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Outline technique
I have just bought some Mack Outliner brushes, Series 839. I have been trying to use these brushes but I think they are very difficult to handle. I think I maybe don’t know the right technique.
So please, tell me how to use them. The best would be a video on YouTube or something?
Thanks.
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10 Replies
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Hi Lars, this may help
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6tMdL_FF3 … re=related
Google Alan Johnson and buy his books, he’s a master and you can learn a lot from him.
Ultimately though it’s down to practice, practice and even more practice.
Neil
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Hi Neil.
Thanks for the video but I all ready do alot of pinstripes and I don’t have problems with that.
I have some of alan johnsons books but I can’t find answers about these outlining brushes. How to use them and stuff. In Denmark its difficult to get the right tools for sign painting, because we only do foil now, so theres no one who knows how to use the brushes.
I have learned by myself how to use lettering brushes and pinstripes brushes but I just cant make these outlining brushes work.
Another question is, should I flat the brush hair with oil after using them like lettering brushes? Or should I store the brush hair be more like a spike/peak after oil?[/list]
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Hi Lars, I don’t have any of the Mack lining brushes.
Years ago we used a similar brush called a ‘Pointer’ or a ‘Round’ that we oiled to keep the bristles in a point or spike. I imagine you would oil them that way.
These are great for fine lining and control around curves or scroll work.How are you holding the brush? Like a sword striper or a lettering brush?
I would hold it and use the same way as I would a lettering brush.
Neil
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Can you post a pic of the brush?
Or find a link to it on this site:
http://www.mackbrush.com/
Just want to see which one it is.
Love…..Jill -
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Yeah, exactly that brush. Size 1, 3 and 5.
I hold them like I hold lettering brushes and I oil them as on the picture. Maybe I should try oil the bristles in a point like you say. I have been trying to use the ‘mack virus’ brush too, to make outlines of the letters but I cant make the corners of the letters sharp enough. That’s why I bought the mack outliner brushes because I thought when the bristles was long to do curves and was oiled flat, then I could make long curved outlines and sharp corners with the same brush.
One more question, when I use the brush I roll it between thumb and forefinger when I come to the curves, like you do with a sword striper.
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I do not like the Virus brush at all. Bought one and gave it away.
Those almost remind me of a Swirley-Q, one of my favorite brushes.
I can’t tell you how to hold a brush because I hold mine the wrong way.
Yes, do the roll when you need to.
Yes, oil when not in use. I like Kafka’s brush oil or just baby oil.
Are you working the paint all the way up into the ferrule?
Do you palette your brush on old magazines or the side of your cup (I do that)
I think it is all a matter of getting used to. That brush will seem so long to you at first, but you will get it broken in and become more familiar with it as you practice.
I love the Alan Johnson signature brush too, the bigger one.
And Alan is a nice guy in person. Wish I could paint like him.
And I stink when it comes to using a sword striper! Even the long-handled ones. -
Hi Jill!
I palette the brush on a magazine. yesterday I managed to find out how to hold the brush and it works fine. Now I just need to practice alot more.
I think its a little bit difficult to find out how thin the enamel should be.
A last question is, should I oil the bristles flat or in a point/spike?
until now I oil the bristles flat like lettering brushes.
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Believe me, I’m no expert but being a rookie too, I’ve had the same questions.
First, the oiling is just to help maintain the hairs and prevent any small amount of paint left in the brush from hardening. I don’t think it "trains" the hairs in any particular way. All the painters I know (AJ included) just lay their brushes down flat in a tray with oil.How much paint in the brush? Two things……like Jill said, palette the brush with the paint. Skim off enough of the paint so that the hairs are not "floating" on the paint………(if there is too much paint on the brush, it will "slide"), you should feel a little drag when it’s right. A touch of reducer will help too.
I’ve been using the "Virus" from Mack and like it…..but then again, I’m a carver, not a painter (I got the set as a gift from the guy that designed it which makes it even better! )
Don’t take any of this info to the bank, but it may help.
Keep at it!!! 😀
Joe,
Makin Chips and Havin Fun! 🙄 🙄
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Hi Lars, everyone
I’m new on the board but thought I’d pipe in with my two cents!
I’ve never used outlining brushes…never bothered with them, flopping all over the place. I did a gold job with an outline on a block of 100 year old sandstone only the other week with 50mm letters (would have been hard with an outlining brush).
I always outlined with a standard brush, sable/ox hair mix.
I found pure sables are too soft.
In regards to oiling/greasing brushes, I always oiled, then greased the brush to a chisel, I like the sharp "corners" I could get.
I was taught to grease it to a point..that way the hair gets uniformly worn down and you’re brushes last longer. When you grease to a chisel point like I do, you’re "corners" of the brush wear round, who cares, I just replaced brushes more often.
The main thing in outlining I found is planning you’re ‘attack’ on the letter, but being a striper you would already have this ingrained in you’re method.
Start at 10 o’clock on an ‘O’ and try to get to 7 o’clock going clockwise so you’re next stroke will be from 11 o’clock to 5 o’clock and you’re strokes will blend in perfectly, stuff like that…the rest is plain old practice.
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