How to make a brush for painting with your own hands. Master class painting how to properly make a brush from cat hair wool. Choice of pile length

Even the smallest nail brushes I can find are often too big for me. I know you can order quite small brushes online, but I don't like ordering online and waiting for everything to arrive, it literally pisses me off. I once ordered a sable brush from Sally Hansen's online store, drew one stripe with it and dipped it in acetone to clean it, as I usually do with all brushes, and when I took the brush out of acetone, I found that all the pile was gone - I'm not kidding . Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed. I think another reason why I don't like to order online is that the mail is not delivered directly to the house, but you have to pick up packages from the post office .. but that's another story.

In any case, I'm more inclined to look into the art departments of large stores or specialty art stores that come my way for brushes available. Usually there come across brushes for one or two dollars. So, if you can't find a brush that's small enough for nail art, you can pretty easily make your own. All you need is nail scissors or, which I prefer, cuticle nippers.

Having bought a cheap brush, I simply take my tongs and go around the base of the handle, cutting off small sections of the pile, gradually moving towards the middle of it. I try to keep the cut edge more or less the same width so that when I get to the desired thinness of the brush, the remaining hair will be in the middle of it, and not shifted to the side.

Continue trimming small sections of hair evenly around the entire circumference of the brush until you feel it is thin enough for you.

Below is a photo of some of my brushes, you can see how thin some of them are. You will also notice that among the five photographed brushes, I have two similar brushes with black handles. The only difference is that I cut the pile more thinly on one of the brushes.

In general, when I find a good cheap brush, I usually buy a few of them to make several nail art brushes of different sizes and have spare brushes in case one gets worn out, or I end up ruining it or losing it. .

There are a lot of brushes now, and the most unusual ones. Once again sorting through my brushes, I decided to figure out the types of pile, what exactly and what it is suitable for. After all, we draw so often that we no longer think about why a squirrel or how the columns differ from bristles.

Squirrel

One of the most famous brushes, with which many begin learning to draw. They are made from hairs from the tail of a squirrel, and the pile taken at the top of the tail is much more valuable. Such brushes are only round, very soft and elastic, they can also be used to make flute-shaped brushes (but the width of the flutes is limited). They are mainly used for working with water-based and watercolor paints, because these brushes hold water very well. At the same time, the protein is too tender for oil and may begin to crawl out of the solvent. Squirrel hair perfectly retains its shape, does not break, absorbs moisture and washes well under running water. The squirrel brush allows you to draw without uneven stripes and blurry spots due to the fact that when in contact with paper, porcelain, faience, the hairs do not separate and lead a clear, directional line. Squirrel brushes need to be carefully looked after. The hair of the squirrel is very thin, blue, black or brown.

I read here that the pile of different breeds of Siberian squirrels can serve as a material for these brushes.

For example, the hair of the CASAN breed is considered the thinnest. It is used to make tools for painting ceramics and porcelain. The TALUTKY squirrel hair is longer and is used for brushes used for calligraphy. CANADISCHE squirrels are valuable for their short, black hair. Each of their hair has a thin tip. Therefore, watercolor brushes are excellent from this breed of squirrel.

Kolonok

Tassels from his pile are considered very valuable. Kolonok is a cross between a ferret, a marten and a mink at the same time. There are few of these animals in nature, and besides, it is not so easy to prepare. For example, the tail of the Siberian column gives no more than 2 g of pile, suitable for brushes. It will make 3-4 thin brushes and 1-2 large ones. For brushes, fur is taken only from its tail and only from animals living in the river valleys of Siberia, in China and Korea. Kolinsky hair is very elastic, light and has a sharp tip. The highest quality kolinsky brushes are made from the pile of a male caught in winter. By the way, a pile column suitable for painting is called an awn. Hair color may vary. It depends on the season in which the animal was caught, mostly it is a golden brown color. In quality, they are similar to squirrel, although there are differences. The villi of the column are much stiffer and thicker at the very base, and softer at the tip, very resilient and elastic. The brush can be cylindrical or flat, in different shades from light red to dark brown. These brushes are used for both liquid and thick paints. In oil painting, they are used when making small details, and kolinsky brushes are also convenient for glazing technique on wet.

Sable

The golden mean between a soft protein and an elastic column. The peculiarity of sable brushes is that they are very durable and almost never wear off, even when working with rough surfaces, they are made from sable tails. The brush is very flexible, picks up a large amount of paint and doses it out. Because of these qualities, these brushes allow you to work in a variety of techniques, from a “dry” brush to a wet technique. Everything can be done with one brush, which is very convenient. Best choice for watercolor, egg tempera, gouache. Sable brushes are quite rare and quite expensive, but they are worth it.

