Art History - Brushes: What you need to know, and probably never knew you did.

In my day to day work I use various types of tools, and the wonder of living in this modern age of international commerce and markets is that we, as artists, have a wide spectrum of tools that we can find in our local art and hobby stores to online and to our homes in a matter of days.

For a great number of us, we all have had some experience with brushes of all makes and models. Glazing, calligraphic work, illustrating, painting, cleaning, lifting pigments,... the list goes on and on as to what brushes do for your average artist.

But where did this tool come from? What goes into it's manufacturing? How does it affect the art world and beyond?

Origin & History

 

The recorded history of the modern brush and it's usage in painting can be sourced to around 5000 B.C.. But the form of brush usage as we know it today began to really take shape during the Imperial Han Dynasty ( 汉朝 206 BC – 220 AD -- this is also the period of the oldest ink brush found), because of the invention of paper.

In this era of history, brushes generally are made from animal hair,  the handles constructed from bamboo, sandalwood, jade, bone, ivory, or in special and rare occasions,... the first hair taken from a baby's head because it was said to bring luck.

The four "treasures" or "jewels" of the study: Brush, Ink, Paper, Inkstone.

Today

 

In today's times, brushes come in wild variants from natural fur and bristle to nylon and other man made materials. The basic concept and build of a brush is still for the most part the same as it has been since the Han Dynasty.

Generally it consists of a handle or block to which filaments are affixed either parallel- or perpendicular-wise, depending on the way the brush is to be gripped during use. The material of both the block and filaments, is chosen to withstand mediums used, application techniques, or in some cases are decorated quite profoundly and so are just as much a work of art in and of themselves.

Now I myself currently and only use non natural bristle brushes with acrylic handles. I'm not a big fan of wood handled brushes (bamboo being an exception as that is actually a grass and far faster in the renewable resource area), and I'm not exactly down with the fact that sable brushes come from weasels (which are one step from ferrets really). Years ago when I was still in art school, I did buy brushes and was largely ignorant of how and what they were made of. I mean you hear the term "sable" brush and you don't think of this little guy having to give up the ghost to provide you with your art fill.

This is where your sable brushes come from. These guys are in the same family as the ferret, the raccoon, and the otter as well as a few others. I owned ten ferrets, TEN of the loveable little fellows, and work endlessly to reintroduce the Black Footed Ferret back into the wild. After all that, I promised myself I would educate people to the truth behind "sable" brushes. At least so they could make an educated decision.

So aside from the fellow above, goat hair, squirrel hair, horse hair and in some import brushes from Korea and China... dog hair, are the sort of brush types out there readily available.

Now, there are many ethical aspects to using animal based products, especially since we don't have to go all upper crust with a "Kolinsky" sable watercolor brush (those are the ones by the art supply company Winsor & Newton, that were first made for Queen Victoria in 1866), because a lot of synthetic materials do exist that are just as good if not more durable and reliable.

That said, since nylon is a petroleum based product, as are the plastic handles that many brushes have, the argument for the biodegradable aspect of the former is a strong one, as adding to landfills is never a great thing.

But to counterpoint this, plenty of modern day plastic companies have the science and r&d assets to push biodegradable plastics into production.

The Future

 

With the advent of the digital age, pens and pencils made way for the interactive pen tools of the Wacom and Cintiq tablets. And although no brush like tool has come forward for those two platforms, there is one that came forward for working on touch screen tablets like what you would find on the iPad and Android platforms. The Nomad is currently the only capacitive touch brush tool I am aware of, and it works pretty well to emulate to the best of it's ability what it would be like to work with any standard sized brush.

Dual sided, with replaceable nibs and brush ends, the Nomad was ushered in to provide a capacitive touch tool for use on touchscreens.

It' a light and very portable companion for anyone that works on a tablet and is tired of getting one's fingerprints all over the screen. Now, from personal experience, capacitive touch screens in general are nowhere as accurate as what Wacom and Cintiq have the ability to be. That's more an issue of the platform technology than anything having to do with the input devices directly.

Final Thoughts

Brushes are incredibly useful art tools, and the best ones function as an extension of the mind and hands of the artists that wield them. I can't really say for anyone but myself what sort of brushes will work best for whatever sort of work you are trying to accomplish. There are too many materials, sizes, shapes, and overall differences between brushes, even when any two that might be manufactured to be the same make and model... just pick them up, and most of the time, one will sing out to you as just having that right heft or lightness, the right flow in your hand, or it just looks like a quality brush.

I've only applied the first coat of knowledge on a wide world of facts and lineage of works that have come from the tip of a brush. Take that, and until next time, support your local artists, be kind to your fellow beings, and I'll see you next time.

- the Artisan Rogue