Hi and welcome back to one of our great articles about oil painting for the beginner.
When selecting your brushes there are more varieties than just the materials that they are made out of.
We have already covered synthetic brushes, china bristle brushes, and sable brushes.
Hopefully by now you know that you should avoid the sable brushes as a beginner due to their cost.
With that in mind there are two critical factors that you should know when selecting your brushes.
These two critical factors are the shape of the brush and the size of the brush.
The different shapes will allow you to load paint onto the brush and apply in very specific ways.
You will want to choose the size of your brush accordingly with the size of your painting.
Below I will list it in a variety of brush shapes that will be most useful to you as a beginning painter.
Flat: this type of brush has a very clean and straight edge.
It is used for applying color very evenly to an area.
Bright: the bright blush is similar to a flat brush.
However it has shorter bristles and makes for a very distinct calligraphic mark.
Round: you will generally use a round brush when doing any kind of drawing were trying to create any type of line.
Filbert: A filbert brush is a very interestingly shaped brush.
You could imagine it as an almond shaped brush if you will.
They are known for making an ovalish mark.
If it helps you to think of it this way, it's as if you combined a round and a flat brush together.
These four basic brush shapes are all you will need as a beginner in the oil painting hobby.
As said above.
all you need is a good quality low-cost synthetic brush or china bristle brush.