The Brush - An important tool.
Brushes are one of the most important tools for an artist. By using a proper brush, it is much simpler to transfer the artists' ideas into an expressive and individualized painting. For this reason, SCHOENFELD, together with one of the best brush manufacturers from Bechhofen (a little town close to Nürnberg known as the cradle of German brush manufacturing) has developed a line that in terms of quality, price and performance is unsurpassable.
This line consists of more than 40 different assortments - from the finest quality master brush made of the longest, most elastic hair from the back of a Kolinsky Red Sable to professional quality brushes made of special nylon fibre mixtures, to very inexpensive school brushes. The special thing about the LUKAS artist brush line is not just the quality, price and performance, but also the adjustment between brush and colour quality levels. Uniting a LUKAS professional quality brush and LUKAS professional colour is always the appropriate choice.
Why should I buy a LUKAS brush ?
LUKAS guarantees a quality product at a reasonable price. This is the main objective throughout the LUKAS program. In cooperation with our brush manufacturer, whose company is located in Bechhofen, a small town near Nürnberg, we follow this guideline 100%. (A prime example of our cost saving measures is that our manufacturer does not employ a sales force, nor do they deal with wholesale logistics. Therefore, buying from us is like buying direct from the manufacturer.)
What is relevant when choosing a brush ?
Here are the answers to three basic questions, that aids you choosing the correct brush :
1) What is the colour consistency ?
The answer to this question gives the right type of hair :
- If the colour is liquid, for example gouache, water colour or thinned oil, or acrylic colour you need a brush that serves like a sponge, drawing as much colour as possible into the hair and distributes it slowly and evenly onto the painting surface. In this case you need :
- Red Sable Kolinsky Hair (Master Quality).
- Golden Taklon-Fibre (Professional Quality).
- Ponex or Ox Hair (Student Quality).
- If the colours consistency is very thick, as classic oil colours or acrylics you need hair that serves like a paint scraper, strong and elastic in order to drive the colour over the painting ground. In this case we recommend :
- CHUNGKING-Pig Bristle (Master Quality).
- Dark red TAKLON-Fibres (Professional Quality).
- GOLDTORAY (Student Quality).
2) What effect am I looking for ?
By answering this question you will find the proper brush shape. It is important to think about the trace the colour should show on the paper and get from the picture.
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Round
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Script Line
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Bright
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Filbert
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Angle Shader
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Fan
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3) How do I want to work ?
Vertical on an easel, or horizontal on a table ? Your answer will give you the length of the handle :
- If you work on an easel (oil/acrylic painting) and want to keep some distance between you and the painting surface, you should choose a long handle.
- For working on a table (water colour, gouache) a short handle is easier to handle and therefore preferable.
What is the difference between a master quality brush and a student quality ?
Is this difference really important for the painter ? Our answer would be yes. The difference is relevant. Of course, it depends on the painting technique you apply, but everybody who works hard on fine structures, will soon see the differences between a handformed split-proof ultra-fine point and a standard brush point. Also, a hair that keeps a lot of colour to draw long lines without interruption has advantages. And this combination unfortunately requires very expensive hair (as a Red Sable KOLINSKY) that cost much more per kilo than gold or platinum, and requires special craftsmanship to bind.
Copyright © LUKAS 2012