what type of paint brushes do you use for painting with acrylic paints i like painting nature scense?

Answer 1

The best brushes for acrylics are synthetic bristles. Natural hair (like true sable or hog hair) are better for oils but they aren't designed for acrylics - they don't allow acrylic paint to flow off them easily.

A Flat brush gives you long strokes, or razor thin lines if you use it on its side. A Filbert will give you a softer rounded broad stroke. Angle brushes are great for getting into corners. A pointed Round is a general use line or detail brush, and a Liner has longer bristles and gives nice wispy lines like branches and grass. Fans are supposed to be good for blending, but I never got the hang of them myself.

By far my favourites are the filbert and the flat, and although I own a couple of dozen brushes, I'll often do a whole painting with just one brush - but that's more a matter of style than anything else.

A good rule is buy the best brush you can afford - don't go cheap, but you don't need to blow the budget when you're beginning. Get one of each style in different sizes and work with them to see which you like best for your style.

Don't be afraid to try other things - use your fingers, a sponge, a roller, the blunt end of the brush, and anything else within reach.

Have fun!

Answer 2

I prefer soft synthetic ones such as nylon brushes that are made for acrylics. Acrylics are hard on brushes so you don't need top of the line ones, but don't use the cheapie craft brushes, they wear out too fast. Also I would rather die then ever paint again with horrible "student" brushes with stiff hogs hair bristles, so just stay away from them. Go to any good art supply store and the staff will be able to guide you to the right kind of brushes. Get a good variety of sizes and shapes, you will find your favourites by experimenting. If you get a fan shaped brush they are awesome for painting things like grass and fur.

Answer 3

The most important tool for painting is a good brush. There seems to be a lot of confusion among art students regarding what types of brush to use and how to tell good quality. Brushes are expensive, therefore it’s important to know the difference so you won’t get ripped off.

How to tell a good brush from a crummy one:

Surprisingly, the easiest way is by looking at the paint on the handle. Either a painted metallic band or a metallic tip on the handle denotes good quality brushes. A moderately good brush will have a colored band or tip; cheaper ones will have just a solid painted handle; cheaper yet is the merely varnished handle. Worst of all is the kind with a plastic handle. (One exception to this is the good watercolor brush with a clear Lucite handle.) This paint banding delineation is used by almost all manufacturers and is a fairly reliable standard.

Another way to tell is by the bristle quality. Normally, a natural bristle is preferable to man-made, especially for watercolors. However, some good oil brushes are made of synthetic (usually nylon) bristle. For acrylics, synthetic performs very acceptably. Remember that new brushes are often coated with a ‘size’ that makes them stiffer than they will be in use, and this lasts only until you use them. Brushes for watercolor should be soft and absorbent (like sable). Brushes for oils are stiffer (like boar’s bristle) so they can stand up to the thicker paint and rougher surface. Look for brush hairs that seem firmly anchored in the ferrule and that behave. If it looks like the brush is having a bad hair day, forget it.

The third indicator is crimping on the ferrule. The more crimping there is, the more effort the manufacturer has expended to make sure the brush will stay in one piece. It is rare to find extra crimping near the bristles, but it is a sure sign of quality. I buy a wonderful Kolinsky sable brush through Dick Blick that has a hand-tied wire around the ferrule, which is plastic. This is my favorite brush, and although they wear out from time to time because I use this soft round sable brush even on canvas, it is worth it to me to replace them because they are so versatile.

The shape of the brush is not a measure of quality, but it is a very important consideration when buying a brush. The marketing department at a large supplier once told me that the most popular shape among professionals is the filbert, while amateurs prefer flats and brights. This is not surprising. Filberts give a lot more flexibility and control, but they are not easy to find at most hobby stores, so amateurs may not even know they exist! Four of the shapes I like best are: the flat, the mop, the filbert and the round. Other specialty shapes, such as fans, tend to be gimmicky and it would be just as well to avoid them. For most oil or acrylic techniques a small selection of variously-sized filberts will see you through, but watercolorists will also find a use for flats and rounds. Often, when a student is frustrated with his painting skills, it turns out that he merely lacks the right tools for the job.

Answer 4

I use nylon brushes as well as sable brushes, usually round. The nylon ones are good for details where you want a sharper edge, and the sable ones are excellent for things like clouds, where you want a natural looking, jagged or wispy edge. Both types are great for blending, although the sable ones are better. It's good to have them in many diff. sizes.

For REALLY large paintings, I'll use 4in., 2in. or 1in. house-painting brushes for the backgrounds. I'll frequently use latex paints (for houses), since they're cheap for a quart, and acrylics blend with them perfectly.
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Answer 5

The only way to do this is to soak the brushes in a solvent. Paint thinner would be best, but gasoline would work really good to. It all depends on what is available. Be careful and wash off any chemicals that touch you skin with soap and hot water.