Marten

They are made from the pile of martens or mustelids. Marten hair brushes differ in their properties, depending on which marten is: flat or mountain. Plains marten hair brushes are as soft as squirrels, but mountain marten hair brushes are slightly more elastic. On sale, such brushes are less common than squirrel ones.

weasel

An alternative to pile column. The hairs are red-brown in color, with a good sharp tip, good fullness, but not as long as the column.

Stubble

Quite stiff, elastic and long. It is sorted by shades (it happens to be black, gray and white) and length, treated with chemicals and bleached. The prepared bristle is doused with boiling water, after which it becomes more elastic. When finished, it has a light color. High quality bristles are produced in China and Russia.

You can distinguish this brush from others by visual inspection - pig hair is split at the end. It was this feature that led to the use of pig hair - a specific tip allows the brush to absorb a large amount of paint and apply it evenly, without dipping the brush again. The best brushes of this type have up to 80% split hairs, but for artistic brushes, calibrated, non-split bristles are still better. These brushes are chosen for painting with oil, acrylic (you can not dilute), gouache and tempera. These brushes have a peculiarity - there is no end to the beam, thanks to which the brush is able to pick up a sufficiently large amount of paint and hold it. The main shape of the brush is flat, although there are cylindrical and fan, as well as flute.

Pony

Soft pile with a cylindrical bunch, well picks up water. A pile is used that grows behind the ears or on the back. Brushes are often used in schools and kindergartens to teach watercolor techniques. Pony hair brushes absorb paint very well, but give them away worse than they absorb, gather into a cone shape, keep their shape well, but are not flexible enough. This type of hair, like a pony, belongs to the design group, since it does not have a sharp tip, because of this, these brushes are not very suitable for professional work. May be brown or white. Designed to work with water-soluble paint: watercolor, gouache or tempera.

Goat

Goat hair is elastic, resilient and quite long, it comes in white and yellow shades. Softer than pig bristle. The brushes retain their shape, perfectly absorb paints and water, as a result of which smooth strokes are obtained. They are used in watercolor painting, calligraphy, batik and pottery painting, Japanese painting. It is noteworthy that for calligraphy, brushes are taken mainly with bamboo handles because of their lightness. Such a brush is suitable for working with batik because it can withstand hot wax.

Ear brushes

Such brushes are made from hair, which is taken from the inside of the ears of oxen, cows, the quality of which is determined by the breed of the animal. Usually such brushes are inexpensive, but strong, resilient and sensitive in work, give good results and keep their shape well. The hair has a silky texture. They are made flat and round, brushes are also made to cover large surfaces. Ox hair brushes are used to work with oil paints, acrylic, tempera, gouache. Cow hair brushes are used to work with almost all types of paints: watercolor, gouache, tempera, acrylic, oil paints.

Mongoose

Mongoose brushes are easily distinguished by the color of the pile, the tip is painted in dark brown, and the base is black and white or grayish. The brushes are cylindrical or flat, resilient and slightly hard. They are used in work, as a rule, with thick paints (for example, oil and acrylic). From my own experience I can say that it is also possible to paint with watercolors in dry technique, it keeps its shape and thin tip perfectly, but does not hold water very well.

Wolf

For us, rather exotic, but quite common in the east. These brushes are made from wolf hair. They are distinguished by special elasticity and elasticity, thanks to these qualities, such brushes are mainly used for calligraphy and painting gohua (a style of traditional Chinese painting that uses ink and water paints on silk or paper), brushes made from Chinese yellow wolf, which is essentially a column.

Bear

Made from processed brown or polar bear hair. Polar bear hair brushes are flat in shape with a long or short hair bundle, brown bear hair brushes are round, as in the photo above. These brushes are less rigid, but more elastic compared to bristle brushes, they have high elasticity and softness. Used for "heavy" type of paints: oil. gouache, etc. Brown bear hair brushes are round in shape and are more soft and elastic. They are used to work with tempera, watercolor, ink, etc.

Badger

The hair for these brushes is taken from the tail of a badger. Due to its properties, badger fur has become an ideal material for making oil tools. Badger hair brushes are softer than bristle brushes, have a conical shape, and are distinguished by “fluffiness”. The best badger fur brushes can be recognized by the white tip and the stripe in the middle.

Manufacturers sometimes imitate them by dyeing a pig bristle or a goat hair brush. However, the latter cannot be compared with a badger hair brush in their working properties. If you are not sure about the authenticity of the brush, pay attention to the following: if the hair has no “belly” and tip, and there are twisted and curled hairs along its length, then this is a goat hair brush; if there are split hairs, it is pig bristles.

