Camel Paint Brush



Brush Hair Types

These free charts describe the different brush shapes and hair types, and Blick's system of standard brush sizing and measurement.

Brush

Camel Brushes; Ceramic Brushes; Easel Brushes. Painting; Brushes; Camel Brushes; Camel Brushes. View as Grid List. Items 1-20 of 31. You're currently. Our economical camel hair touch-up brushes are popular in many industrial applications such as circuit board touch up, gluing, or paint touch-up A favorite with schools because of its combination of good quality and low price Features a seamed aluminum ferrule and black handle Discount Per Size: 3 Dozen-10%, 6 Dozen-15%, 12 Dozen-20%.


DESCRIPTION AND USAGE

For blending oil paint on canvas, Badger Hair is an age-old tradtion. It comes from various parts of the world and is more readily available than most animal hair, although the quality varies greatly. Badger hair is thickest at the point, and relatively thin at the root, so it has a distinctive 'bushy' appearance.

MEDIA

oil

DESCRIPTION AND USAGE

Camel Hair does not come from camels at all. It is found in watercolor and lettering brushes and usually is made of squirrel, goat, ox, pony or a blend of several hairs, depending on the desired softness and intended cost of the brush.

MEDIA

lettering
tempera
watercolor

DESCRIPTION AND USAGE

Hog Bristle is obtained from hogs in several parts of the world, the most sought after coming from China. Bristle is unlike any other natural filler in that it forms a V-shaped split or 'flag' at the tip and tends to have a natural curve. A brush with 'interlocked' bristles, with the curves formed inward to the ferrule, has a natural resistance to fraying and spreads medium to thick paints smoothly and evenly. A selection of pure hog bristle brushes is recommended for oil and acrylic painting, and is a far less expensive alternative to good-quality softer hairs.

MEDIA

acrylic
oil

DESCRIPTION AND USAGE

Kevrin/Mongoose Hair is strong, resilient, and makes a good long-wearing, medium to professional quality brush for oil and acrylic painting.

MEDIA

acrylic
oil

DESCRIPTION AND USAGE

Kolinsky Sable is not really from a sable at all, but comes from the tail of a species of mink that is a member of the weasel family found in Siberia and northeastern China. It is generally conceded to be the best material for oil and watercolor brushes due to its strength, spring and ability to retain its shape ('snap'). It holds a very fine point or edge. This is considered a professional grade of hair, and if properly cared for, Kolinsky will last for many years.

MEDIA

oil
watercolor

DESCRIPTION AND USAGE

The best quality comes from the ears of cattle or oxen. The Ox Hair has a very strong body with silken texture, is very resilient, has good 'snap', but lacks a fine tip. Therefore, it is most useful in medium gradewash brushes, or flat shaped brushes. Frequently, ox hair is blended with other natural hair to increase the resiliency of a brush.

MEDIA

lettering
watercolor

DESCRIPTION AND USAGE

Pony Hair is soft but strong, from mature animals at least 2 years of age. It is primarily used for scholastic grade brushes, but often blended with other hairs for inexpensive watercolor and touch-up brushes.

MEDIA

acrylic
scholastic
tempera
watercolor

DESCRIPTION AND USAGE

Red Sable is obtained from any member of the weasel family with 'red' hair, not at all from the animal known as the sable. It is found in a variety of brush styles for many varied mediums, with quality and characteristics varying greatly. A good quality pure Red Sable is a good alternative to the more expensive Kolinsky, with similar performance and durability. Often, weasel hair is blended with ox hair to make a more economical brush, but the fine point is sacrificed.

MEDIA

oil
watercolor

DESCRIPTION AND USAGE

Sabeline is actually select, light-colored ox hair dyed to resembled red sable. Lettering and watercolor brushes often use Sabeline mixed with Sable to lower the cost of a brush.

