Filament Types
Artist quality filaments fall into one of two categories:
- Natural animal hair such as sable, squirrel, pony, goat, ox, badger, mongoose, hog bristle, etc.
- Synthetic filaments which are man-made manufactured fibers such as Nylon, Taklon, or polyester.
Natural Hair
Natural hair has the ability to act as a reservoir and release liquid in a controlled manner according to a painters actions. Natural hair has a center structure called the medulla which is covered by a thick sheath known as the cortex and layered by a shell of scales. These scales and hollows within the center structure hold and trap the liquid, releasing it as pressure is applied to the brush.
Sables
The large family of sable brushes are all derived from members of the weasel family, and are considered to be the highest quality natural hair brushes. The various types of sable brush—kolinsky sable, red sable, and black sable/fitch— are each referred to specifically.
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Kolinsky Sable
Kolinsky sable is selected from the tail hairs of a species of mink which is a member of the weasel family. This filament is native to Siberia and northeastern China where the cold weather enables the animal to grow a long, thick coat. The male Kolinsky tails are the longest, most valuable, and highest quality of all artist filaments. They are the standard of softness, spring, strength, resiliency, and absorbency by which all other brushes are judged. Pure Kolinsky sables are the content of the finest watercolor brushes. Male Kolinsky is unmatched in sensitivity and durability. It allows for an even and gradual distribution of paint like no other brush. These male Kolinsky’s are generally not recommended for use in oil paints as the harsh oil and solvents will damage the fine hair. Unless specifically marked as “male kolinsky” most Kolinsky brushes are a blend of male and female (shorter) tail hair, and are excellent filaments for oil and watercolor. Kolinsky sable has unparalleled springiness and snap, and can hold great amounts of color and water. This filament offers great control and a fine point that returns immediately to a wet brush when it is raised from the painting surface. This makes Kolinsky sable excellent for precision work and applying smooth, flat, brush strokes. Significantly softer and more pliable than bristle, but stiffer than squirrel hair, Kolinsky sable’s softness makes it excellent for blending, glazing, and manipulating thinned oil paint, or liquid mediums such as watercolor, gouache, ink, or tempera. This is an exceptionally resilient hair, that when cleaned and cared for, should last a lifetime.
- Oil, Watercolor, Gouache, Ink, Tempera
View All Kolinsky Sable Brushes
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Red Sable
Red sable hair is any “red” shade of hair from any member of the weasel family. The highest quality weasel hair comes from the tails of male minks, or Kolinsky Sables. Red sables that are not specifically “Kolinsky” brushes, are made with weasel hair which can vary widely in quality and characteristics. Weasel hair is generally considered second best to Kolinsky. The best hair always come from male tails of European or Chinese weasels. Lesser quality hair can be a blend of male and female, and can be taken from other areas of the animal. This filament is a good quality and relatively economical choice. Although red sable hairs are not as soft or springy as Kolinsky hairs, they can be 40% less expensive, especially in the larger sizes. Red sable has a naturally thick belly, which provides good spring, snap, and water holding capacity. During construction this thickness is placed just inside or outside the ferrule. With high quality brushes, long hairs are used, and half of their length is contained within the ferrule.
The combined qualities of strength, spring, and absorbency make high quality red sable brushes the best choice for watercolor, a media that requires great water holding capacity, shape retention, and a fine point when wet. Red sable also performs well with both oils and acrylics. This filament is often preferred by many oil painters for quality, economy, and ability to produce smooth, flat, precise strokes and subtle blending.
- Oil, Watercolor, Gouache, Ink, Tempera
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Black Sable (Fitch)
Black sable, also known as fitch hair, comes from the polecat, an animal that is closely related to the ferret and is a member of the weasel family. This filament is sometimes called Russian sable, or Russian black sable. The highest quality fitch hair derives from Siberia and Northeastern China. It’s color can vary from light tan to almost black.
