My favorites brushes are the cheapest!

I have watched my brush collection grow slowly like my rose bush in the front of my home.

No matter how much I try to keep the bush from getting bigger and thicker, it grows.

At least my brushes don’t need pruning!

I just counted them and I have 126 brushes! I have 4 places for them, acrylic brushes with long handles and short handles, watercolor brushes, and the cheap ones. I could group them more, like long handled acrylic cheap and premium but I don’t. Now that would be ridiculous!

My sister gifted me a set of beautiful fan brushes that came in a nice roll-bag but they weren't getting used until I put them in with the others. They are soft and smooth so they work best with watercolors, high flow acrylics and inks.

My mother-in-law gifted me a set of really cheap brushes. Having little “mixed media” experience, I took one glance and I'll admit I dismissed them, but now these brushes are my favorites! I have a particular one marked with a piece of green masking tape that is used primarily for gluing down collage. Gels and matte medium do not touch my premium brushes.

When I reach for a brush, I rarely select my best brush. It’s like having a really nice art journal that you’re saving for “good” art. I save my best brushes for the portrait courses I took but now that I’ve moved on from that they hardly get used. So, upon reflection, the art I do dictates the brushes I use.

For watercolor, I have tried both cheap ones and expensive ones, including water brushes. I much prefer the expensive ones! They hold their shape really well.

So this may lead you to the question, “what is the difference between cheap and expensive”? For me, the answer is simply how much it costs. For me, a “cheap” brush is one that I bought at the dollar store.

Does this mean cheap is bad? Heck no!

Each one of my brushes does one thing really well, and some do more. Like my favorite cheap flat brush I use for acrylic paint, watercolor, inks, matte medium and anything else I can think of.

My most expensive watercolor brush will never touch acrylic paint.

Some brushes do things better than others, or shall I say differently. Whether it’s how much water they hold, or how firm the bristles are, they all have a purpose.

They all get treated the same! I take really good care of all of my brushes. I don’t favor one over the other. Rinsed, cleaned with dish soap and water, then laid flat to dry. Some round watercolor brushes I hang to dry to retain the pointy shape of the bristles.

I do have fancy brush soap but you guessed it, I use it on my expensive brushes!