Topic: Newbie Painter: Brush Hooking at the tip

[Yoyi]

I am pretty new at 40k. I bought my IG army close to a year ago but after assembly I had to move away for a while. Now that I am back I want to pick it up again. So I am painting it now. This is my first attempt at painting miniatures so bear with me. I have some pictures of the progress so far in my other post

http://www.40konline.com/index.php?topic=148745.0

I am having a bit of a problem with my small brushes. After 5-6 models they start to hook at the tip. I don't know if this is normal or if I am doing something wrong. Granted the little hook tip helps quite a bit in some details but over all is a bit annoying.

I have a few back up brushes that I am using but they too have begun hooking at the tip.

Another question is that I keep reading about building up color in thin layers. I have tried this as well as painting straight from the pot( I'm pretty sure this is not recommended but My paint kept drying up on my palette) And haven't had any problems with paint clumping by using straight paint. I only use it like that for things like the guardsmen armor and helmets, for the pants I am using a very light almost dry brushed Codex Grey.   

[in_jeopardy]

They could just be bad quality brushes. So I'd invest in better ones if you think that could be it.

Though more likely than not it's (and I've had to condition myself into not doing this too, because I did up until recently) that you're leaving the brush(es) in a pot of water when you wash them in between paints rather than giving them a quick shake and taking them back out.

Though it doesn't do any noticeable damage, it does over time, bend the brush.

[Plague Tower of Nurgle]

as for your paint situation i went to a craft store and got a small paint pallete to put reasonable amounts of paint in so i dont dry whats in my pots out. i use eye droppers to dispense the paint amount i need and mix paints and add a few drops of water to the paint to thin it out.

[JaPizzy]

What brushes are you using?  Synthetic brushes will hook on the end all of the time.  It's just a characteristic of the synthetic brush.  Natural hairs are for sure better, with Kolinski Sable being the best.

Citadel basic brushes are red sable, but do not hold a very good point.  They should be okay for tabletop painting, but most serious people recommend a Kolinski.  The Winsor and Newton Series 7 watercolor brushes are by far my favorite, but there are many brands.  I can make a number 1 last about a year, and do everything with it, including lining, and eyes.  They are expenesive, and most army painters don't want to spend it however, but if it will last a year, I say that it's worth it.

This is my opinion mind you.

Cheers

James

[Yoyi]

I am using the GW ones and a bit more expensive sable one I use for detailing. I also have a bunch of other cheaper ones for different things like dry brushing. The problem is that even the sable one is bent at the tip. I have left it in the water pot a couple of time but never quite so long as to cause damage ( i think ). Other than that I really don't know what I am doing wrong to these brushes... And is 3 different ones ranging from cheapo to expensive.

[Shadow Slayer]

Do you clean your brushes?

And I don't mean just wash out the paint with water, but actually GET a brush cleaner like this product:

http://www.dickblick.com/zz057/02/

To ensure that no paint particals dry up and start weighing down the hairs of the brushes. 

Also, when you paint with your brush, do you hold your brush and apply pressure to the model with the brush being held at a 90 degree angle, or do you use the sides of your brush to apply your paint holding it at more of a 60 or 30 degree angle range.

There are alot of very bad habits that many new painters pick up that makes brushes hook.  My advice is to get a brush cleaner, and give your brushes a good scrubbing and see if they are savable.

Also, as a rule, don't buy GW brushes in the future. They are terrible quality brushes for the price you pick up on them.

Also, remember that Paint bushes WILL die out after quite some time anyways.  If you have used these brushes through years of painting miniatures, then even the best brushes can die out after a long run.  The best advice I can give is to just treat your burshes right, and remember to not just clean the brushes with water, but use the soap while cleaning them, as the back and forth motion of you running them through the soap should straighten out any bending from individual sessions of painting, but it will not fix long term damage to the brush. 

Also, avoid the following bad habbits, as they ALL contribute to hooking brushes:

Forget to clean brushes thuroughly and have to "Scrape off" dried paint off the brush hairs

"Soaking" brushes for extended periods of time, as the tips will start to bend with the constant pressure, and water making the brush hairs more mold able.

Extended painting at sharp 90 degree angles

Using the wrong type of brushes for the paint you are using (I. E. a watercolor brush for acrylic painting.)

Constant drybrushing will hook the hairs of a brush as well.

Just keep these things in mind when your using any type of brush to avoid hooking as much as possible.  But the big one is to PROPERLY clean your brush after every use of it.

[Term`]

I cant really add anything that slayer has not already mentioned,  but I can offer a possible place online to get better brushes and cleaners etc...

http://snmstuff.co.uk/default.aspx

good luck

[JaPizzy]

Forget to clean brushes thuroughly and have to "Scrape off" dried paint off the brush hairs

"Soaking" brushes for extended periods of time, as the tips will start to bend with the constant pressure, and water making the brush hairs more mold able.

Extended painting at sharp 90 degree angles

Using the wrong type of brushes for the paint you are using (I. E. a watercolor brush for acrylic painting.)

Constant drybrushing will hook the hairs of a brush as well.

Just keep these things in mind when your using any type of brush to avoid hooking as much as possible.  But the big one is to PROPERLY clean your brush after every use of it.

Yes, leaving a brush in your water will distort it surprisingly fast.  Drybrushing will also do it as the end of the hairs actually get frayed.

Although I only use "watercolor" brushes, and not one has ever hooked while using acrylic paint.  I wouldn't use anything but them for painting anything but rugged army painting.

One other point of advice, is to rinse your brush constantly during the painting process.  I usually rinse every time I need more paint, although sometimes I will get a second dip into the paint.

Cheers,

James

[MoonMan]

Synthetic brushes will hook on the end all of the time.  It's just a characteristic of the synthetic brush.  Natural hairs are for sure better, with Kolinski Sable being the best.

Totally agree. I don't use anything other than sable these days. You can sometimes find them cheap - I pay four bucks or so for mine at the local Hobby Lobby. They last incredibly longer than synthetic, making them worth every penny, imo.

Another thing you may want to look at is buying brush cleaner - I use 'The Masters' brand, and it's simple to clean a brush when you're done painting. You'd be amazed at all the stuff that it'll get out of the ferrule.

[Buggus]

Awhile back I was playing around with one of my older still in good shape brush.  I let the bulk of the center of the brush dry up with dark angle green. Well that was the paint that I was using at the time. This left just about little over a mm to work with and a better over all point.  I was about to remove it because it had dryed over night, when I noticed that it only picked up so much paint.  Seemed to allow me to layer a little better then what I had been doing on smaller areas.  The point had also curved on me awhile back, though it really turned out for the better.

With just this little bit of room to add paint, and it being a fin curve point. I was able to add paint to smaller areas with less run off. This last batch of marines turned out better in the face then the first batch I did. My SM company champ's face turned out really well. Though it could just be my over all skill has moved up to .000000000002 instead of .000000000001   

Just seemed to be better at pulling just a bit of paint and playing with just that amount of paint off the pallet.

[Hija]

I found this effect reduced for me after using the sponge that comes in a blister back to dry my brush after cleaning it instead of kitchen wipes or paper.  Not sure if its just a random-better-than-usual-brush or if this is helping.

I actually like the end to curl on my "line" painting brushes as I get more control and a straighter line.

[No Remorse]

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