I can't believe that Christmas went by in a flash of fairy lights and already it is time to get back to work!
Over the Christmas break I have been working on lots of lovely new ideas for 2022 painting projects ~
so I hope you're well rested and your paintbrushes are at the ready!
This term we will be starting off with a beautiful tiger painting and looking at creating a realistic portrait. To help us we are really going to get to know our furry friend by looking closely at how his fur changes as it moves across his face. You will learn how to create that soft, velvet short fur on his nose and forehead aswell as the beautiful long fluffy fur of his ruff and chest.
We will use a Liner Writer brush or Rigger to help us achieve the fine details.
Did you know that using the right brush for the right job will certainly help you to become a better painter and make your painting life easier!
Take a look at the three brushes here. They are all size 2 round brushes but they all have a different job! It doesn't mean to say that you can't use just the one brush for all the jobs ~ but having a choice can make all the difference. The size 2 round brush on the left has a short handle and short bristles - this makes it good for adding detail and tiny touches to a painting. The one in the centre is the Liner Writer and the one I will be using to add the fur detail in this painting. Again it is a size 2 round brush and has a short handle. You will notice that the bristles however are longer than those of the one on the left. These longer bristles give your brush more flexibility which means you can have a lighter touch when it comes to adding longer strokes (such as the long fine hairs of our tiger). I find the LIner Writer gives me the best of both worlds ~ flexibility and control! Lastly the brush on the right is a Rigger. It is said that this brush was created to allow maritime painters to recreate the delicate rigging on ships! Again it is a Size 2 round brush but notice the bristles are longer still than those of the Liner Writer (so it allows you to make a longer stroke as it will hold more paint). The handle you will notice is also longer. The bristle length will give you lovely long delicate strokes but I find the length of handle gives me slightly less control ~ so great if you want a natural looking line for branches on trees or long wispy lines. Which one will you choose?
The brushes shown here are from the SAA and are from their Silver range which means they are synthetic. This makes them pretty affordable ~ so if you didn't get what you wanted for Christmas why not give yourself a new year treat instead!
So, now you know a bit more about brushes ~ let's get painting!