Paint Brushes

[Uprising]

I been getting back into painting, but my brush collection has seen better days.  Does anyone have a brand of brushes or kit they prefer?  Thank you and take care.  

[Helbrechts_Sword_Servitor]

da Vinci are good, but I had luck with "No Name" brushes from China. 

[WBRBloom]

For good quality, value for money brushes, that would keep their point for a good amount of time, I would suggest Rosemary & Co. brushes:

 

Acrylic Brushes

 

These are the same brushes that Artis Opus uses, and brands them with their own name. Pretty reasonable prices and amazing quality. You will need the necessary cleaning products, if you decide to go down that road, such as Master's soap and a good cleaner and conditioner (I use the Vallejo set):

 

 

 

If you are looking for a more economic solution, you can go for synthetic brushes or cheaper natural hair. Anything from Army Painter is decent, for a very fair price (although I haven't had the best experience myself). Synthetics, anything from Amazon, but buy them in bulk, as they tend to lose point quite easilly.

 

GW brushes I find that they are a steal, as they cost almost as much as the Rosemary & Co. and they are not even close to the quality Rosemary & Co. provide. I'd stay away from them, unless they are your only and last resort (cannot order online for example).

 

Edit:

 

If you're in the UK, and want to start with something cheap but surprisingly good, I would also recommend the Coat d'Arms (now Battlezone) store brushes. These are cheap Kolinsky Sable, but they are VERY ok to use in everyday paint and as workhorses. This is the company that used to make the Citadel paints back in the 80s/early 90s (they still use the same pots):

 

Professionial Brushes - Battlezone Miniatures

Edited September 8 by WBRBloom

[Firedrake Cordova]

If you can get Rosemary & Co brushes, they're very good value (largely due to omitting the middleman). A lot of people use their Series 33 Kolinsky Sable brushes (these are slightly different to the Artis Opus brushes, but close enough that it makes little difference). Their Series 99 Sable brushes are cheaper, but still good - they're great for base coating, and any jobs that are unkind to brushes.

 

Da Vinci make very nice brushes - both their Series 10 (smaller belly - more dagger-shaped) and Series 35 (bigger belly - more flame shaped) are quite popular. Raphael's 8404 are very nice, too. 

 

GW's Artificer brushes are the same as Winsor & Newton's Series 7, but with some cosmetic differences.

 

There's a few things you can do to prolong the life of nice brushes:

• Use your best brushes for fine work, and use cheaper (or more worn) ones for undercoating, base coating large areas, etc.
• Don't use alcohol to clean dried paint out of them unless you can't avoid it, as it will strip the natural oils from the hairs and make them brittle. If you must, then use conditioner on the brush afterwards (human hair conditioner or brush conditioner is fine).
• I would caution against using metallic paint with good brushes - the metallic/mica flakes tend to damage the bristles.
• Don't let paint dry in the bristles. This can happen whilst you're painting, so you may end up having to stop painting to rinse the brush out.
• Don't use a brush when it's dry - always moisten it before you put it into paint (this limits the "wicking" effect you get due to capillary action, drawing paint towards the ferrule). This is especially important for Contrast/Shade, which include flow improver.
• When you've finished painting, rinse the brush out, and clean it with brush cleaner (either a solid cake like The Master's, or a liquid like Jo-Sonja's). If the bristles splay away from a point when they dry, it's an indicator that the brush isn't fully clean.
• Before putting brushes away, apply a thin coat of The Master's brush cleaner and shape them to a point - this will condition them, and help to train the point (the hard, dry soap will also help protect the point).

Edited September 8 by Firedrake Cordova