Here’s another direct brush painting I did with a liner brush.
I used only the Princeton Select Liner P3750L-1 #1 to make this portrait.
I found it difficult to write with it (though not as difficult as some of the others I’ve tested), but just in case I’ll transcribe my notes:
Soft, good pigment load, really great side belly, fair [point]—but has to be lightly loaded for best result[s] for thin lines. A bit floppy, soft; and tip catches on [cold press] paper when tip [is] turning.
I was working in that 140 lb watercolor paper book from Handbook (made pre-Covid and there is no odor to these pages, I started my tests in this book so I’m going to finish them in it).
While I used only the liner for the entire painting, I did LIFT with a #3 round, probably a Princeton Snap, but I didn’t note that down. (You can see the lifting in the knitted row of stitches around the cap, and in the dangling braided cap ties.) You can see me using the side of the brush in both cheeks and the top of the forehead.
Also in the notes I made a comment: Held at an angle in lap.
That’s just a memory note to myself that I held the book at an odd angle on my lap while balancing everything. I find there is a stiffness to the drawing that I know resulted from the constant slipping of things out of my lap, and sometimes I make notes to myself about such things. They are reminders that I need to pay more attention.
But in this instance I remind myself that what I really needed to pay attention to was that brush I was testing—and that was “mission accomplished.”
Is this one of my top 10 rigger/liner brushes? I don’t think so. It’s a good brush as my notes explain, but the softness sticks with me. I do prefer more snap and I’ve found that snap in other brushes I’ve been testing.
If you like a soft brush this might suit you very well.
I’ll certainly use this one again, off and on, until I wear it out. And in a pinch I’d buy it again if I couldn’t get one of my favorites, whichever they turn out to be. Maybe it will change my mind in the meantime.
