable. However this does not automatically mean that a brush so labelled is not kolinsky, but I wouldn't buy one sight unseen.
• Don't be lulled by the finish of a brush, a lustrous lacquer job on the handle and gold-plated ferrules are nice features but don't necessarily point to the quality of the business end (no pun intended) and are likely to add to the price unnecessarily.
  
• Last but by no means least, because the hair is a natural product it can, and does, vary in quality and brushes are also assembled by hand which adds an additional variable, so if at all possible check a brush before you buy to see that it will consistently reform that sharp point you're buying it for.

A fast-and-dirty check of sable rounds involves the snap test. Thoroughly rinse the brush to remove the gum or starch used to hold it in shape during shipping, then snap your wrist or tap the brush shaft over your other hand. If the bristles don't automatically spring into a nice point, which is not uncommon, leave it for someone less fastidious than you. Many good art shops will supply you with a glass of water for this (incidentally this is often a good test of the staff, if they don't blink you can be reasonably sure they know a thing or two as is the case in a number of London shops I am pleased to report). If not I wouldn't recommend wetting the brush in your mouth, the previous guy probably did the same thing! In this case it's probably best to buy a sample and take it home to test. You might also like to run the tip over the back of your hand to check for spring, I prefer a resilient brush and these feel quite stiff when pressed against the skin gently.

Since you can't do any of this when you you buy online unfortunately you might consider checking a site's returns policy as you don't want to be saddled with a lemon at these prices. Whether it's worth the effort in the long run is something you have to decide for yourself. A related point to remember, some brushes do not form a point when dry and can look decidedly blunt if the starch coating has been broken by a previous shopper. This is not necessarily a flaw, check the pointing when wet anyway as many good brushes exhibit this characteristic.

I'd also like to emphasise that a full assessment of a brush is a long-term project which really only ends when the brush has passed its usefulness for detail painting because longevity is an important characteristic.

Einion

Hi Einion
My favourite brushes i work with are W&N series7,( 000 and size 1) and as you know they aint cheap.Seeing as you've did a fair bit of research on different brushes could you recommend a good substitute to the above W&Ns which won't cost as much.I've tried different brands in the past but they usually end up with the dreaded hooked tip or stray hairs sticking out.I leave you in your capable hands for your info.
Brian

Hi Brian, most of the brands to look out for are in my post above, although there are a number of others you can only get in the UK. I still have quite a few Series 7s including some larger sizes - 2s, a couple of 3s and a 5 (30 quid or more in the shops now!) - that I got years and years ago, I long ago got into the habit of using synthetics for any large areas so they see little use and they're still practically new. Any of the younger ones were carefully hand-picked from the shelves. I used to work in a studio where we ordered these in 10 at a time and they were so good you'd rarely see a bad one, but I've been disappointed a number of times since then with brushes not lasting as long as they used to despite their price (and careful handling) and checking them in stores I've often found only one brush in a bunch is quite as good as it should be. With their price climbing despite this I just had to look for alternatives.

Of the makers listed above, the ones I've tried myself that I'm really happy with are DaVinci Maestro, Escoda 1208 series and Blick Master Sable. I thought I had one or two Raphaëls but I can't find them, one of the problems is that the gilt lettering often wears off the handles with use so I'm partly relying on memory on what I've bought because a few are blank

When I bought the DaVinci brushes they were a little cheaper than Series 7 at retail prices in London, you can find them for quite a bit less online; they are superb quality, equal to or better than what you're used to. The Escodas are very good but not quite at the level of Series 7 at their best in the small sizes I've tried (roughly the same as 00) but I want to try one or two of the larger sizes. The Dick Blick brushes I haven't had the chance to use much but after doing a couple of projects with them they seem to be very good so I'd recommend trying if you have the chance.

I also have some Rowney S40s. These are/were made in the Dominican Republic, even though I only bought them a couple of years ago I suspect they were old stock or they'd say Daler-Rowney on the side instead of just Rowney, so I don't know if they reflect the current standard for this brush. I haven't used them enough yet but overall they seem pretty good but not top notch, I'd say try them if the price is right. I also have some S34s, a cheaper red sable range, but I haven't used them yet.

If you pass through London on the way to Euro and you have some free time there are a couple of other options, two of the art shops have their own line of brushes (probably re-badged brushes from a major maker) and the range I've tested that suits me best is "Series 1A Kolinsky Sable" from Green & Stone in Chelsea, near Sloane Square. These have longer bristles than Series 7 so they can take getting used to but they have a good spring and the price is right.

The other one is much closer to the centre of London, L. Cornelissen & Son, just down the road from the British Museum on Great Russell Street. The range I tried is "Kolinsky Red Sable 80A" which aren't quite as good in the ones I have but still woth a shot. I also got a Roberson red sable set there I think but I haven't used these yet.

On the cheapish end of the scale I picked up some "Premier P33" brushes from Germany in Cross's in Folkestone that are hobby brushes but actually quite good, being about the same as name-brand synthetics without the risk of the dreaded hooked tip. I use these lightly as they probably won't last as well as an expensive brush but I'm pretty happy with them and they'd make a good starter brush.

...

I might as well make this the go-to thread for future reference so if anyone wants to try ordering online Dick Blick is around the cheapest you'll find and their service is great, but shop around, I don't bother looking elsewhere much any more so I could be missing someone - try All Art Supplies, MisterArt, Pearl, Italian Art Store and RexArt.

Brian, if you want to order online in the UK Ken Bromley's prices are pretty good (by our standards, not a snip on American sites I hate to say) and they also do their own line of brushes you might like to try if you're ordering anyway. Those in the UK could also try Art Express, ArtDiscount and The SAA.

Einion