Synthetics

Synthetic brushes are made from nylon, polyester and other fibers.
Synthetic hair based on nylon is hard and does not give up water, so it is not suitable for watercolor painting, but for oil paints and acrylic this quality is just appropriate.
Synthetic hair based on polyesters gives varying degrees of elasticity. Hairs of different lengths and diameters are collected in a bundle that gives a capillary effect, which makes it possible to use such brushes even in watercolor.

Such brushes are less prone to destruction under the influence of thinners, insects, paints, direct sunlight. But from mechanical impact, these brushes are inferior in wear resistance to natural ones, the villi quickly wear out and become soft. There are many variations of mixed types of brushes from different piles. Both natural pile is mixed, and synthetic is combined with natural. Recently, the production of synthetic brushes has been actively developing and high-quality synthetics may well replace or supplement natural bristles over time.

A short guide to different materials and types of pile.

Oil - brush bristles, speakers, ear hair, synthetics, badger.
Tempera - synthetic, badger, squirrel, brush bristle, kolinsky, ear hair
Gouache - ear hair, synthetics, squirrel, bristle brush, kolinsky
Watercolor - squirrel brush, kolinsky, synthetics imitation.
Acrylic - synthetics, brush columns, squirrel.

In addition, there are brushes from the bristle of a fox, a hare (these brushes are made from a special subspecies of a wild hare), a raccoon, from a rat fur, from a mane of a wild horse, from a pile of a camel, an otter, a ferret, a pharaoh mouse, a young seal, sandstone, a Chinese Angqing boar , rabbit, ermine, deer, plant fiber, chicken down, etc.

In Petrikovskaya painting, the masters themselves make brushes from cat fur hairs, the so-called cats. I even found a master class for lovers of experiments.

And here is how the brushes are collected.

While I was writing this post, I thought a lot about the ethics of making natural brushes. It is clear that the technology has been developed over the centuries and often the brushes are made from the waste of fur production, but at the same time it is clear that demand can increase the volume of harvesting. No one will catch animals and cut off the right amount of hair from them from the right places. Therefore, here, as with natural fur coats - beautiful, comfortable, but how humane? I personally switched to synthetics and imitation a long time ago, natural brushes are rather rare, while calmly painting watercolors with synthetics, not shunning the cheapest brushes. I really hope that over time, synthetics will replace natural fibers and they will become more exotic than a necessity.

In order to paint a picture, the artist needs a canvas in a stretcher, as well as paints and brushes. The success of his work largely depends on the quality of the latter, so the choice of such tools must be approached responsibly. To choose the right brushes for painting, you need to consider what paints you have to work with, as well as the possibilities of your budget.

In an effort to choose the right brushes for drawing, you need to know what they are, what brushes are made of and what colors they are intended for. So, for example, to paint with gouache or watercolor, they use squirrels, columns and synthetics. All of them have their own quality characteristics:

• Kolinsky is suitable for all styles of painting, but its price is quite high.
• Squirrel is ideal for watercolors, and synthetics for acrylic painting.
• The pony brush is a good alternative to kolinsky and squirrel brushes.
• A brush made from pig hair is more suitable for oil paints.
• A badger brush is used for soft paints.
• Sable in its quality has the properties of a column and squirrels, but such bristles can be used to write large works and miniatures.
• Synthetics are unsuitable brushes for watercolor, they are more often used for acrylic.

Any brush is made of a handle, a hair bundle and a plinth. The quality of this drawing tool determines whether it will be convenient for the artist to work. In turn, its durability in use depends on the quality of all components of the brush.

To choose the right brush sizes and the tool itself, you need to focus on the following points:

• the material from which the brush is made - it is convenient to use a good quality brush;
• the brush handle should be smooth;
• its length should be user-friendly.

The base of the brush should wrap around the handle as tightly as possible, fixing the hair bundle motionlessly. It should not have a seam so that the tool is comfortable to hold in your hand. The most important part of the product is the hair bundle, which differs in material. Synthetic paint brushes are of poorer quality than natural brushes. Such drawing tools are classified by numbers.

Artists know how to choose brushes and what kinds of brushes are commercially available. The correct choice is also influenced by the size of the brush, as well as by what paints the specialist in artistic creativity plans to paint. One will use thin brushes, another will need a round one.

A brush with good hair has the following qualities:

• her hairs are elastic;
• when wet, they do not lose their shape;
• do not fall out during work;
• the glue with which they are fastened does not go beyond the clip.

