Can you have a bad W&N series 7 brush ??

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plasmahal

New member
I took the plunge the other week and got some new supplies. I\'m new\'ish back to the hobby and have been trying out layering using some W&N Galeria brushes with good succes apart from the brush ends hooking. Alot of people have enthused about the series 7 brushes. So i got a #0 and a #1. I\'ve only used the #0 and i must say i\'m underwhelmed and disappointed. The brush when not in use has a very good, sharp point but as soon as I load It with paint and remove the excess paint the end tends to split into 2 or three points. It\'s really frustrating as i\'m losing brush contol. I don\'t think I\'m doing anything wrong and i don\'t like blaming my tools but i just get this gut feeling that the brush may be duff (bad batch). For the layering i\'m thinning my paint 5:1 using distilled water with liquitex folw-aid and retarder.

someone please save my sanity.....:flame:
 
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matty1001

New member
I had a similar problem with a W&N brush (not series 7 though, but it is a kolinsky sable range) for a short while, it seems once the bristles have \'broken in\' they keep a perfect point and hold emmense amounts of paint.
 
MPJ

MPJ

New member
Sounds to me like you either have paint/glue/whatever stuck up the bristles near the ferrel or it\'s just a bad brush. I\'d lean towards the former though site-unseen.
 
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plasmahal

New member
This is a brand new brush and i cleaned with a special brush soap cleaner beforehand. After using the brush i give a good clean and it holds a really good point when dry and stored. It just has a bad point when loaded with some paint, and i don\'t think i\'m overloading it either.
 
Arjay

Arjay

New member
I used to go through a lot of series 7s and through experience I\'ve found that about 25% or less are worth buying these days... When I need to replace a brush I\'ll test every one at my local art supply store and I\'ll often only find one or two worth buying... As has been said before - a well made W&N series 7 is still the best brush you\'ll find but their average isn\'t anything too special.

One thing that has helped me is using the biggest brush I can manage - I use a #2 or 3 for everything. It\'s much easier to find a well made #2 than it is to find a well made 0 and they last much longer.
 
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plasmahal

New member
Personally selecting a brush was a drawback in this case as it was ordered online due to my local art shop not stocking this range of brushes.

I don\'t know what comeback i have with the online retailer with asking for the brush to be changed.

I had assumed however that given the reputation and price of these brushes the quality control would have been very high.???
 
MPJ

MPJ

New member
I must admit, the main reason I havn\'t not yet tried brushes from Rosemary & Co. is the fact that I can\'t hold them and check them myself. I can\'t bring myself to buy a brush \'sight unseen\' as each has it\'s own characteristics.
 
Arjay

Arjay

New member
Quality control was meant to be very strict at one stage but it isn\'t any more. I wouldn\'t change brands but I would never buy a series 7 unless I could test it before purchasing... I have heard from a few people (including Victoria Lamb) that the Raphael Kolinsky sable brushes are a much better bet if you\'re purchasing online. Their best isn\'t quite as good but they don\'t produce anywhere near as many duds.
 
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JaPizzy

New member
It could be that the brush is just bad. I\'ve had several that I\'ve bought locally, that I tested before I bought, and I got some series 7 minis that I bought from dickblick.com and they were perfect too. I wouldn\'t give up on the range yet. Give the size 1 that you bought a try. You should be able to do everything with the #1 that you can do with the #0, the point should be just as sharp between them.

You could also try loading the brush with less paint if it\'s holding a good point dry then is should be able to while loaded too. If you just soak it up with water does it split too?
 
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plasmahal

New member
Like i said earlier i\'m not overloading the brush and i can see why people like them because they do hold a lot of paint medium. I use a shallow palette dip the tip of the brush in thr mixed paint and gently draw the brush across some kitchen roll to remove the excess until i\'m happy i have the right amount of paint in the brush. At this stage the point is fine but it\'s when start gently layering diluted paint onto the mini the brush point breaks up and i lose brush control over where i want the paint to go. That\'s why it\'s frustrating. I\'ve looked at guides to brushes and it\'s the fishtail effect i\'m suffering from. Thinking about it, even if i had selected this brush in a shop i would have bought on the premise that when moist the brush maintained a very good point. I can\'t see many shops letting you try paint with the brush first which is when my problem started. I will give my #1 brush a go soon and see how that is. Thanks for the feedback so far.
 
airhead

airhead

Coffin Dodger / Keymaster
Sounds like you just got a bad one.

There is a bit of adjustment of technique to the sable brushes, but that should not be happening.

You are pulling straight back on the brush, not sideways and not using too much pressure?
 
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Modderrhu

New member
I agree, don\'t give up on the range. And I agree, it sounds like you got a bad one. I\'ve bought quite a few of them, and only one has been bad. Co-incidentally, it too is a size 0.

I\'ve got a couple which maintain a perfect point, no matter how I treat them on the mini, they just refuse to misbehave. It\'s worth the odd bad brush, to find those that truly shine. And those that shine are more common than the poor ones.
 
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demonherald

New member
Yeah problem is with that though is waiting for the brushes to be delivered then getting a duff one then having to order again..I think I\'ll probably wait until I can find a shop that sells them so I can test them before I buy ;)
 
Wren

Wren

New member
I think most natural hair brushes are hand-made, and natural products can vary in quality, so absolutely I think it\'s possible to get a bad one. I\'m told the hair of the sable varies with the weather, and brushes made from warmer winter tails won\'t be as good as those from colder winter tails.

I\'ve been happy with almost all the series 7 I\'ve purchased. I\'ve had two with problems, one purchased in person. Most of mine have been purchased online and haven\'t had problems. Interestingly, it\'s my 0 that\'s given me the biggest problems. Try your 1, I love my 1, it has such a nice point and the longer bristles work well for layering, I don\'t know that I\'ll bother even trying to replace my 0. I also find a 00 very useful for smaller areas. I\'ve heard Dick Blick and some other online stores have a good policy for bad brush replacement, so you might want to check that out.
 
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DaRat

New member
All of the brushes that I\'ve purchased from Dick Blick have been fine.

That said, my workhorse W&N S7 #2 does fishtail if I overload it with paint. The brush doesn\'t do that with water, but too much paint definitely causes a problem.
 
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