What material are brushes made out of?

Brush for painting

Paintbrush

Paintbrushes

ClassificationBrushUsesPainting

A paintbrush is a brush used to apply paint or ink. A paintbrush is usually made by clamping bristles to a handle with a ferrule. They are available in various sizes, shapes, and materials. Thicker ones are used for filling in, and thinner ones are used for details. They may be subdivided into decorators' brushes used for painting and decorating and artists' brushes use for visual art.

History

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Paintbrushes were used by man as early as the Paleolithic era in around 2.5 million years ago in order to apply pigment.[1]

Old painting kits, estimated to be around 100,000 years old, were discovered in a cave in what is now modern South Africa.[2]

Ancient Egyptian paintbrushes were made of split palm leaves and used by ancestors to beautify their surroundings. The oldest brushes ever found were also made of animal hair.

Parts

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Brush parts

• Bristles: Transfer paint onto the substrate surface
• Ferrule: Retains the bristles and attaches them to the handle
• Handle: The intended interface between the user and the tool[3]

Trade

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Brushes for use in non-artistic trade painting are geared to applying an even coat of paint to relatively large areas. Following are the globally recognized handles of trade painter's brushes:[4]

• Gourd handle: Ergonomic design that reduces stress on the wrist and hand whilst painting.
• Short handle: The shorter handle provides greater precision when painting small spaces such as corners, trims & detail areas.
• Flat beavertail handle: This shape is rounded and slightly flattened to fit perfectly into the palm of the hand whilst painting.
• Square handle: Square shaped handle with bevelled corners is featured mainly in trim or sash brushes and is comfortable to hold when painting.
• Rat tail handle: This handle is longer & thinner than the standard making it easy to hold to give greater control.
• Long handle: Rounded and thin, a long handle is easy to hold like a pencil giving great control & precision when cutting in & painting tricky spaces.

Brush handle styles

Decorating

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Decorators' brushes

The sizes of brushes used for painting and decorating.

Decorating sizes

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Decorators' brush sizes are given in millimeters (mm) or inches (in), which refers to the width of the head. Common sizes are:

• Metric (mm): 10 • 20 • 40 • 50 • 60 • 70 • 80 • 90 • 100.
• Customary (inches):

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Decorating shapes

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• Angled: For painting edges, bristle length viewed from the wide face of the brush uniformly decrease from one end of the brush to the other
• Flat: For painting flat surfaces, bristle length viewed from the wide face of the brush does not change
• Tapered: Improves control, the bristle length viewed from the narrow face of the brush is longer in the center and tapers toward the edges
• Striker: Large round (cylindrical) brush for exterior painting difficult areas

Decorating bristles

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Bristles may be natural or synthetic. If the filaments are synthetic, they may be made of polyester, nylon or a blend of nylon and polyester. Filaments can be hollow or solid and can be tapered or untapered. Brushes with tapered filaments give a smoother finish.

Synthetic filaments last longer than natural bristles. Natural bristles are preferred for oil-based paints and varnishes, while synthetic brushes are better for water-based paints as the bristles do not expand when wetted.

A decorator judges the quality of a brush based on several factors: filament retention, paint pickup, steadiness of paint release, brush marks, drag and precision painting. A chiseled brush permits the painter to cut into tighter corners and paint more precisely.

Brush handles may be made of wood or plastic while ferrules are metal (usually nickel-plated steel).

Art

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Short handled brushes are usually used for flat or slightly tilted work surfaces such as watercolor painting and ink painting, while long handled brushes are held horizontally while working on a vertical canvas such as for oil paint or acrylic paint.[5]: 51 

Art shapes

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The styles of brush tip seen most commonly are:[6][3][5]: 52–59 

• Round: pointed tip, long closely arranged bristles for detail.
• Flat: for spreading paint quickly and evenly over a surface. They will have longer hairs than their Bright counterpart.
• Bright: shorter than flats. Flat brushes with short stiff bristles, good for driving paint into the weave of a canvas in thinner paint applications, as well as thicker painting styles like impasto work.
• Filbert: flat brushes with domed ends. They allow good coverage and the ability to perform some detail work.
• Fan: for blending broad areas of paint.
• Angle: like the filbert, these are versatile and can be applied in both general painting application as well as some detail work.
• Mop: a larger format brush with a rounded edge for broad soft paint application as well as for getting thinner glazes over existing drying layers of paint without damaging lower layers to protect the paintbrush
• Rigger: round brushes with longish hairs, traditionally used for painting the rigging in pictures of ships. They are useful for fine lines and are versatile for both oils and watercolors.
• Stippler and deer-foot stippler: short, stubby rounds
• Liner: elongated rounds
• Dagger: looks like angle with longish hairs, used for one stroke painting like painting long leaves.
• Scripts: highly elongated rounds
• Egbert: a filbert with extra long hair, used for oil painting

Types of brushes Brushes used in one stroke painting

Some other styles of brush include:

• Sumi: Similar in style to certain watercolor brushes, also with a generally thick wooden or metal handle and a broad soft hair brush that when wetted should form a fine tip. Also spelled Sumi-e (墨絵, Ink wash painting).
• Hake (刷毛): An Asian style of brush with a large broad wooden handle and an extremely fine soft hair used in counterpoint to traditional Sumi brushes for covering large areas. Often made of goat hair.
• Spotter: Round brushes with just a few short bristles. These brushes are commonly used in spotting photographic prints.
• Stencil: A round brush with a flat top used on stencils to ensure the bristles don't get underneath. Also used to create texture.