All these characteristic features must be paid attention to in order to choose a good brush.

On the video: how to choose the right brushes for painting.

Types of brushes and their purpose

For the right choice of brush, focus on the bristles from which the bundle is assembled. You also need to know which brushes are better to use for watercolors, gouache or oil paints:

• Squirrel wool brushes. Ideal for watercolor painting. Thin and soft brushes allow you to control the fluidity of the paint, so it is convenient to paint over small details of the picture with them. To make a high-quality squirrel hair brush, the bristles are first degreased, sorted by length, unusable hairs are removed and straightened.

• Designed for watercolor paint, the artist can not only use them comfortably, but also save on the price. To choose a brush for children to paint, pay attention to their painting skills.

• Sable wool tassel. It is the most expensive tool used by professional artists. The choice of such brushes makes it possible to draw thin lines, they can be used to paint with gouache and watercolor.

• Pony wool tassels. Quite elastic and soft, suitable for ink drawing. However, for those who are going to paint with gouache, this is also a worthy option. With the help of such bristles it is easy to apply strokes of paint.

• Nylon brushes. Recommended for acrylic paint, they come in different shapes, it all depends on the specifics of the artist's work. A sales assistant at an art supply store will help a beginner make the right choice.

Natural brushes are characterized by the fact that the bundle in them is made of animal hair. Made from natural material, which is much better quality than synthetics, these brushes will last much longer.

Suitable brushes for working with oils

For artists who paint with oil paints, it is recommended to purchase the following brushes:

• bristle, characterized by special elasticity and quickly absorbing paint;
• medium-soft mongoose brushes;
• badger hair brushes that are suitable for mixing oils and acrylics;
• synthetic brush nylon, which is almost as good as natural ones.

Synthetics are inexpensive, so they paint with such brushes at school on landscape paper. Thanks to the light nylon hairs, children can clearly see the shade of paint on the bristles. With a thin brush it is convenient to outline the contours and boundaries between colors, and with a thick one - to paint large areas of the picture.

Paint by number tools

Brushes by numbers are included in the kit, which is sold together with the paints under the numbers. Painting by numbers is a modern art form, when a non-professional artist has a chance to create a canvas of a famous celebrity.

Made from stretchy nylon fiber, numbered brushes are perfect for this kind of art.

To choose good brushes for painting by numbers, you need to consider that they are divided by purpose, quality of hair and their shape. This choice also depends on the paint used by the artist. A nylon (synthetic) brush is perfect for painting with oil paints. Flat brushes are often used in shape, and everyone chooses sizes individually. The artist needs those brushes that seem to be an extension of his hand.

What are the forms of brushes

All brushes for gouache, watercolors and oil paints can also differ in the shape of the bristles:

• Round brushes. These products are suitable for drawing with gouache paint, allowing you to paint over small details of the picture.

• Flat brushes. They are more elastic, therefore they are used for painting areas of paintings with a close-up of the image, for example, earth, sky, grass. Their capsule is compressed at the end, forming a flat bun of hair. Artists use them to sketch urban landscapes. The shape of the brush in its outline resembles a cat's tongue.

• Flute brushes. Their shape is wide enough to apply broad strokes to the canvas. They are used mainly in watercolors, sometimes with oil paints.

• These are round and very long brushes, needed to apply fine lines. They have found their application in graphics.

• In all their indicators, they resemble typefaces, differing only in short hair.

• Fan brushes. They are one of the varieties of flat brushes. They got this name due to their shape in the form of a fan. Their use allows you to soften the color stretching and contrast of the contours.

The final result of the artist's work depends on the correctly chosen tool. But for an experienced painter, such a choice is not a problem. And to purchase all these goods in a specialized store of art goods is not difficult.

Tips from professional artists (2 videos)

Thread tassels are a beautiful decoration that is used in various types of decoration. These are knitted hats and scarves, trim or ropes for curtains, piping for blankets or bedspreads. Tassels decorate the locks of bags and purses, make earrings and beads. The material for manufacturing is also different. These are thin sewing threads, and thick woolen threads for knitting, leather strips and thin twisted ropes. In this article we will look at how to make a brush from threads.

Material for manufacturing

In order to make this decoration, you need to have:

• a spool or skein of thread from which the brush will be wound;
• winding template (made of thick cardboard or you can use a plastic card);

• scissors;
• cotton threads of the same color for tying the bundle;
• awl;
• needle;
• a pot of boiling water or an electric kettle.

Step-by-step instruction

Step #1. You need to take a template, cutting it along the length a little more than necessary for the brush. It should be very dense, not bent, especially if do-it-yourself thread tassels are not made in a single copy. For them to be the same, the template should not be deformed.

