Every oil painter knows that natural bristle paintbrushes are expensive – especially high-quality ones. Bristles that are dense yet soft don’t come cheap. This is exactly why every painter needs to learn how to look after their most important tools.
Cleaning brushes is an important and sadly time-consuming part of the oil painting process. Be sure to read along and learn how to do it the right way. So you can quickly get back to putting paint on a canvas with a clean brush!
What’s the most effective way to clean up? Right, not making a mess in the first place. What does that mean for your brushes?
After following step 0 and not using more than necessary you should be fine with wiping your brush down on some paper towels. Maybe try to press the bristles together to get out paint that’s deeper inside the brush.
Depending on the time until your next painting your brushes need different levels of care and cleaning and can be stored in different ways. Continue reading to find out more!
Never store your brush bristle side up. Almost every beginner painter simply puts their brushes upside down inside a can until the next session. Fact is, that you should avoid this position as much as possible!