Bristles

Naturally, the bristles are the most important part of the brush. They are made either with synthetic fibers (these are very “springy” and smooth in texture), natural fibers (hair of various animals—kolinsky sable, pony, hog, etc.) or a combination of the two fibers.

Natural bristles have barbs or scales, which make them thicker, stiffer, and a little harder to clean. Due to their stiffness, natural bristle brushes are mainly used for canvas painting with thicker paint. Typically, they are more expensive than synthetic brushes; however, some can be less expensive than the synthetic options.

Synthetic brushes, which are smoother and springier than their natural counterparts, go with a variety of paints and are typically easier to clean. I use mainly synthetic brushes for applying paint, but I reserve some natural bristle brushes for blending. Pricing depends on the size; I spend $3-$5 on smaller brushes and $10-$15 on larger ones. However, buying a set is usually cheaper.

Rounds

Workhorse of the set; used for applying paint and washes.

Flats

Used for painting large areas and adding textures, such as house or roof details.

Angled flats

Used like regular flats, but tip can reach into smaller areas.

Filberts

Good for blending or painting a soft edge.

Used for fine lines and detail

Blenders

Used to blur the border between two colors to form a gradation of color.

Fan brushes

Used to paint textured areas like clouds, trees, or leaves.

“Spoiled” brushes

Great for blending and adding texture (It may be the Yankee in me, but I have a hard time throwing a brush out!).

Washing Your Brushes

When using acrylics, have a container of water ready to wash your brushes instantly because the paint dries so quickly. Note: It is safe to wash acrylic paint off in your work or household sink. Use warm—not hot—water; hot water can cause the glue used to secure the bristles to fail.

Clean your oil paint brushes in a paint thinner before washing with water. Note: You can leave your paint thinner in a sealed jar, let the pigment settle, and reuse at a later time. Be sure to collect oil paint sludge and dispose of it at your local hazardous waste site. Do your best to remove all the paint, especially from the ferrule; paint left to dry here will cause the bristles to splay out and separate. 

After you wash your brushes in paint thinner and squeeze them with a cloth, give them a final wash with a brush cleaner; I like The Master’s Brush Cleaner (use as directed). A good brush cleaner will even restore a brush with hardened paint on it to some degree. Shape the bristles while they are wet and let them air dry.

Storing Your Brushes

Store your brushes upright in a container so the bristles don’t bend. I use a simple jar for organized storage and easy access. You can get carriers of all sizes at any art supply store if you need to transport your brushes and other painting supplies.

Bench Knives

The tool we call a bench knife comes in many shapes and sizes. Some have long blades that may extend up to 4″ (102mm) from the handle, while others, such as chip-carving knives, have a 1″ (25mm)-long blade. Some blades have straight cutting edges, while others start to curve along the top third of the blade. Some are sharpened on one side only while others are sharpened on both. And each will fit your hand differently.

While many wood carvers have a variety of bench knives in their kits, most return over and over again to just one or two favorite tools. Following are the two main factors to consider.

Steel Quality

It determines how sharp an edge the knife can achieve and keep during a carving session. No matter how skilled you are, you’ll never be able to sharpen inexpensive steel into a bright, clean edge. Any sharp edge you do get will not last long. Be prepared to pay about the same amount for one good bench knife ($20-$25) as you would for a full five-to-six-piece inexpensive beginner’s carving set.

There are several companies (Barton, Flexcut, Helvie, Moore, My Chip Carving, OOCT, Warren) who make carving knives from excellent steel. If you don’t recognize the name, investigate before buying; inexpensive often means low quality steel.

A Comfortable Fit

When you grip the handle, the tips of your middle and ring finger should lie about 1/4″ (6mm) away from or just against your thumb palm. This lets you have free motion of your fingers, thumb, and wrist during any cut—not too tight and not too open. Your fingers should hold the knife handle to the palm without the need for excess pressure.

If the handle is too narrow or thin, your fingertips will need to curve into a clenched shape to hold the knife steady. That causes extra tension in the hand, which over time becomes tiring.

If the handle is too wide, your fingertips will not touch the thumb palm area. To hold it securely, you would need to grip tightly to steady the knife through the cuts. This, too, can cause fatigue and stress on your hands.

Traditionally, tool handles are sized to fit a medium-to-large man’s hand, because until a century ago, woodworking and carving were mostly done by men. Today, though, many professional carvers are women—and these women usually have smaller hands and therefore narrower grips. (My husband is a longtime woodworker. While his hand can hold a large knife comfortably, mine just can’t.)

Fortunately, today, you can find handles in a variety of sizes. Some manufacturers offer you a choice of handle shapes and sizes. In general, those classified as detail knives have smaller handles.

This knife handle is too wide for this carver.

A knife handle that properly fits a woman’s hand…

…will most likely be too small for a man.

