Brushes

There are many types and quality of brush on the market. The brushes you need depend on the type of work you are going to do. As a general rule to begin with you need a basic set of hogs and soft bristled brushes. I think a small, medium and large of each of the following hog brushes should get you started.

Round
Filbert
Long Flat

In addition to these I would use a bristle fan brush and a very wide flat soft bristled brush (I use one about 2 ½'' thick), acrylic will be fine and a rigger is necessary if you are planning to do any fine lines on your painting. For glazing you will need some soft brushes, I use flats for this, with the occasional use of a round for details.

Mahlstick, this is a long stick, padded at one end which you rest on the canvas to support your painting arm when putting on detail. You can make one using a piece of garden can 2 ½" to 3" long, some soft stuffing material and cotton tied with string to make a knob. You will find that this will be a useful tool and will stop that shaking when you want to paint some fine detail or a long straight line.

Above all, buy a palette knife for mixing. This is absolutely necessary, as you will just get into a mess when trying to mix colours without one. Palette knives are flat to the handle, whereas painting knives have handles that are bent at an angle from the blade. These are used for painting 'impasto'. This means applying the paint thickly either with a brush or with a painting knife. You will also need something with which to wipe your knife and brushes. I use loo paper and rags.

You will find later on that you use all sorts of things to paint with including fingers, bits of cloth etc., to get texture into the work. Francis Bacon is reputed to have used even the odd cashmere jumper, but this was probably by mistake when he couldn't find things to use for creating texture!

Cleaning Brushes

Cleaning brushes - you must do this each time you have used them. For oils, swish them out in white spirit then wash them with neat fairy liquid and warm water in the palm of your hand. Dry them off with a cloth. Store them upright in a jar or rolled in piece of cloth. For cleaning brushes after using acrylics just wash them out in water. Never let your brushes dry with acrylic paint on them and when painting in acrylics it is always advisable to keep them in water between use (i.e. between colours) and dry them off a bit before you load them with colour again.

When painting you will need to have something to hold the artist's medium and the white spirit/turpentine. You will need only a small amount of medium which you can put in something called a dipper. These can be bought from art shops. I use one which has double cans, one for the medium and one for just wetting the brush to thin the oil paint. I also use a tin affair which has a metal attachment over the top with a coil to hold brushes. Inside the tin is a mesh which helps to scrape off the excess paint from the brushes - I can't remember what it is called but it is extremely useful. This holds white spirit for rinsing out the brushes as I am painting. These are sold in art shops. if you are using acrylic, a jar or two holding water will be adequate. Remember to wash your brushes out thoroughly when you have finished working.