As a landscape artist I have spent countless hours experimenting with different brushes and techniques to paint the landscapes I am known for. I can’t over-stress the importance of choosing the right brushes for each stage of the painting process. From laying down the first wash of colour to adding intricate details, the brushes are critical tools in achieving the exact effects I am after..
It’s most important to use the right size and type of brush to deliver the paint in order to shape an area of colour or modify the paint’s texture just as I want.
For instance, when painting the sky, I use large 3” and 4” brushes of the sort you would use for painting a wall. Using these brushes allows me to lay down a layer of slightly thinned white paint – a layer across the whole sky area, keeping an even viscosity – and not over-thinned. Then I paint on the colours of the sky shaping the areas of cloud and the other areas of sky above and beyond the clouds. The colours of sky make the most wonderful abstract compositions. Then I use a dry 4” brush to gently blend the colors. I draw that brush lightly across the canvas in long soft strokes horizontally, diagonally and vertically. Slowly the sky evolves as the colours blend and subtly move. Even after all these years of painting I feel a sense of wonder as the vaporous forms of clouds emerge on the canvas. There’s always a degree of happenstance with the process which sometimes throws up surprising cloud formations and effects of light.
In addition to these larger brushes, I also use hog bristle filberts and rounds to draw lines and map out areas within the composition. These brushes are useful for creating the forms which shape the basic composition. I do most of the major work creating form and texture with the hog filberts which have flattened triangular ends..
I use soft nylon type filberts for small-scale blending of colors on the canvas. Finally, small soft nylon/squirrel-hair type round brushes, finely tapered to a point, are used for fine lines and points of detail when the bigger brushes make too coarse a mark. Using these different types of brushes allows me to achieve the desired effect and level of detail in different areas of the painting.
Choosing the right quality of brush is critical. A good brush should maintain its shape and deliver the paint as intended, with the bristles or hairs remaining flexible, not stiffly digging into underlying zones if you are laying wet on wet. I have found that investing in high-quality brushes is well worth it as it can significantly improve the final outcome of the painting. For instance, when I am painting a typical landscape of 20” X 30” in size, it might take me 30 to 50 hours of brush-in-hand time, spread over three or four weeks, allowing for drying time for the oils at different stages. During that time, I might make hundreds of thousands of paint strokes, and as a result, I probably wear out several brushes in the process. The hog bristle brushes wear out the quickest. Brushes cost me far more than paints.
Occasionally there’s a stage in the painting when I might want to texture an area with a small to medium hog bristle brush with more stiffly separated hairs – an older brush which has lost its tighter focus and springiness. It delivers paint in a rougher, scruffier manner which is useful for creating effects like textured swards of grass or randomised flecks like distant leaves on a tree, depending on how the brush is directed and on the chosen quantity and viscosity of the paint on its bristles. I keep a selection of these more splayed and stiff brushes as a useful addition to the range.I can’t overstate the importance of brushes in my painting process.. Each brush plays a critical role in creating the final product, and the type and quality of brush used can significantly impact the outcome of the painting. I am constantly experimenting with new brushes and techniques to improve my craft and bring my vision to life. Once I’ve chosen the right brush it delivers the paint on the canvas, but in my imagination I am actually applying light that defines the forms in the picture. I’ve stopped thinking of it as paint – it’s become transformed into light.
