Types of brushes for oil painting

When it comes to the types of brushes for oil painting, there are plenty of brushes to choose from.

The traditional oil painting brush is a natural bristle brush. Painters like them because they are stiff and leave nice brush marks in the paint.

But you can paint with other brushes and tools, too.

And here’s some BONUS content for you. Click here to download your QuickStart Guide to Oil Painting. It’s free. Easy to read. And designed to get you painting fast.

Brushes and tools for oil painters.

You can use anything to oil paint with. I even know a painter who has used tree branches. As long as the oil paint gets onto your canvas, you are good.

• natural bristle brushes
• synthetic bristle brushes (softer and smoother brush strokes, or to smoothen and blend)
• painting knives (come in many shapes and sizes). *don’t use palette knives, they are not that flexible! Do not use plastic ones, they are worthless.
• silicone pushers (come in all shapes and sizes)
• BBQ skewers
• my fingers
• plastic credit cards to make lines
• a brayer to roll over your paint

Remember, brushes come in many shapes and sizes. You’ll want to try them all for yourself because each one of them will leave a different mark and that mark can become “your thing.”

The most important tip I can give you is to use bigger brushes. Most beginners use brushes that are too small. You want to have one brush that is about 1/6 – 1/8 the width of your canvas other painting support. Start small and then work your way to smaller details with smaller brushes.

Here’s a painting video of me using a whole bunch of different things to paint with. (It’s a sped up video of one of the demos I have in my intro to oil painting course.)

Does paint brush quality matter?

Some artists insist you only use premium quality paint brushes. I’m not one of those people. In fact one of my favourite painters, Richard Claremont, uses house paint brushes. And another one, Jan de Vliegher, uses a small push broom!

I myself like using cheap brushes sometimes, because the wayward bristles can leave really cool unexpected marks.

Good quality brushes do have advantages. They last longer, don’t lose their bristles, and hold their shape better. The latter would be important for portrait painters or realist painters.

But for us impressionistic painters who don’t depend on precision, the brush might not matter as much — at least for certain applications.

It’s all up to you!

Which is another reason mini painting makes sense. You can try something new with each painting and really do some fun exploring quickly.

Here are a few brushes that would be suitable for beginner oil painters, But if you have any lying around the house in tool kits, or kids’ art sets, give them a try too.

Use the brush that works for you

So the bottom line is you can just use what works for you.

Some painters will only use expensive paint brushes because they hold their shape better. They wash them lovingly so that after five years they still look brand new.

Other painters don’t care as much. They would rather spend that time painting than cleaning, and so will replace their brushes more often. When it comes down to it, brushes really aren’t that expensive.

I fit more in the latter camp. I prefer to put my money into the paint. Here I can definitely see differences, and since I’m all about colour, I want well pigmented paints. I have some good brushes, and some cheap ones. And I am constantly exploring.

So, don’t be afraid to experiment or be inventive when it comes to painting. Matisse invented super long-handled brushes. This is what enabled him to make those beautiful, loose, flowy lines. You would never be able to get that with a short-handled brush.

See what works for you. Have lots of fun. That’s what it’s all about.

All right, that’s it. Hopefully that’ll give you an idea of the types of brushes for oil painting that are available to us. When I first started out, I had no idea what brush was for what, so hopefully this will make you more confident when you walk into an art store and are faced with all the brushes that are there.

(And, of course, if you want to see this video in real time, check out my Intro to Oil Painting course.)

Oh, how about you? Are you all about premium brushes? Or are you a housepaint brush fan?