ARE ALL HOG-HAIR BRUSHES COMPLETE CRAP? GOOD BRUSHES TO BUY?

~Mayvi Dec 26, 2012 Student Traditional Artist

Oi....
So i'm getting into painting, oil painting to be specific, and i'm learning about the different types of brushes that are offered.
I've had two types of brushes in school before, the cheap hog-hair brushes and the white nylon brushes.
After using both for a bit, i can absolutely say that i hate the hog-hair brushes. They can't hold a hard edge and destroy my paper (i don't put alot of pressure on it either).

I don't know if the brushes were abused by other students, but i have just been completely turned off from them.
I'm just wondering if there are any experienced painted out there who have an opinion on these brushes. I'm curious to know if some brands are netter than others when it comes to hog-hair brushes, or if they are all the same.

Also, if you could reccomend any good synthetic brushes that go well with oil paint, that would be great.

Thanks so much.

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Devious Comments

=puppy-dangerous Dec 27, 2012 Professional General Artist

I think you really need to experiment and find the ones you like. Everybody has a different preference.

*Liliths-Elixir Dec 26, 2012 Student Filmographer

DON'T DO OIL! It's extremely cancerous, since most of my art teachers that used them got it over the years of constant use. Acrylic's a good alternative. Use Synths or something like them for any type of painting. Lowell Cornell's cheap, but it works for what I do.

~Vineris Dec 27, 2012 Student General Artist

Oil paint is not cancerous (with the exception of the cadmium pigments, which can also show up in every other kind of paint). The solvents are not healthy at all, but you can oil paint with less harmful solvents or even without solvents. My house is not well-ventilated so I don't use solvents.

*painted-bees Dec 26, 2012 Professional Digital Artist

oils are fine so long as you take the proper health precautions (ie: work in a well/specialized ventilated area, and don't wear/eat the paint). Most of the problems that come with oils arise with habitual use by people who think it's cool to walk around with paint stained pants, walk on their studio floor bare foot, and fail to properly ventilate their work space during and after use.

*Liliths-Elixir Dec 26, 2012 Student Filmographer

I see. Where I live, they don't construct any building with proper ventilation for that kind of thing, especially institutions that teach art. That's kind of why it's very worrysome and such for me. I kind of swore to myself to never do it whenever possible, and I think it's one of those mediums I just can't master, like pastels.

*painted-bees Dec 26, 2012 Professional Digital Artist

oh wow, then the weariness is certainly warranted! I had completely taken for granted that all the art schools and such where I am make absolute certain that studios are well ventilated, or they risk enduring the joy of potential law suits.

*Liliths-Elixir Dec 26, 2012 Student Filmographer

Yeah, the people here are reckless in the case of health of the public. It's ridiculous on how this little niche of US territory is so careless, especially since so many universities coalesce in the area!

~WilWhalen Dec 26, 2012 Professional Digital Artist

I only use my hog brush to sketch or drybrush with. It's too firm for my tastes when laying down paint (most of the time.)

Strange that they can't hold a hard edge, since that's really all they're good for. I would imagine they've been mistreated and frayed.

I'd grab a variety when they're on sale at some point (Hobby Lobby/Michael's does a 50% off Masters Touch at least once a month around here) and see what you like. That's really the only way to figure it out. Synthetics are cheap - usually no more than 5 or 6 bucks on sale for a reasonably sized one.

~kila-ibyao Dec 26, 2012 Student Digital Artist

Paper as in watercolor paper with gesso primer or regular paper? Anyways I don't have much experience with varieties of oil brushes, but Master's Touch hog hair worked well for me.

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