Step #2. Next comes the threading process. Here you need to take into account the thickness and splendor of the future product. If you need a thin and flat brush, for example, on a bag, then you need to wind several layers of threads. The more magnificent the brush, the more layers are wound on the template. Moreover, they need to be pulled tight so that the rings do not hang down, but wrap tightly around the cardboard.

Step #3. The most crucial step is the linking of the layers. When the desired thickness is reached, the edge is trimmed with scissors. Either the same thread is taken separately, or a dense cotton thread matched in color (for strength and greater reliability) and for a start a knot is tightened that tightens all layers (anywhere, even in the middle of the cardboard).

Step number 4. Then all layers are removed from the template. The diagram shows how to make a brush out of thread using a needle. For sewing, the main thread is taken, from which the decoration was made. It turns out a dense head through which the ends pass.

Step number 5. The formed brush still looks very untidy, all the threads are crumpled and round. The next step is to align them. This can be done in several ways. You can use an iron, a hair straightener. This article describes the steam leveling method.

Step number 6. To do this, boil a pot or kettle to create steam. The brush is put on an awl or a long knitting needle (so as not to burn yourself with hot air) and hold it over the pan for 5 minutes.

Finishing touch

Now you know how to make a thread tassel. But it is also important and difficult to trim the edges evenly so that all the threads are the same length. There is one method that makes this process much easier and more efficient.

It is necessary, after aligning the threads, to take a thick sheet of paper and roll a brush into it. It remains only with sharp scissors to cut the threads along with the paper.

It turned out an even beautiful brush, which remains only to be sewn to the finished product.

The use of such decorations

Nowadays, decorative elements such as tassels are widely used in various products. Fashion designers have long been decorating the interiors of rooms with curtains with the addition of such elements along the bottom or sides of the curtains. Beautiful ropes with huge bright satin threads adorn the curtain holders.

Often tassels are used by craftswomen when knitting things: hats, berets, shawls, blankets, sweaters, etc.

The latest fashion trends are the making of earrings and other jewelry from tassels, made from bright thin ropes or leather. It is great to do this work yourself at home. To do this, you need to buy shiny thin twisted threads.

Before you make a brush out of thread for earrings, you need to make two identical elements and put them on metal rings that are fixed on the purchased ear hooks. They can be bought at any store that sells this kind of goods. Having learned how to make such gizmos, you can make a number of jewelry for any color of the dress. You can make combined multi-colored brushes by adding threads from different skeins.

How and with what can you draw?

Greetings to all blog readers!

Let's imagine that your child really wants to draw, but the brush has gone somewhere and you can't find it. In this case, you will have to use improvised materials. I hope this article will help to avoid difficulties with the choice of props for young artists. For clarity, my daughter and I made a picture for you using several drawing methods.

Option 1. Draw with a candle. It is not necessary to take a whole candle, you can cut off a small piece (if the candle is in glaze or paint, it needs to be cleaned).

With the wax part, mark the contours of the object or paint over it completely. Paint over the wax and enjoy the magical patterns that the wax reveals.

The darker the paint, the more contrast your drawing will turn out. For application, we took a roller, but the most ordinary brush, a cotton swab, and a sponge will do...

Option 2. Draw with a sponge. Apply a pattern to a slightly damp or completely dry sponge.

turn the sponge over and print your design. This method is perfect for "copying" the desired elements. The contours can be circled with a pencil or the same paint to make the picture clearer.

A sponge can be perfectly replaced by a potato cut in half or an apple.

Option 3. Draw with cotton swabs. In addition to the fact that they can completely replace the brush, there is another great way to draw - with dots. This option is perfect for both kids, due to its simplicity, and older children who want to diversify their drawings. Dip it in paint, put an end to it - the scheme is extremely simple, and the result is very nice.

Option 4 and 5. Draw with mom's makeup! This method is perhaps the most pleasant. Ideal, of course, for girls, but it will be no less interesting for boys. Cosmetics are not the best quality for this. Maybe even expired. The one that just got tired did not fit and will no longer be used. So far we have only painted with ink and shadows.

The mascara can be slightly moistened with water if it is too dry. Shadows, by the way, too, this will make the color more saturated and clearer, but it will be difficult to shade it.

It is convenient to apply shadows on paper directly with your fingers, although, perhaps, the child will want to use the applicator (like a mother). The effect, of course, will be different, but both methods are worth trying.

And what and how do you and your children like to draw? Share, tell us, we will be happy to try your options for ourselves