WeaponAdept Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 So christmas approaches. Looking around for gifts I thought a new brush set would be great! Not so great is the £35 price tag for 10 citadel brushes. Are there any cheaper equivalent brands that B&C brothers and sisters will vouch for? Thanks, Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacinda Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 This comes up a lot. I like Loew Cornell, especially their long script liner. I know a lot of people use Winsor & Newton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr tough guy Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 Any Kolinsky Sable will do, but Winsor & Newton are probably the ones that are used the most among minipainters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterdyne Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 Rosemary & Co watercolour brushes are awesome too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solid Zaku Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 I've seen my wife use W&N sables. I never thought I'd utter these words: GW's are cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathar the great Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 I've seen my wife use W&N sables. I never thought I'd utter these words: GW's are cheaper. GWs are not good though, while W&N are awesome. In the end, you get a lot more for your money with anything but GW brushes, even if you go through several cheap synthetic brushes each month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr tough guy Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 Thing is, Proper (expansive) brushes are only usefull if your willing to take care of them, if you can't be arsed you might as well stick to cheap synthetic brushes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorenzen Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 gw's brushes are a joke quality - price wise. premium price for crappy product. W&N brushes and the others in the same price bracket are a whole lot better quality.. afterall the winsor and newton brushes are not mass produced to the same scale as gw's stuff and a lot more care goes into their construction.. hell if your brush isnt up to scratch you can complain.. afterall these are handmade to what should be the highest standards going. oh and their artists water colour series brushes are good too if you want a "cheaper" option. they require care, all precision instruments do.. if you dont take care of your brushes how much care are you going to take care in painting anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmimellows Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 I personally use the windsor newton series 7 kolinsky jobbies. Mine was about 7 pound but they are really worth it. I was previously in the cheap brush crowd. As long as you keep it clean and avoid dipping the brush into paint beyond its ferrule (where the brush meets the metal) then they are really easy to take care of. I just keep the little plastic thing on the end when not in use. I noticed the difference immediately. The brush holds a perfect point and as with all brushes, provided you are using the correct amount of paint, you can easily paint very fine lines and highlights. Now obviously if you are a "dipper" so to speak, or use a basic 3 colours with no highlights then i would NOT recommend these brushes. Everyone else however, wether novice or pro, would benefit from these brushes. Yes, they are twice the price of GW brushes but i got through about 8 of those in the time i've owned one W&N. Do the math! The GW ones are crud and that new eavy metal special brush in a tin is just a glossed up W&N. I'll put money on it that they are made at the same factory and badged differently. On a seperate note, the thinning fluid supplied with the eavy metal brush looks very useful. I watch eagerly to see if they release it seperately. Just to sum up the quality of the W&N series 7's, they come in a little cool plastic tube and i think they are supplies of brushes to the queen......or something. Either way, sweeeeeeeeet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subtle Discord Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 First, I agree that The W&N Series 7 are completely worth the price of admission, as long as you're willing to take care of them. As has been said, once you've used one you'll notice the difference immediately, even if you're not trying for competition level painting. They even come in a 'Miniature' brand that is exactly the same, but with shorter bristles for more control. I've found I only use one small 'Miniature' brand however for doing very small details. All my other Series 7 are the normal variety. As for their name; Queen Elizabeth used these brushes when she painted pictures, and her favorite size was a #7. The name is derived from that. And finally, if you want 'thinning fluid' have a look for a product called FlowAid made by Liquitex. Just 1 drop of FlowAid to 20 drops Water means it lasts forever. Once you have some, plain water for thinning just doesn't cut it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narse Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 i'm an advocate of cheap brushes.... I can go to Michaels and get a 4 pack of "Artist's Loft" acrylic brushes for 4.99 with a 40% coupon = 3 bucks. At less then 1 dollar a brush I can beat the heck out of them, always having perfect brushes for eyes, a perfect dry brushing brush and what have you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IdOfEntity Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 I've got to say, GW brushes aren't ever worth it. What do you need 10 brushes of varying size for anyways? Most of your brushes you can go for cheap synthetics. A #2 for basecoating, your drybrush, and a #1 for detail basecoating. Most of the time I just get whatever synthetic brushes I can find at Hobby Lobby that don't show any bad flaws. I still use a #2 that has a hook at the tip for basecoating. It still works for that less than subtle task. The only High Quality brush I've needed is a solid #1 or #0. Detail work, especially freehand designs, require the high quality brushes. Everyone raves about Windsor & Newton, and Rosemary. To be honest, I've got a Master's Touch cheap brush that has held up longest for good quality. I probably just got a diamond shining in the rough of the batch, but that brush has outlasted all of my others. The finish and words have rubbed off of the brush. Six years it's lasted. I've gotten it now that I use a maximum of five brushes in painting. And most of the time I only use four of them. 10 just seems odd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azatoth Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 For Germany or even Europe I recommend daVinci brushes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMEagle Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Personaly I go into a local art shop. Then I go for around the medium priced range, that also look like they have nice bristles (not too stiff), and a big enough belly to hold paint. Also a fine tip. And the handle, if its too small it is fiddly if its too large it become to clumsy. I like some of the triangular handles as well. But never go for cheap (too shoddy) and only go for expensive if you are willing to spend time looking after them properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacinda Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 I've got to say, GW brushes aren't ever worth it. I have a GW brush I have used for 5 or 6 years now. It is one of their "Tank" brushes. Big, soft and fluffy with a rounded tip. I use it for applying bronzer, tho :P My room mate hates it and says it is too stiff so she wont use it. And that is sort of the point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeaponAdept Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 Nice! Self dry-brushing You're my kind of lady! So synthetics are cheap but disposable, Sable are expensive but last and GW are Got it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorenzen Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 remember there are 2 stages of sable brushes (3 if you include gw.. which i dont) so its more like this: synth < gw < cheaper sable <<<<<< expensive sable (with gw's stuff being more expensive than the cheaper sable stuff) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Ragnarok Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 This comes up a lot. I like Loew Cornell, especially their long script liner. I know a lot of people use Winsor & Newton. Hard for me to think about anything else after I started using winsor & newnton GW paint brushes are my "beaters". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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