Brush Review

During my last painting course many students expressed the need for some good brushes.  Most in the class were painting in oil so I set up an order from Rosemary Brushes in the UK.  I found one student who was ordering some brushes for some reason I didn't understand.  She assured me she had thought her order through.  Still I couldn't find the"Classic" type brushes in my catalogue.  So I went on line.  Sure enough they were in the electronic catalogue.  They are a blend of hogs bristle and synthetic.  They were said to hold their shape longer than the Chungking bristle and to wear longer.  So I added a few #6 and #8 to my order ( I don't often use a size less than a #6).  The other type of brush in that mixed order was Masters Choice, a soft mongoose used for precision drawing by many.

The Classics and Chunkings arrived and I couldn't tell them apart.  Both have long black handles.  So I added a dab of red acrylic to the Classics.

  Top to Bottom, Chungking flat, Classic flat, Masters Choice Flat, Chungking filbert

No, the handles are not curved!  That's just my clumsy wide angle camera work.

The next step was to paint with them and make observations.  After a few hours on the easel I found the claims to seem true regarding the shape of the brushes.

Left to Right, Masters, Chungking, Classic.  All #6

The image shows the brushes after drying in their clean state, after a painting session.

The Classic feels "tighter" than the Chungkings.  More stiff.  They make sharper marks, at least when new.  The Chungking holds more paint and seems to help when applying a "loose" passage.  The classics tend to leave a more hard-edged look.  I worked the Classics a second time and found basically the same things held true.  However I was able to obtain a bigger paint load as the brushes were broken in.  So now I don't find myself reaching for either type.  I may or may not find myself with a red blobbed brush in my hand.  I do look for one if I need more precision - not often.  It will take more time to judge the wear rate.

On this same order I took possession of a #16 Chungking.  A beautiful brush.  It was my third order from Rosemary.  So you can tell I like her brushes.  The company is a pleasure to deal with and the response is amazingly fast.  5 days to my doorstep all the way from England. Great brushes at a reasonable price.