MEDIA

lettering
watercolor

DESCRIPTION AND USAGE

Gray Squirrel (Talayoutky), most highly in demand for lettering brushes and quills, is native to Russia and nearly always fell in short supply. Brown squirrel (Kazan) is more readily available, and is used mainly for medium quality and scholastic watercolor brushes. A very fine, thin hair, taken from squirrel tails, it points as well as Kolinsky, but has very little 'snap' because the hair is not very resilient. It works best with liquid paints and inks.

MEDIA

lettering
watercolor

DESCRIPTION AND USAGE

Synthetics are man-made of either nylon or polyester filaments. They can be tapered, tipped, flagged, abraded or etched to increase color carrying ability. Often, synthetic filaments are dyed and baked to make them softer and more absorbent. The common name for this filament is 'Taklon'. Advantages of synthetic brushes are: 1) They are less prone to damage from solvents, insects or paints. 2) They are easier to keep clean than animal hair brushes because the filaments don't have animal scale structures to trap paint. 3) They are less prone to breakage and are durable on many different surfaces. 4) They are better suited for painting with acrylics because a synthetic filament will withstand the caustic nature of acrylic paints with less damage.

MEDIA

all

Camel-hair brushes in a 1914 art supplies catalogue

A camel-hair brush is a type of paintbrush with soft bristles made from natural hairs, usually squirrel. Camel hair is not a suitable material, although historically camel was used for ancient Chinese ink brushes (and for camel hair cloth). It is a widely used brush in art, but is considered inferior to the more expensive sable and ox-hair brushes. In some niche applications, such as pinstriping, camel hair is an ideal brush. Camel-hair brushes have numerous uses outside of art, particularly dusting where a soft brush is needed for delicate objects or skin.

Construction and properties[edit]

The bristles of camel-hair brushes are traditionally made of squirrel hair and this is still the most common material.[1] They can also be made from goat, ox or pony or a blend of any of these.[2] They are never made from camel hair, either in whole or in part.[3]

Camel-hair brushes are a soft brush. They are a considerably cheaper alternative to the expensive kolinsky sable-hair brush (a red sable), considered the best brush for watercolour painting. However, they are inferior in that they lack the springiness and natural point of red sable.[1]

Cheaper camel-hair brushes, such as those supplied to schools, are usually mass-produced from pony hair cut from the mane. Pony is used because the long mane hairs can be cut up by machine to make many brushes simultaneously. However, the cut ends are not so good at coming to a point as the natural tips.[4]

Paint

History[edit]

Camel-hair brushes with fine points for tracing, from a 1914 art supplies catalogue

There is an often repeated urban legend that camel-hair brushes are so named because they were invented by a 'Mr. Camel'. This is almost certainly not true. This person, or his company, has never been identified. The story is very old, at least as far back as 1922 when it was mentioned in Marvels of the Animal World.[5] The alternative explanation that brushes were once actually made of camel hair is true, but these would be a very different brush and would not be considered a camel-hair brush in modern terminology. Camel hair is wooly, making it unsuitable for the uses to which camel-hair brushes are put.[6][7]

Camel Paint Brush

In 250 BC, the Chinese general Meng Tian invented the ink brush. Meng Tian is perhaps better known for supervising the construction of the Great Wall of China. Meng Tian's brush consisted of actual camel hair, or sometimes rabbit hair, lashed to a wooden handle with twine. This brush was a great step forward in writing. Writing became much easier and the spread of calligraphy in China created the need for a cheaper and more plentiful medium to write on. This came in 105 AD with the invention of paper which in turn paved the way for the invention of printing.[8]

CamelPaint

Applications[edit]

Camel-hair dusters from an 1894 art supplies catalogue

Camel Paint Brush Series 56

Camel-hair brushes can be used for watercolour painting but are not the best choice.[9] They are poor where good points are required, and do not hold their shape well when in contact with water. They are, however, good for large flat brushes when broad areas are being painted.[1][10]

