Just what every painter wants for Christmas, new brushes.
We have an order of the wonderful Scharff brushes on it's way, in time for you to use your gift certificate or a treat for yourself.
Your paintings are only as good as your brushes, and you know that out of shape brushes make painting so much more difficult. Sometimes the problem with your painting in not your skill, but the condition of your brush.
We stock the wonderful Scharff brushes here at Artful Endeavors. I've been very pleased with the quality of these brushes and how long they last if you take care of them.
Here are some tips from Scharff on caring for your brushes. The notes in red are from me.
Brush Tips from Scharff
We have an order of the wonderful Scharff brushes on it's way, in time for you to use your gift certificate or a treat for yourself.
Your paintings are only as good as your brushes, and you know that out of shape brushes make painting so much more difficult. Sometimes the problem with your painting in not your skill, but the condition of your brush.
We stock the wonderful Scharff brushes here at Artful Endeavors. I've been very pleased with the quality of these brushes and how long they last if you take care of them.
Here are some tips from Scharff on caring for your brushes. The notes in red are from me.
Brush Tips from Scharff
- Always clean your brushes immediately after every use.
- Never let the paint dry on your brush.
- Never use the cleaning tubs with a rippled bottom. This is not the proper way to clean your brushes. It is a very good way to ruin your brushes.(Our brush basins do have the grate in the bottom, but remember that I've told you not to use it except as a last resort.)
- Do not let a brush stand in water or cleaning solvents for any length of time. This will cause the liquid to leach into the handle and swelling will occur in the wood. This will lead to the paint chipping off and the ferrule becoming loose. ( And will bend the bristles out of shape.)
- Always clean your brushes with the appropriate solutions. Acrylics can be cleaned with a mild household liquid detergent. Many oil and lacquer materials will have a recommended cleaning solution for their particular products. (A brush soap help keep your brushes in good condition)
- After thoroughly cleaning your brushes, store them lying flat or with the ferrules up. Never store your brushes on the hair.(I recommend drying the brushes flat so that any small amount of soap won't collect in your ferrule and cause your bristles to start separating.)
- A light coating of hair spray can be applied to the bristles to help hold the brush in shape for extended periods of storage.
- Take care of your brush and it will perform well for many uses.
- We (Scharff) have an instructional video that shows how to clean and use the various brushes. This can be found in our store.
Keep any wet brushes laying flat so that dirty paint water, or soap water, won't collect in the ferrule and cause your brush to separate.
Besides bending your bristles, leaving your brushes in your brush basin allows the dirty paint water to wick up into the ferrule where it can dry and cause your brush to separate.
Pulling your brush over the grate causes the bristles to curl like curling ribbon.
Clean your liner and small brushes by flicking them against the sides of the brush basin. Never pull them on the grate.
If you would like more information on using your brushes and stroke work, please see my video, Mastering the Decorative Painting Basics, part one, on Creative Workshops.
Besides bending your bristles, leaving your brushes in your brush basin allows the dirty paint water to wick up into the ferrule where it can dry and cause your brush to separate.
Pulling your brush over the grate causes the bristles to curl like curling ribbon.
Clean your liner and small brushes by flicking them against the sides of the brush basin. Never pull them on the grate.
If you would like more information on using your brushes and stroke work, please see my video, Mastering the Decorative Painting Basics, part one, on Creative Workshops.
You get 10 percent off till the end of 2010.
And ,you have 24/7 access to the video, can repeat as much as you would like, and can watch it as many times as you would like. 