Art sizes

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Artists' brushes are usually given numbered sizes, although there is no exact standard for their physical dimensions. From smallest to largest, the sizes are: 20/0, 12/0, 10/0, 7/0, 6/0, 5/0, 4/0 (also written 0000), 000, 00, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30, 2 inch, 4 inch, 6 inch, and 8 inch. Brushes as fine as 30/0 are manufactured by major companies, but are not a common size. Sizes 000 to 20 are most common.[3][5]: 51 

Art bristles

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Closeup of an oil paintbrush

Bristles may be natural—either soft hair or hog bristle—or synthetic.[5]: 50  Types include:

• watercolor brushes which are usually made of sable, synthetic sable or nylon;
• oil painting brushes which are usually made of sable or bristle;
• acrylic brushes which are almost entirely nylon or synthetic.

Turpentine or thinners used in oil painting can destroy some types of synthetic brushes. However, innovations in synthetic bristle technology have produced solvent resistant synthetic bristles suitable for use in all media. Natural hair, squirrel, badger or sable are used by watercolorists due to their superior ability to absorb and hold water.

Soft hair brushes

The best of these are made from kolinsky sable, other red sables, or miniver (Russian squirrel winter coat; tail) hair. Sabeline is ox hair dyed red to look like red sable and sometimes blended with it. Camel hair is a generic term for a cheaper and lower quality alternative, usually ox. It can be other species, or a blend of species, but never includes camel. Pony, goat, mongoose and badger hair are also used.

Hog bristle

Often called China bristle or Chungking bristle. This is stiffer and stronger than soft hair. It may be bleached or unbleached.

Synthetic bristles

These are made of special multi-diameter extruded nylon filament, Taklon or polyester. These are becoming ever more popular with the development of new water based paints.

Art handles

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Artists' brush handles are commonly wooden but can also be made of molded plastic. Many mass-produced handles are made of unfinished raw wood; better quality handles are of seasoned hardwood. The wood is sealed and lacquered to give the handle a high-gloss, waterproof finish that reduces soiling and swelling. Many brush companies offer long or short brush handle sizes.

Metal ferrules may be of aluminum, nickel, copper, or nickel-plated steel. Quill ferrules are also found: these give a different "feel" to the brush, and are staple of French-style aquarel wash brushes.

References

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Brushes can vary widely in function and quality depending on the materials used. With natural hair brushes, the characteristics can differ depending on the hair material. 

Detailed below are the most common types of hair used to make Hakuhodo brushes.

It is important to make the most of each hair-type when you use a makeup brush. Therefore we recommend choosing according to your application style, preferences, and what kind of makeup you use most often.

Goat

Soft, resilient and durable, goat hair is ideal for every skill level. Brushes made from this hair pick up a moderate amount of product for good color payoff and it is good at blending.

It is multi-purpose and can be used in brushes for every makeup function.

Blue Squirrel

Ultra-soft, fine and thin at the hair tip, this hair makes for smooth, luxurious feeling brushes with a superior texture.
Though soft, it offers good control and can be used for any type of brush (finishing, powder, blush, highlighter, eye shadow, etc).
Brushes made from this material are buildable in nature and is best used for sheer, natural makeup looks. When blue squirrel is blended with goat, the resulting brush will apply product with more intensity.

Kazan Squirrel

Very rare and of high value, Kazan squirrel hair is similar to blue squirrel but even softer and finer in texture. Round e

ye shadow and highlighter brushes made of this hair offer easy control.

Pine Squirrel

Pine squirrel hair is soft and thin at the hair tip but has a less uniform body. Thus it is usually found in smaller brushes such as eye shadow brushes and is i

deal for smudging eye color. High-quality, carefully-selected hairs are used in larger brushes designed for blusher and highlighter.

Canadian Squirrel

Canadian squirrel hair is soft and thin at the hair tip. 

Since it is typically shorter than blue squirrel hair, its usages are often limited to smaller brushes such as for eye shadow or highlighting. Selected longer bristles may be used for blusher brushes.

Although very rare and expensive, it is highly prized by makeup artists and makeup enthusiasts due to its uniform body and controllability.

Horse

Horse hair is one of the most common hairs used in the production of makeup brushes.

It is often combined with other softer, more supple hairs to enhance resilience and durability. Blending with other materials also results in a softer brush with excellent functionality.

When used consistently and cared for correctly, a brush made of horse hair will gradually become easier to use and lasts a very long time.

Horse bristle brushes are ideal for blusher and eye shadow brushes due to it's great blendability and great color payoff. Hairs from the mane and tail are more resilient and used primarily for making brow brushes.

Water Badger

Water badger hair is rather thick and resilient at the root but tapers toward the tip. Thus it is strong and resilient, yet gentle on the skin. Ideal for eyebrow brushes.

Synthetic fiber

It can be used with all types of product - liquid or cream based makeup and even powder. It  primarily designed for use with cream or liquid products for concealer, lips or cheeks.
Synthetic fiber produces great color payoff with "wet" products, but it does not pick up powder as efficiently as natural hairs. Thus, it is ideal for achieving a natural and sheer look when used with powder formulations.
It is often blended with natural hair to help maintain the brush shape and stabilize quality.