Trouble with very small brushes

[Inquisitor Eisenhorn]

I recently realized that my brushes were in need of replacement, so I ended up getting a fairly nice set of kolinsky sable brushes, and it came with some brush sizes that go quite a bit smaller than I am used to.  I'm running into a problem with them, though.  When I'm using an extremely fine detail brush, I find that the paint is often dry before it can hit the model, mainly at the tip, where a little ball of paint normally dries and keeps the rest from flowing onto the spot I'm aiming for.  

 

The solution is obviously some sort of dilution of the paint, but it feels like if the paint is wet enough to not dry immediately, it's too diluted to actually stick where I want, and it tends to run towards whatever crevice is nearest, generally the opposite place I'm aiming for.  

 

So with small brushes the paint either dries, or is too watery to be useful.  This isn't an issue with larger brushes I'm used to because there is enough surface area on the bristles for them to not dry out so quickly.  It seems a shame because I end up avoiding the smaller sizes in this set, but I can clearly see where I would want to use them if I could get my paint to behave.  

 

Is my room too dry or something?

[Imren]

Here is a standard solution to your problem:

 

https://acrylicosvallejo.com/en/producto/hobby/auxiliaries-model/retarder-medium-70597/

 

This stuff will not only slow down the drying process but also maintain viscosity of the paint unless you thin it down with water/thinner in addition to mixing in this stuff.

 

 

your room and air is fine, it's quite normal that very small tips dry quickly since the tip taper is much narrower of small brushes and therefore evaporation and drying is quicker since the liquid amount against air surface of the bunched bristles area is smaller.

[Dosjetka]

I was going to write an answer but Imren beat me to it. I've used Vallejo's retarder before and it works well.

[apologist]

As mentioned above, retarding medium is a good option. Flow enhancer (also called acrylic medium) is also a way to play around with the viscosity without impairing or diluting the hue. If you don't have access to these, or prefer not to use mediums, then you may want to try a bit of experimentation. 

 

One of the advantages of sable brushes over synthetic brushes is that the bristles will hold a lot of water in the belly of the brush. If you wet your brush thoroughly, then tap off the excess (i.e. don't dry it thoroughly), you'll end up with a little water held within the bristles. If you then load your paint as normal, you'll find the small amount of water in the brush helps to keep it fluid and workable.

 

It may simply be a case of experimentation. There's a sweet spot for any combination of brush and dilution of paint; and if you're using a new brush, it may take a little while to get used to its particular nuances. 

[Inquisitor Eisenhorn]

Thank you for the quick responses!  I'm glad to know it's not my room and that I can get a medium to fix this.  Seems like a straightforward solution!

[Bubba Pearson]

While the original poster seems to be happy with the many fine suggestions for help, I thought I would add a suggestion not already offered. Just don't worry about the super-fine brushes. For the vast majority of even experienced painters, rarely will a brush smaller than 000 (if that) be needed if the mini is destined for use on a tabletop battlefield. There will be exceptions, of course, since everyone is a unique individual with unique skills (and available time), and since InquisitorE got the tiny rounds and/or liners as part of a set, naturally there would be a desire to put these tools to use. Excellent suggestions for doing so were posted. I simply doubt the basic need for these brushes. After eventually gaining some mean proficiency as a miniature painter myself, I spent a good deal of money to acquire some super-tiny (10/0 and smaller), high quality paintbrushes, but as it turned out, I pretty much never used them, and certainly never on even a semi-regular basis. The overwhelming majority of my miniatures aren't destined for contests, display only, or super close-up photography, so the 000 round is the smallest brush I need, and even that's on a fairly irregular basis. In actuality, nearly all of my painting is done with my 0 and 1 sizes, including nearly all of the fine detail and simple freehand work, faces/eyes, hair, lining in, edge highlights, and the like. On even my best-painted figures, I just don't paint to a standard where any tinier dots or lines are necessary. I recognize there are uses for such smaller, high quality brushes, but since I don't normally paint that way, the money I spent for my 5/0, 10/0, 15 and 20/0 brushes essentially was wasted. Most modelers simply won't reach a level of proficiency where the use of such fine tools will prove necessary or even helpful. Especially for beginning and moderately-skilled painters, in any set with a brush smaller than 3/0, those brushes simply won't see any use, and inevitably, the larger brushes in such a set will see a lot more use than the smallest. If a hobbyist isn't setting out to win the Slayer Sword (or equivalent or larger prizes), or post the absolute best, highest-resolution, super close-up photo of their completed mini on the GW and Forge World home sites, I would suggest those teensie-tiny brushes are more trouble than they are worth. I can hardly wait to be proved wrong. :-)