"New brushes" Topic

After quite a while, my main painting brushes are losing enough hairs to make them marginal – time to buy some Kolinsky Series 7 sable brushes.

I haven't bought one for 18 months or so & was taken aback by the price – $100. USD The same price was applied by several different suppliers – if they had any stock. The sole exception was found on Amazon: $35. USD However, Reddit has conversations that say these brushes may not be what they claim they are.

The inflated prices are, so I've heard, a result of Siberian Weasels (the "hair") being unobtainable.

I can't justify buying a brush at this price. Are there any good, reasonably priced brushes out there?

A quick check and I see Winsor Newton Series 7's from Dick Blick for about $25 USD USD or roughly $40.00 AUD plus whatever shipping would be.

I would recommend Dick Blick over Amazon. There are Amazon sellers that take over an existing listing and substitute fakes.

If you can get hold of Rosemary and Co brushes, they are almost the performance of the 7 at a much reduced price. Their ability to to export comes and goes according to the weasels

John

Buying from the US is not really an option (I get free postage from Amazon – though I won't be buying potentially fraudulent brushes from them!)

I'll look into Rosemary & Co – thanks.

So for me Raphael 8404 has a bigger belly and Artis Opus a smaller tip. (size 0). Both see use

2nd Raphael 8404 #4. Dick Blick Brushes are not anything like the WN Series 7 and the later have such poor quality control I've stopped using them years ago.

Sadly W&N Series 7 (about £25.00 GBP here in the UK for #1) are no longer anywhere near as good as they once were and definitely no longer a good buy.

Personally I have found the Rosemary & Co too fragile for miniature painting but that may vary with style – I'm very hard on brushes.

I'm using a local supplier's own brand. Fairly short life but keep a good point. I've had to get used to using the longer haired brush and that took a while. About £5.00 GBP-£8 a brush so not bad, cost wise.

GA – good point (pun intended).

If you do the maths – does a $100 USD brush that lasts for 18 months make sense over buying 6 $10 USD brushes that last for 3 months?

It comes down to how well the cheaper brushes last but your point is well worth considering.