A Rule of Thumb

To gauge how well a knife handle will fit your hand, wrap the fingers of your dominant hand around your other thumb. Your thumb represents the knife handle, which rests across your palm. Since the fattest part of your thumb sits nicely in this area, you can use it to see how thick a knife handle you can comfortably use. This is why I never recommend ergonomic grip tool handles, because they only perfectly fit one person’s hand—the person (usually a man) who made the handle mold in the first place.

TIP: Adjusting A Handle

If your knife handle is too large, sand or carve it down to fit your hand. If the handle is too small, wrap vet-wrap tape around the handle to build it up.

Blade Length

A good bench knife, one with high-quality steel and a proper fit, will carve about 90% of the straight cuts that you need for any project.

And for most carving projects, especially if you’re working with milled and kiln-dried wood where the bark and heartwood have been removed, it only needs to make a clean 1/2″ (1.3cm)-wide slice. A longer knife puts your hands farther from the details you’re carving and reduces your control (above right). If you do need to take larger slices, clamp the wood and use a drawknife; this allows you to use both hands on the tool, keeping control despite the length of the blade.

A shorter blade length (top) will afford you more control.

When a Longer Blade is Better

Harley Refsal, author of Carving Flat-Plane Style Caricatures, prefers a longer blade to take the large cuts needed for flat-plane carving. Initially, he ground down a Morakniv blade (a traditional Scandinavian multi-purpose knife) until it was about 2″ (5.1cm) long, and thinned it on a sharpening stone so it would glide through wood more easily. Eventually, he teamed up with Del Stubbs of Pinewood Forge to make the Harley Knife (shown at right).

“The distinct, flat facets created by a fairly large, thin-bladed knife, rather than a tiny detail knife or a variety of gouges, yield the Scandinavian-inspired flat-plane look I most enjoy carving,” Harley explained. He also recommends straight knives by OOCT for flat-plane carving and curved knives by Pinewood Forge, OCCT, and Drake Knives for spoon carving.

Longer knives, such as a traditional Sloyd, also work well to remove bark from large surface areas such as a walking stick. The long blade allows you to glide the cutting edge down the stick, freeing strips of bark.

Brush Soap

Brushes should be cleaned well with a good quality soap when you finish painting. While painting, rinse the brushes in water and occasionally dip into an extender such as Jo Sonja’s Retarder to keep the paint from drying in the bristles until you have time to clean them.

Containers for Water

You’ll need two water containers; one to rinse the paint from your brush and the other to pick up water as you paint. Dirty water will change the color of your paint, so keep this container clean. A useful addition to your painting supplies is a brush basin that is divided into two sections with ridges in the bottom. Gently stroke brushes across the ridges to get all of the paint out.

Containers for Mediums, Such as Flow Medium and Clear Glaze Medium

You will need at least two small containers to hold mediums. These can be anything from the cap for a bottle to small candle cups or eggcups.

Disposable Acrylic Palette Paper

Paper palettes are available in pads. These are needed for color mixing and dry palette blending. Make sure the paper you select has one slick side. Pads of palette paper listed for use of both acrylic and oils, which do not have the slick side, may absorb the moisture from acrylic paint too quickly.

Distilled Water in a Squeeze Bottle

Use distilled water if storing your palette of colors in a closed container for any length of time. Some tap water contains mold that may grow and contaminate the paint.

Palette Knife

A plastic, bent-blade palette knife is great for mixing colors and mediums. They’re inexpensive and easy to clean.

Paper Towels

Use inexpensive paper towels to set up your wet palette. Thick paper towels may be used for wiping your brush when painting. Fold them into quarters to save space in your work area.

Pencil and Pencil Sharpener

A #2HB pencil is the easiest to find. Your pencil may be used for drawing or making notes in your sketchbook. The pencil sharpener will also be used to sharpen soapstone (see below).

Sandpaper

Small pieces of various grits of sandpaper are used both for surface preparation and painting. Medium- or light-colored sandpaper will not lose its color on the background. Fingernail files, which are available in a variety of grades, are excellent for hard to reach places.

Sketchbook or Journal

A spiral bound sketchbook or a small journal should be kept for gathering inspiration, color samples, and notes. Glue a mylar pocket from an office supply store to the back to hold small things

Soapstone

Soapstone or plumber’s chalk comes in a stick. It is available at hardware stores in the plumbing supplies. Sharpen the soapstone with a pencil sharpener as needed. This is used to sketch onto the surface of carvings because the lines are easily removed.

Towel for Work Area

An old towel or cloth protects the work surface and provides a cushion for your project.

Wet Palette

A wet palette is used for paint storage and may be set up using any shallow container. A wet palette may be as simple as a paper plate or a foam meat tray. An airtight container for food storage will keep paint workable for several days or weeks. Lay a damp paper towel on top of your palette, and apply the paint on top of the paper towel.

Vicki Rhodes has authored books and numerous magazine articles.

Materials

• Basswood, 1 3/4″ (4.5cm) thick:
2 3/4″ (7cm) square
• Wood glue
• Acrylic paints, such as Ceramcoat:
black, black cherry, cardinal red, dark goldenrod, white
• Wire: 20 gauge
• Toothpick

Tools