Project: Hand-carved brushes!

Inspired by Greenleaf and Blueberry and The Nimble Claw, two really amazing creatives I have discovered on Instagram, I went on a mad obsession the last several weeks, carving brush handles.

You see, the hand-carved brushes from these two lovely makers are extremely hard to get a hold of. And I say that with no exaggeration. Just follow their profiles and Etsy shops and you will know what I mean - seriously, some of their listings vanish within seconds of posting! Greenleaf and Blueberry has not made any in a while, and while I was able to snag The Nimble Claw's Marcel travel brush (pictured below, absolutely adorable!), at the end of the day, a brush is about the head: the size, hairs and shape you prefer cannot just be changed by what's available. (For me, anyway!) The Marcel is a da Vinci synthetic squirrel #4, and I haven't gotten used to the lack of snap of squirrel brushes in general.

So... what else is there to do, eh? I set off to carve my own brush! When I make something, I feel like it should have purpose behind just aesthetics, if there are ways to marry whim and practicality, why not, right? There were two things that I was trying to solve with carving my own brush:

First: Handle Length

Age-old brush-making traditions do not just put a handle of a certain length on paintbrushes just because. Brush handles are optimized for mediums, size of the piece, and I'm sure a few other factors I'm completely unaware of at this point (*timid laugh*). Rosemary & Co respects this preference by offering handle length options to their customers.

Personally, my own experience of using brushes with extremely short handles is not one I'd like to have very often. The grip changes, and so do the dynamics of how you lay down a stroke. Even a centimeter makes such a difference. I believe it's also a matter of personal preference, but I tend to think I'm not the only one who finds this so. Sure there are travel brushes with metal barrels that double in purpose as brush head protection in transit, but the barrels seem to be a standard size, and the smallest I've seen does not fit into my travel palette tin. 

To address this, I thought I'd find a way to re-create the da Vinci and Pebeo screw-on travel brush mechanisms. I hunted down the tiniest bolts and nuts, eventually ending up in a discreet little shop along Leon Kilat St. in downtown Cebu. It was a bizarre experience - for the sales person, that is! I was like, (in struggling Bisaya) "Do you have bolts that are 1 mm in diameter, and maybe 5 mm long..?" He was extremely kind and looked for the best options for me, and I walked out of there with these tiny trinkets, giddy with excitement! The concept was to drill the cut ends of the brush and install the nut and bolt on either ends, and voila - longer handle!

Second: Brush Head

Guess it's pretty obvious.. Everyone has the brush they prefer, there are popular favorites, but its seems that no one was carving the brushes I love.

My Own Designs

One thing that I really found exciting about carving my own brush was creating styles unlike what's already out there. Something inside me feels a bit squirmish about simply copying something I've seen someone make and passing it along as my own. In the photography world, there's always a fuss about respecting copyright to this anal-retentive extent, and I must admit, I fully get it. I've had many photos stolen and passed along without credit that I am very particular about giving credit to artists in my posts from tutorials and other derived works. My little principle is: copy for practice, then make one to call your own.

It has been fun so far, but I'm so not there yet with the carving skills. I've practiced with a couple of cheap brushes I keep handy for masking fluid, and I'm hooked! Last night, I made one inspired by Hermione Granger's wand:

Here are the tools I use: craft knife, Dremel 290, carbide and diamond point bits, sanding paper and file, protectors for eyes, hands and nose.

Some WestArt NAM and Kolibri Squiline brushes with the varnish sanded off by our handyman, ready for me to play with. A tip: it is best not to sand off paint indoors, the fine dust may cause health issues, with the chemicals in the paints, etc.

And the final project that will probably make Senior Ricard Escoda faint, eeeep..

My favorite brush heads are Rosemary&Co kolinsky round #4 and #6, and Escoda Optimo #4. I have the travel brushes of these in their metal barrels, but it would be nice to have them inside the palette so I never forget to take them. It's unbelievable how many times I have taken a palette without grabbing a brush, or the other way around - the number is embarrassing but sadly true, which has been the motivation behind all my travel sized art supply projects.

My head is swimming with ideas on designs, and I'm really looking forward to sharing my carvings with you! Would you be interested to see the process? Let me know in the comments, I'll consider posting videos :)