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Brush Set?

OldPaint

New Member
my 1st question to you is...........seriously........
HOW GOOD ARE YOU WITH A BRUSH????
THIS KIT........is for someone who is SKILLED AT LETTERING, KNOWING WHY AND WHICH BRUSH DOES THE JOB BEST. not a BEGINNERS KIT.
if you never lettered before.........and want to learn
FIND SOMEONE WHO DOES HAND LETTERING..........having all the equipment and books, will not get you started.
books will give you .....INSTRUCTIONS but not the hands on feel.......and visual of someone who can operate a QUILL/striper ...........
to start learning all you need is one 2 brushes.......#4-#8 one can of 1-SHOT/RONAN paint. gallon of mineral sprites, a piece of tn or glass......cause your not gona produce anything worth saving till you get the MECHANICS OF THE BRUSH usage.
so for less the $50 you can start to learn...........but if your a seasoned hand letterer.this is a nice kit.
i see your near the race track........one of the best brush mechanics is from near you TIMMI BARROW........contact him........iam sure he would be glad to show you how its done.
 

round man

New Member
Ron and Kristie have a vast knowledge of brushes and do their very best to share with both old pro's and beginners,.....met them as a guest in their home and shop out in California a few years back and they are fine sign people/friends/suppliers,....that being said if Ron (the guy in the Video) says the brushes are good you can just about take it to the bank,....,...that being said most of you know me as
"round man" here but most folks call me Timi Barrow,...if you need help just ask,.....
 

Jillbeans

New Member
To be honest, it seems a bit pricey for all that it includes. Not to knock a good store.
You can buy the best brushes in the world, but without any hands-on experience, you might fail miserably. A good letterer can even make a brush from Michael's sing.

I would suggest going to a Pinhead meet, or a Walldog event, and getting busy painting. Then you can see which type of brush works best for you. In lieu of that, you may want to attend one of the lettering classes that Mike Meyer or Pierre Tardif teaches, or Wayne Osbourne in the UK.

Once you know which brush best suits your needs, buy a few. I prefer the metal ferruled brushes from Handover's or Wright's of Lymm. I did start with plain old Luco quills almost 30 years ago, but before that I used craft store brushes.

Get some brushes, and most places who sell those will sell (or give) you a fancy box to keep them in. Don't forget the turpentine and the baby oil too. You might want to check out Mack Brush Co., Quill, Hair, and Ferrule or Coastal Airbrush as well.
Love....Jill
PS
I only use Ronan paint.
 

round man

New Member
if you consider the cost of the metal box to protect and store the brushes I don't think the price is out of line,...
 

sardocs

New Member
I think that's a pretty fair price also. It will get you started and if you can learn to letter a simple casual style it will have paid for itself many times over. Make yourself a mahlstick from a piece of half inch dowel with a 2" ball of masking tape wound up on the end. The best advice I ever got when I started out in the 70's was to not hold the quill to tightly, to let it lay down on the surface about half to 3 quarters of the length of the hairs and to twist it ever so slightly in the direction it needs to curve. The kit is around a hundred bucks. Around these parts you can spend that much on lunch and beers in the pub. Brushes last for ever if you clean 'em good, and oil them when you are done making money with 'em.
 

Billct2

Active Member
Take round man up on his offer, that's the best place to start.
And OP advice to get a couple basic quills and practice on glass, which is a bit tough at first, and also an old refrigerator door panel door car door panel workds well.
 

Jillbeans

New Member
I would buy one brush, a can of lettering enamel (a half pint) some turpentine, and some baby oil. If you find that you enjoy hand lettering, and have an affinity for it, then I would buy more brushes.
I have seen a lot of people waste money on brushes, etc, only to give up after trying to paint one time.
 
Thank you for all the great advice! A very kind member on this site went above and beyond and mailed some brushes to me. As soon as I get them I am going to go straight to work practicing. I guess I should have put a little bit more background information in my original post. As some of you may know I have been practicing my gold leaf skills for a while now. I have built my business around fire department work, so I felt like it was important for me to be able to offer real gold leaf as an option. I have gotten to the point to where I can produce decent results, but only by printing everything on my Edge and then gilding similar to how Pierce does all of their gold leaf from the factory. That is the most economical way to give customers real gold, but it isn't the traditional way. I have taught myself how to do everything, I started with a 24" el cheapo plotter from US Cutter, a few rolls of vinyl and absolutely no knowledge of anything sign industry related and went from there. Between paying jobs I always try to work on learning new things, but I have figured out that hand painting and gilding aren't the easiest skills to pick up without an experienced person to show you the basics. I have tried to contact several local people to see if I could hangout with them and watch them work and I have either been turned down or didn't get a response at all. But I will definitely take round man up on his offer! Thanks again everyone for all the help, I can always depend on the great people of Signs101 to steer me in the right direction!
 
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