Best brushes for acyrlic?

I've been buying the artists brushes when they go on sale at Hobby Lobby. I dont remember which brands but its the more expensive ones.

It seems that no matter how much I spend on a brush after a few uses the tip begins to bend to one side. I thought buying better brushes would help this problem. Brand or bristle (sable, synthetic, camel) doesn't seem to matter.

The brushes I'm talking about are the smaller ones used for detail work like faces, instrument panels, shading on figures, etc.

I mainly use acrylics. I clean them in a brush cleaning solution. When cleaning I "swish" the brush around in the solution and never drag the bristles along the sides or bottom of the cleaning container. I remove excess water with a paper towel and form the bristles into a point. I store them with the bristle part pointing straight up.

What am I doing wrong? Is it the brand or bristles?

I think brushes for acrylics are easier to select than for enamels.  The thinners and solvents we use with acrylics are more benign that what some people use for enamels.  Some synthetic bristles do not like strong solvents.  

I buy my brushes at Hobby Lobby in artist paint section (watercolor/acrylic/oil paint section). I find the brushes that say are good for acrylics and oil paints (I use them for enamels too). I try to find the brushes that aren't expensive (usually around $5).

For other applications that don't require constant and good brush strokes, I get the cheap (~$5) bulk packs with assorted brushes. I mainly use those for washes.

I bought a bunch of Floquil's best line of brushes. Surprisingly, most of these were terrible (like the bristles splay when dipped terrible), but a couple were quite good, and the results got a lot better. Based on that, I went out and got some Winsor Newton kolinsky sable brushes and wow the results are WAY better.

I am finding that long-bristle sable brushes seem to do better for me.  I dip the brush into acrylic thinner first, then into the paint.  I think the longer bristles keeps the paint wet longer, and puts less pressure on the surface being painted.  Yes you'll still get brush marks, but the primary thing I'm trying to control is clumping, which happens because the paint tends to dry so quickly.  

Gene Beaird,

Pearland, Texas

marlinspike

Should I thin the paint for brushing more, less, or the same as the paint I airbrush with?

Generally speaking, thin it less than what you would if airbrushing (though some paints don't really need thinning for brushing).

Tamiya's"sweet spot" for brushing (for acrylics) is about one part X-20A thinner to three parts paint. It flows a lot better than when brushed straight out of the jar and reduces the tendency to lift.

Should I thin the paint for brushing more, less, or the same as the paint I airbrush with?

Both synthetic and sable brushes are good for acrylic. Like Centerdeck2 said, the brushstrokes are often down to mistakes in thinning.

I've tried both Model Masters and Tamiya. I seem to get better results with the Tamiya. And yes, I get brush strokes, unless dry brushing (which can't be used in certain applications, like painting window trim on a car) . I seem to get better results if I do one really thick coat, but that just seems wrong haha.

What do you mean by bad results?  Are you seeing brushstrokes after it dries or seperation? There are a lot of factors that may not be the brush.  If you are in a hot arid climate or run the ac often, that might contribute to the paint drying before it can level off.  Might be old paint... Or for some reason white, yellow and metallic seem to be stubborn. What paint are you using?

I use Model Master brushes with natural bristles. I thought I was getting such bad results because I read a lot of things that say for acrylics I should be using synthetic bristles. Sounds like that's not true. Should I be thinning paint for brushing  more than I think for airbrushing or something?

I like natural fiber (animal) myself.  I have the best luck going for the brushes with the finest hairs.  As for brands, i dont relly have any preference... As long as the hairs dont fall out.  I have atlas, eagle, and testors.  Since i shy away from figures, i havent found the need for ultra expensive brushes.