What brand and type of paint brushes should I get?

My girlfriend is a studio art major, and she paints with oil paints a lot, and i want to get her some new brushes for her birthday. Thing is, I know nothing about paint, brushes, or art in general really.. so any help would be appreciated.What brand and type of paint brushes should I get?
well, maybe it would be helpfull to consult with the shop assistent in art supplies store. In any case I recomend you NOT to buy and brush with syntetic bristl...no matter what the shop assistens says. Syntetic bristle cannot soak enough paint in it.


The best brushes for oil paint are sable brushes. The bad news about them is that they are really very expensive, as the cost of sable hair measured in grams is identical to the price of gold. Still, working with this brish is sucha joy that i am sure, your girfreind will be happy to receive even one or two sable brushes as a present.


the form of brushes is individual thing...and here comes the problem...maybe just try to see what kind of brushes she uses? flat, circle, how do they look exatly...there is a veriety of shapes...


maybe getting the flat one might be usefull if you do not know what to bye as they are mostly used for painting.


Also think about the size of her paintings. Bigger paintings require bigger brushes, smaller sizes of painting will ratther require smalles brushed.


good luck.What brand and type of paint brushes should I get?
It really is a personal thing to buy a paint brush! The only way you could do it is to look at the brushes she has and USES and get the same ones (most of us have lots of brushes that we don't really use!). There are thousands and thousands of different kinds of paint brushes, but we all stick with a few that work best for us, usually. But then again, there are specialty brushes that are fun to experiment with, also. It would be a waste of money to just go grab a bunch of different brushe, hoping she will like them, and what is my favorite brush she might not even use or need. I would either give her a gift certificate for the brushes, or take her shopping!


My favorite brand of brushes is Royal and Langnickel. www.royalbrush.com
Rather than get her something she can't use, why not give her a gift certificate to her favorite art supply store. And a really nice dinner out.
I love camel hair brushes or any animal based brush, they hold paint better and the control is superb. They cost more, but are worth the price.





From Wikepedia: These are the styles of brushes used. I hope this helps





Paintbrushes are used for applying ink or paint. These are usually made by clamping the bristles to a handle with a ferrule.





Paintbrushes can have many shapes. Their names and styles may vary slightly from manufacturer to manufacturer, there are certain consistencies. Traditionally, short handled brushes are for watercolor or ink painting while the long handled brushes are for oil or acrylic paint. The styles of brush tip seen most commonly are as follows:





Round: The long closely arranged bristles of these brushes make them useful for detail


Flat: These are used for spreading paint quickly and evenly over a surface. They will have longer hairs than their Bright counterpart.


Bright: These are flat brushes with short stiff bristles and can be useful driving paint into the weave of a canvas in thinner paint applications, as well as thicker painting styles like impasto work.


Filbert: Flat brushes with domed ends. They allow good coverage and the ability to perform some detail work.


Fan: These are used for blending broad areas of paint.


Angle: These, like the Filbert, are versatile and can be applied in both general painting application as well as some detail work.


Mop: A larger format brush with a rounded edge for broad soft paint application as well as for getting thinner glazes over existing drying layers of paint without damaging lower layers.


Rigger: Round brushes with longish hairs, traditionally used for painting the rigging in pictures of ships. They are useful for fine lines and are versatile for both oils and watercolors.





As for a gift certificate .....not very original is it?
Thats sweet that you want to do that but shes right paint brushes are a very personal thing. I personally hate animal hair brushes. I like the nylon ones like golden techlon or wonder white. If you don't know that much about art you should get her a gift certificate just because art supplies are really expensive and she might want to pick out her own. I had an ex buy me some art supplies once and I never used them.