Who designed the paintbrush?

Calligraphic tool

Ink brushes (traditional Chinese: 毛筆; simplified Chinese: 毛笔; pinyin: máo bǐ) are paintbrushes used in Chinese calligraphy as well as in Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese which all have roots in Chinese calligraphy. They are also used in Chinese painting and other brush painting styles. The ink brush was invented in China around 300 B.C.[1][2] Together with the inkstone, inkstick and Xuan paper, these four writing implements form the Four Treasures of the Study.

Types

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Ink brushes of various size and material for sale

Brushes differ greatly in terms of size, texture, material, and cost. The brush hair chosen depends on one's needs at the moment; certain kinds of brushes are more suited to certain script styles and individuals than others.

• Handle: usually of bamboo, exotic brushes may instead use such materials as gold, silver, jade, ivory, red sandalwood or spotted bamboo.
• Hair source: normally the brush is made from goat, Siberian weasel (Chinese:

  黄鼠狼

  ; pinyin:

  huángshǔláng

  , yellow-rat-wolf), pig, mouse, buffalo, wolf, or rabbit hair, while exotic ones can be made from tiger, fowl, deer, and even human hair (from a baby's first haircut, said to bring good fortune while taking the imperial examinations).
• Hair texture: soft (Chinese:

  軟毫

  ; pinyin:

  ruǎnháo

  ), mixed (Chinese:

  兼毫

  ; pinyin:

  jiānháo

  ), or hard hair (Chinese:

  硬毫

  ; pinyin:

  yìngháo

  ).
• Hair size: generally classified as either big (Chinese:

  大楷

  ; pinyin:

  dàkǎi

  , Japanese:

  大筆

  , romanized: 

  oofude

  ), (Chinese:

  中楷

  ; pinyin:

  zhōngkǎi

  , Japanese:

  中筆

  , romanized: 

  chufude

  ), or small (Chinese:

  小楷

  ; pinyin:

  xiǎokǎi

  , Japanese:

  小筆

  , romanized: 

  kofude

  );[3] most calligraphy is written with a medium-sized brush. The smallest brushes are used for very small pieces and for fashioning designs for seals. While medium size brushes are the most widely used, wielded by a skilled artist a medium brush can produce a variety of thicknesses of line from very thin to fairly thick. The largest brushes are used only for very large pieces.
• Hair length: generally classified by hair length for thickness of handle as either long (Japanese:

  長鋒

  , romanized: 

  chouhou

  ), medium (Japanese:

  中鋒

  , romanized: 

  chuhou

  ), short (Japanese:

  短鋒

  , romanized: 

  tanhou

  ); most calligraphy is written with a medium-length hair brush. The long hair brush are more keep to hold an ink than the short hair brushes as their length. So, it used for continuous long or short stroke line scripting such as Japanese traditional hiragana style by renmen (Japanese:

  連綿

  ). The hair of long hair brushes tend to be made by hard texture hair to keep their hair form, but there is a not one. Japanese very long and slender hair brushes called menso-burushes (Japanese:

  面相筆

  ) are used for detail painting.[4]

Synthetic hair is not traditionally used. Prices vary greatly depending on the quality of the brush; cheap brushes cost less than one US dollar while expensive brushes can cost more than a thousand dollars. Currently, the finest brushes are made in the town of Shanlian, in the Nanxun District, prefecture-level city of Huzhou, of Zhejiang province.

History

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Brushes of various sizes and types of hair, including one of chicken feathers at the top

The earliest intact ink brush was found in 1954 in the tomb of a Chu citizen from the Warring States period (475-221 BCE) located in an archaeological dig site Zuo Gong Shan 15 near Changsha (長沙). The early version of an ink brush found had a wooden stalk and a bamboo tube securing the bundle of hair to the stalk. Legend wrongly credits the invention of the ink brush to the later Qin general Meng Tian.[citation needed]

Traces of the writing brush, however, were discovered on the Shang jades, and were suggested to be the grounds of the oracle bone inscriptions.[5]

The writing brush entered a new stage of development in the Han dynasty. First, it created the decoration craft of engraving and inlaying on the pen-holder. Second, some writings on the production of writing brush appeared. For example, the first monograph on the selection, production and function of writing brush was written by Cai Yong in the eastern Han dynasty . Third, the special form of "hairpin white pen" appeared. Officials in the Han dynasty often sharpened the end of the brush and stuck it in their hair or hat for their convenience. Worshipers also often put pen on their heads to show respect.[6]

