To you artists out there – how long do your brushes last?

I’ve had varying success with all sorts of brands. Most of the cheap bristle brushes the nice art store lady picked out for me before my first community center oil painting class are still in great shape, yet I spend good money on supposedly good brushes and they die quick, painful deaths.

Example 1: Blick Masterstroke Finest Red Sable, bright, size 4 to be exact. Brand-spanking new on the left, gently* used on the right.

* it’s a soft brush so I try not to scrub too vigorously with it, but then again I tend to get carried away while painting, and wake up in a daze with a finished painting in front of me. So.

I know a lot of brushes get shorter with use, so I wouldn’t consider the brush dead just for that. But if you look closely, you notice that the hairs no longer fill the entire width of the ferrule. I noticed this because all of a sudden this favored brush of mine started leaving hairs all over paintings and my brush cleaning cake. This brush wasn’t really expensive, but it wasn’t a cheapy or student grade – it says Master and Finest on the handle! Marketing, grrr. So I had to toss it.

Example 2: Winsor & Newton Artists’ Water Colour Sable, 2 round. Sable can mean anything nowadays, but this one is actually Kolinsky, and not inexpensive. I used this nicely shaped round once or twice and now it’s so frayed I can’t use it for anything except clumsy blending. Kolinsky is supposed to be the best. What the hell, man?

Example 3: Isabey cat’s tongue size 4. Lovely brush, great handling. Problem – it’s not crimped. It’s brand new (and it was expensive), but I can pull the ferrule off the handle with ease. It was glued but that didn’t hold it. Anyone else have issues with Isabey brushes?

I’ve had some other brushes deconstruct, but they were cheapies. More surprisingly, I’ve had plenty of cheapo brushes hold up to much worse torment and keep on kicking. Price doesn’t mean everything, name doesn’t mean everything, and that is totally frustrating. The best luck I’ve had with brushes is those brands recommended to me by experienced artists. So – here’s my list for you!

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