Hands On Crafts for Kids

Painting Basics - Choosing a Brush
By Prudy Vannier
1003-4

Brushes! Today there is a brush for every medium and effect imaginable.

Oil painters use a stiff brush in order to move the heavy oil paint on a canvas, which is the most common surface.

Fabric painters also use a stiff brush to grind the paint into the rough texture of the textile.

Watercolorists use a very soft brush to hold the water and diluted paint, and to apply it to watercolor paper.

Acrylic painters use primarily semi-soft synthetic brushes. There is a huge variety of brushes, each with its own job.

An edge can be embellished with a little stroke design using a round brush.
A dark blue shadow can be painted with a wide flat brush.
A furry cap can be created with a brush called a deerfoot. You get the fur look by pouncing the brush when applying the paint.
The lines are done with a liner brush.
The snowy spatters can be created with a fan brush loaded with diluted paint then tapped with another brush to make the specks.

There are special effect faux finish brushes. A long-bristled one is actually hit on the surface for a soft lined effect. One with the wavy bristles softly enhances wood grain.

There is even a line of special children’s brushes with colored handles that tell the kind of brush and their functions.