Portrait Artist Forum - View Single Post

Jeff Fuchs · 12-15-2005, 08:52 AM

This is a good topic of conversation for me at this time. I have a few brushes in my DickBlick.com shopping cart, and I'm making changes to my selections daily (through the SOG link, of course).

My education these days is coming from art videos, so I'll give you the opinions of the two artists I've watched.

Morgan Weistling uses Langnickel sable filberts. He does not use bristle brushes at all. His brushes are surprisingly small. Even when painting the underpainting of the face, he's working minutely, dabbing tiny spots of color around the eyes, and only slightly larger ones on the larger masses. He paints "tiles of color" instead of blending. These tiles gradually come together to create a beautiful form.

Scott Burdick works much differently. It seems he breaks all of Weistling's rules. He uses mostly bristle brushes to start a face, and they're very large. He scrubs in the large masses of the face, and later refines them with smaller badger brushes.

So, as you can see, your choice of brushes apparently depends on your method of painting. If these two artists had to trade brushes, they would both have a very difficult time.

I don't have a painting style yet, so I'm not sure what to buy. I'm leaning toward bristles, which is good, if for no other reason than because they don't cost much, and if I find I need to switch to sables I won't lose too much moola.

EDIT: The Burton Silverman video is on its way, so I may see yet another radically different opinion on the matter.

12-15-2005, 08:52 AM	#4
Jeff Fuchs Juried Member Guy who can draw a little Joined: Dec 2002 Location: New Iberia, LA Posts: 546	This is a good topic of conversation for me at this time. I have a few brushes in my DickBlick.com shopping cart, and I'm making changes to my selections daily (through the SOG link, of course). My education these days is coming from art videos, so I'll give you the opinions of the two artists I've watched. Morgan Weistling uses Langnickel sable filberts. He does not use bristle brushes at all. His brushes are surprisingly small. Even when painting the underpainting of the face, he's working minutely, dabbing tiny spots of color around the eyes, and only slightly larger ones on the larger masses. He paints "tiles of color" instead of blending. These tiles gradually come together to create a beautiful form. Scott Burdick works much differently. It seems he breaks all of Weistling's rules. He uses mostly bristle brushes to start a face, and they're very large. He scrubs in the large masses of the face, and later refines them with smaller badger brushes. So, as you can see, your choice of brushes apparently depends on your method of painting. If these two artists had to trade brushes, they would both have a very difficult time. I don't have a painting style yet, so I'm not sure what to buy. I'm leaning toward bristles, which is good, if for no other reason than because they don't cost much, and if I find I need to switch to sables I won't lose too much moola. EDIT: The Burton Silverman video is on its way, so I may see yet another radically different opinion on the matter.