How many brushes does an artist really need? It’s a question I often ask myself whilst looking at the round, flat, filbert, rigger, long handled, short handled, synthetic, natural, etc, etc brushes in my collection.

Some I’ve bought, some I’ve been given, some are cheap, some are expensive but to answer my initial question, I need about ten. Why then have I got so many? Insurance! You never know when you’ll suddenly get that flash of inspiration to make a certain mark & if you’ve got a backup of brushes in your ammunition boxes, (or jars), you have that confidence of being able to rely on the right tool for the job.

There are many other reasons it can be good to have a stock of brushes & I will cover this in future blogs along with topics involving ‘mark making’, ‘are brushes necessary at all?’, ‘my favourite brush maker’ & ‘alternatives to brushes’.

This is a painting where I used brushes exclusively. This is unusual for me as I usually use a variety of tools in a single piece.

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