Fitch has long been known as a traditional oil painting filament favored by realist and portrait painters. In terms of stiffness, this filament lies directly between Chungking bristle and the Kolinsky red sable hair. It is slightly stiffer and more rugged than red sable, but gives the painter many of the benefits of red sable— it’s stiffness allows for bristle-like strokes, but it has an exceptional smoothness that won’t mark the paint surface. Black sable is excellent for delicate blending, smoothing out ridges, and fine detail. This is a highly responsive and resilient filament that works exceptionally well with lightly thinned oil color.
- Oil, Gouache, Tempera
Squirrel
Most squirrel hair for brushes comes from Canada and Russia. There are three main types of Squirrel hair:
- Talahutky is long, strong, and greyish in color. Used mainly for lettering or sign brushes
- Kazan is brown-black, finely tipped, elastic, and used largely for watercolor, wash, and mop brushes
- Sacamena is blue-black and is the softest of all squirrel hairs. It is used for making some of the highest quality watercolor brushes.
All squirrel hair is soft, delicate and absorbent; an ideal filament for watercolor, ink, gouache, thinned acrylic, casein, tempera, ceramics, porcelain, or any medium that requires the manipulation of large amounts of water or fluid.
Squirrel hair brushes are similar to Kolinsky brushes in that they are both very soft, keep an excellent point when wet, and have thick bodies to hold paint. Like Kolinsky, squirrel hair is so fine that it’s brush strokes will leave no voids or tracks. Squirrel differs from Kolinsky in that it has little spring or snap. This lack of snap makes squirrel hair ill-suited for use with thick or heavy bodied paints.
- Watercolor, Ink, Gouache, Tempera
Ox
Ox hair is derived from behind the ears of cattle or oxen. The highest quality hair comes from South America and Europe. Top grade ox hair is resilient, springy, has a good deal of snap, and can be silky to the touch. However, this filament lacks a fine tip, so it is often blended with other natural hairs to make it more resilient and increase its body. Ox hair has a long history of use in watercolor, oil, acrylic, tempera, and sign painting brushes. Although it is a durable, strong bristle, ox hair is not as stiff as Chungking bristle, but is more rigid and springier than kolinsky and red sable.
Ox hair is an economical and versatile filament. The hair has excellent color and water holding capacity but is stiff enough to move heavy paint and create textured impasto effects. Coarser, stiffer ox hair is usually darker in color and is often shaped into flats and brights for lettering, stenciling, and stippling with oils, acrylics, and sign paint. The softer, finer, “light ox” is more suited for fine varnish, mottling, precise edging, striping, and strokes in watercolor, acrylic, oils, and sign paint.
- All Media
Bristle
All bristle hair is derived from domesticated pigs, or hogs. This is probably the most frequently used natural hair for brushes due to its resiliency and economy. Compared to other natural hair brushes, hog bristle is stiffer and coarser and can carry heavy paint or mediums with great durability, resiliency and spring. This is a filament that can take quite a bit of wear and stand up remarkably to it.
Hog bristle has deep, long, v-shaped splits or “flags” at the tips. These flags help to hold and spread a remarkable amount of paint over a large surface area. The most desirable hog bristle comes from the Chinese region of Chungking. Chungking bristle often has seven to nine flags, making it the best choice for a brush. Since hog bristle has a natural curve, each filament is created by two interlocked bundles that face each other to create a tight and precise brush shape which resists splaying even with years of rough usage.
Both oil and acrylic painters rely on a variety of hog bristle brushes. These strong, robust brushes maintain their shape and stiffness with heavy usage over even the roughest painting surface and most viscous fluids. Many artists use hog bristle for anything from gesso work, preparatory underpainting, broad marks, impasto, etc. Hog bristle is excellent with oil, acrylics, tempera, or any other heavier bodied paint.
- Oil, Acrylic, Tempera
Mongoose
Although Mongoose is native to Asia, Africa, and Europe, it is considered endangered in almost all countries except India which has an over-abundance of Mongoose and is thus one of the few legal sources of artist quality Mongoose hair.