To The Yuan and Ming dynasty, Huzhou emerged a group of pen making experts to make it more convenient, such as Wu Yunhui, Feng Yingke, Lu Wenbao, Zhang Tianxi, etc. Huzhou has been the center of Chinese brush making since the Qing dynasty. At the same time, there was many famous brushes in other places, such as Ruyang Liu brush in Henan province, Li Dinghe brush in Shanghai, Wu Yunhui in Jiangxi province.[citation needed]

Fudepen

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The fudepen, also known as a "brush pen", is a modern Japanese invention analogous to a fountain pen. Today, Japanese companies such as Pentel and Sakura Color Products Corporation manufacture pens with tips resembling those of a small ink brush. These brush pens work almost identically to small ink brushes and can be used for most of the same purposes.

See also

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References

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Brush for painting

Paintbrush

Paintbrushes

ClassificationBrushUsesPainting

A paintbrush is a brush used to apply paint or ink. A paintbrush is usually made by clamping bristles to a handle with a ferrule. They are available in various sizes, shapes, and materials. Thicker ones are used for filling in, and thinner ones are used for details. They may be subdivided into decorators' brushes used for painting and decorating and artists' brushes use for visual art.

History

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Paintbrushes were used by man as early as the Paleolithic era in around 2.5 million years ago in order to apply pigment.[1]

Old painting kits, estimated to be around 100,000 years old, were discovered in a cave in what is now modern South Africa.[2]

Ancient Egyptian paintbrushes were made of split palm leaves and used by ancestors to beautify their surroundings. The oldest brushes ever found were also made of animal hair.

Parts

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Brush parts

• Bristles: Transfer paint onto the substrate surface
• Ferrule: Retains the bristles and attaches them to the handle
• Handle: The intended interface between the user and the tool[3]

Trade

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Brushes for use in non-artistic trade painting are geared to applying an even coat of paint to relatively large areas. Following are the globally recognized handles of trade painter's brushes:[4]

• Gourd handle: Ergonomic design that reduces stress on the wrist and hand whilst painting.
• Short handle: The shorter handle provides greater precision when painting small spaces such as corners, trims & detail areas.
• Flat beavertail handle: This shape is rounded and slightly flattened to fit perfectly into the palm of the hand whilst painting.
• Square handle: Square shaped handle with bevelled corners is featured mainly in trim or sash brushes and is comfortable to hold when painting.
• Rat tail handle: This handle is longer & thinner than the standard making it easy to hold to give greater control.
• Long handle: Rounded and thin, a long handle is easy to hold like a pencil giving great control & precision when cutting in & painting tricky spaces.

Brush handle styles

Decorating

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Decorators' brushes

The sizes of brushes used for painting and decorating.

Decorating sizes

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Decorators' brush sizes are given in millimeters (mm) or inches (in), which refers to the width of the head. Common sizes are:

• Metric (mm): 10 • 20 • 40 • 50 • 60 • 70 • 80 • 90 • 100.
• Customary (inches):

  1

  ⁄

  8

  •

  1

  ⁄

  4

  •

  3

  ⁄

  8

  •

  1

  ⁄

  2

  •

  5

  ⁄

  8

  •

  3

  ⁄

  4

  •

  7

  ⁄

  8

  • 1 •

  1

  +

  1

  ⁄

  4

  •

  1

  +

  1

  ⁄

  2

  • 2 •

  2

  +

  1

  ⁄

  2

  • 3 •

  3

  +

  1

  ⁄

  2

  • 4.

Decorating shapes

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• Angled: For painting edges, bristle length viewed from the wide face of the brush uniformly decrease from one end of the brush to the other
• Flat: For painting flat surfaces, bristle length viewed from the wide face of the brush does not change
• Tapered: Improves control, the bristle length viewed from the narrow face of the brush is longer in the center and tapers toward the edges
• Striker: Large round (cylindrical) brush for exterior painting difficult areas

Decorating bristles

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Bristles may be natural or synthetic. If the filaments are synthetic, they may be made of polyester, nylon or a blend of nylon and polyester. Filaments can be hollow or solid and can be tapered or untapered. Brushes with tapered filaments give a smoother finish.

Synthetic filaments last longer than natural bristles. Natural bristles are preferred for oil-based paints and varnishes, while synthetic brushes are better for water-based paints as the bristles do not expand when wetted.

A decorator judges the quality of a brush based on several factors: filament retention, paint pickup, steadiness of paint release, brush marks, drag and precision painting. A chiseled brush permits the painter to cut into tighter corners and paint more precisely.