Camel-hair brushes are used in signwriting. They are problematic with watercolours as already stated. They also do not perform well with heavy paints, especially the formerly widely used white lead based paints. The weight of the paint tends to make the brush collapse.[10]

Pinstriping is the application of thin decorative lines to an object. This can range from simple coachlines down the side of motor cars, to elaborate decoration of furniture. Pinstriping brushes are traditionally camel-hair brushes. These are sometimes called striping pencils and are small brushes with very long bristles. The idea of the length is to hold a greater amount of paint so that very long lines can be painted in one stroke. Pinstripers originally made their own brushes (and sometimes still do) from the bristles of a larger camel-hair brush, but dedicated brushes are now available. One of the earliest such brushes was designed by Andrew Mack in 1891, a carriage striper for the J.J. Deal wagon and buggy company in Jonesville, Michigan. Mack was dissatisfied with the brushes supplied by the Deal company and made his own. These became so popular with other pinstripers around the country that he left Deal to set up his own company, the Mack Brush Company, which still makes highly regarded pinstriping brushes in Michigan.[7][11]

Woodworking has many uses for camel-hair brushes. As with watercolouring, fine work is better done with a sable brush but camel-hair can be used for applying finishes. Camel hair is also less effective at working into corners or to a line because of the poorer point (or edge) on the tip.[12]

The brushes barbers use to remove the loose hairs from the back of the customer's neck can be camel hair.[13] They are also the preferred brushes for surgeons, dentists, and jewellers.[14] Their soft bristles make them ideal for cleaning dust from delicate equipment or materials, such as film or stills cameras.[15]

References[edit]

Camel Hair Paint Brushes

  1. ^ abcChuck Long, Watercolor Success!: 52 Essential Lessons for Creating Great Paintings, p. 14, North Light Books, 2005 ISBN1581805535.
  2. ^Brush Hair Types, Dick Blick Art Materials, accessed and archived 1 November 2015.
  3. ^Helen D. Hume, The Art Teacher's Book of Lists, 6.2.3 'Brushes', John Wiley & Sons, 2010 ISBN0470877820.
  4. ^Choosing the Proper Brush, Rex Art, accessed and archived 1 November 2015
  5. ^Walter Sydney Berridge, Marvels of the Animal World, p. 147, Boston: Small, Maynard & Co., 1922 OCLC266325
  6. ^Robert Anwood, Bears Can't Run Downhill: And 200 Other Dubious Pub Facts Explained, p. 134, Random House, 2006 ISBN0091912555
  7. ^ abAlan Johnson, How to Pinstripe, p. 20, MotorBooks International ISBN1616730544
  8. ^Dard Hunter, Papermaking: The History and Technique of an Ancient Craft, p. 4, Courier Corporation, 1978 (first published 1945) ISBN0486236196.
  9. ^Jan Fabian Wallake, 'Brush tips', p. 10, in, Gina Rath (ed), The Watercolorist's Answer Book, pp. 10–11, North Light Books, 2005 ISBN1581806337.
  10. ^ abCharles Jay Strong, Lawrence J. Strong, The Art of Show Card Writing, p. 194, Chicago: Frederick J. Drake, 1922 OCLC6005293
  11. ^The Mack Story, Andrew Mack Brush Company, accessed and archived 1 November 2015.
  12. ^Bernard E. Jones (ed), The Practical Woodworker: Volume 4, Decorative Woodwork, p. 1509,F+W Media 2014 ISBN1440338701.
  13. ^Perinton Historical Society, Perinton and Fairport in the 20th Century, p. 58, Arcadia Publishing, 2004 ISBN0738512028.
  14. ^Paint, Oil and Drug Review, p. 16, vol. 52, D. Van Ness Publishing, 1911.
  15. ^Bruce Mamer, Film Production Technique: Creating the Accomplished Image, p. 115, Cengage Learning, 2008 ISBN0495411167.
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