A soft and springy brush with a distinctive dark brown tip, cream-colored body, and dark roots, Mongoose hair resembles the variegated colored body of badger. Mongoose is also close in its appearance and performance to Kolinsky Sable. Like sable, mongoose is resilient, responsive and firm, tapers to a fine point, and is velvet to the touch. Unlike sable, mongoose hair tends to be longer, thicker, and stiffer. This filament is traditionally used with oil and acrylic. It is a good choice when bristle would be too stiff and sable would be too soft to push thicker body paints. It is ideal for glazing techniques, adding highlights and tonal values, and is excellent as a fan brush. Mongoose is usually priced between sable and bristle, and is often an affordable alternative to sable, especially with larger size brushes.
- Oil, Acrylic
Badger
Badger hair comes from the back of the badger, and in some cases is as long as 4 inches. Although badger is native to many countries, China leads in the production of this filament. Badger hair brushes have a bushy appearance as the hair is cone-shaped, thick near the tip and thin at the root. Not as springy as sable hair, badger hair has great rebound and good shape retention. Badger hair has a long history of use by oil painters as a blending brush. Its thickness, length, softness, and affordability make it a superior brush for blending, glazing, and varnish applications. It’s versatility makes it popular amongst faux painters decorating walls and furniture. Badger hair is also often used in shaving and make-up brushes as its tips are soft and fine, and its belly thick. These qualities make it a delicate enough filament for art preservation or the cleaning of dried paintings.
Although the highest quality badger hairs are quite soft, average and low grade badger hair tends to be rather stiff. Poorer grade hair also tends to be gray in color, while top grade hair has a light-dark-light appearance. The most expensive varieties are white-tip or high-mountain badger from the Pyrenees Mountains, these like most badger hairs are used for blending applications.
- Oil
Pony
This fine, soft filament is derived from the man of young horses. The highest quality pony hair comes from the belly of the animal which is usually blended with other filaments for a lower cost watercolor and touch up brush. Due to the extreme lengths possible for pony hair, this is a popular filament for Asian watercolor and calligraphy. Each hair is lined with many water-trapping pockets that make it exceptionally absorbent and well suited for Sumi painting.
As pony hair does not stay together well when wet, it is often partially starched or covered with an outside layer of sheep hair. Although this helps the pony hair keep a better shape and point, this filament is most often used an an economical grade school brush, cosmetic brush, or as a filler to reduce the price of a more expensive filament.
- Ink, Watercolor, Acrylic, Tempera, Decorative
Camel
Brushes designated as “camel” hair brushes do not contain camel hair at all, but a variety of inexpensive hairs such as pony, bear, sheep, ox, goat and lesser grades of squirrel. These filaments range greatly in softness and quality. They are usually very moderately priced.
Camel hair is usually found in mottlers, mops, and other watercolor and lettering brushes as well cosmetic brushes, grade school brushes, dusting brushes, and cheap disposable brushes for paint and adhesives.
- Ink, Watercolor, Acrylic, Tempera, Decorative
Synthetics
Synthetic filaments are manufactured out of either nylon or polyester fibers, a common tradename of which is Taklon. Synthetics are designed in a variety of diameters, lengths, colors, stiffnesses, and qualities to look and function like natural hair brushes. Although originally designed in the 1950’s for house painting brushes, they have recently become accepted in the fine and applied arts as a suitable and affordable alternative to artist-quality natural hair.
Depending on their treatment, synthetics can be made as thin as squirrel hair or as thick as hog bristle. They can be tapered to a fine point like natural hair, flagged like hog hair, and etched with acidic substances to create tiny pits or abrasions mimicking the scaley, water-absorbing surface of animal fur.
Although synthetics are suitable for all mediums, they are generally used to make medium-priced brushes for watercolor and acrylic painting. Disadvantages to synthetics are that they hold less paint, do not have as fine a tip, and do not always distribute color evenly. However, they are generally cheaper, more durable, and easier to clean than natural hair.
- All Media
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