Brush handles may be made of wood or plastic while ferrules are metal (usually nickel-plated steel).

Art

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Short handled brushes are usually used for flat or slightly tilted work surfaces such as watercolor painting and ink painting, while long handled brushes are held horizontally while working on a vertical canvas such as for oil paint or acrylic paint.[5]: 51 

Art shapes

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The styles of brush tip seen most commonly are:[6][3][5]: 52–59 

• Round: pointed tip, long closely arranged bristles for detail.
• Flat: for spreading paint quickly and evenly over a surface. They will have longer hairs than their Bright counterpart.
• Bright: shorter than flats. Flat brushes with short stiff bristles, good for driving paint into the weave of a canvas in thinner paint applications, as well as thicker painting styles like impasto work.
• Filbert: flat brushes with domed ends. They allow good coverage and the ability to perform some detail work.
• Fan: for blending broad areas of paint.
• Angle: like the filbert, these are versatile and can be applied in both general painting application as well as some detail work.
• Mop: a larger format brush with a rounded edge for broad soft paint application as well as for getting thinner glazes over existing drying layers of paint without damaging lower layers to protect the paintbrush
• Rigger: round brushes with longish hairs, traditionally used for painting the rigging in pictures of ships. They are useful for fine lines and are versatile for both oils and watercolors.
• Stippler and deer-foot stippler: short, stubby rounds
• Liner: elongated rounds
• Dagger: looks like angle with longish hairs, used for one stroke painting like painting long leaves.
• Scripts: highly elongated rounds
• Egbert: a filbert with extra long hair, used for oil painting

Types of brushes Brushes used in one stroke painting

Some other styles of brush include:

• Sumi: Similar in style to certain watercolor brushes, also with a generally thick wooden or metal handle and a broad soft hair brush that when wetted should form a fine tip. Also spelled Sumi-e (墨絵, Ink wash painting).
• Hake (刷毛): An Asian style of brush with a large broad wooden handle and an extremely fine soft hair used in counterpoint to traditional Sumi brushes for covering large areas. Often made of goat hair.
• Spotter: Round brushes with just a few short bristles. These brushes are commonly used in spotting photographic prints.
• Stencil: A round brush with a flat top used on stencils to ensure the bristles don't get underneath. Also used to create texture.

Art sizes

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Artists' brushes are usually given numbered sizes, although there is no exact standard for their physical dimensions. From smallest to largest, the sizes are: 20/0, 12/0, 10/0, 7/0, 6/0, 5/0, 4/0 (also written 0000), 000, 00, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30, 2 inch, 4 inch, 6 inch, and 8 inch. Brushes as fine as 30/0 are manufactured by major companies, but are not a common size. Sizes 000 to 20 are most common.[3][5]: 51 

Art bristles

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Closeup of an oil paintbrush

Bristles may be natural—either soft hair or hog bristle—or synthetic.[5]: 50  Types include:

• watercolor brushes which are usually made of sable, synthetic sable or nylon;
• oil painting brushes which are usually made of sable or bristle;
• acrylic brushes which are almost entirely nylon or synthetic.

Turpentine or thinners used in oil painting can destroy some types of synthetic brushes. However, innovations in synthetic bristle technology have produced solvent resistant synthetic bristles suitable for use in all media. Natural hair, squirrel, badger or sable are used by watercolorists due to their superior ability to absorb and hold water.

Soft hair brushes

The best of these are made from kolinsky sable, other red sables, or miniver (Russian squirrel winter coat; tail) hair. Sabeline is ox hair dyed red to look like red sable and sometimes blended with it. Camel hair is a generic term for a cheaper and lower quality alternative, usually ox. It can be other species, or a blend of species, but never includes camel. Pony, goat, mongoose and badger hair are also used.

Hog bristle

Often called China bristle or Chungking bristle. This is stiffer and stronger than soft hair. It may be bleached or unbleached.

Synthetic bristles

These are made of special multi-diameter extruded nylon filament, Taklon or polyester. These are becoming ever more popular with the development of new water based paints.

Art handles

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Artists' brush handles are commonly wooden but can also be made of molded plastic. Many mass-produced handles are made of unfinished raw wood; better quality handles are of seasoned hardwood. The wood is sealed and lacquered to give the handle a high-gloss, waterproof finish that reduces soiling and swelling. Many brush companies offer long or short brush handle sizes.

Metal ferrules may be of aluminum, nickel, copper, or nickel-plated steel. Quill ferrules are also found: these give a different "feel" to the brush, and are staple of French-style aquarel wash brushes.

References

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