Brush training for Nail-Art brushes

Brush training for
Nail-Art brushes
Content
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The historical development of brushes and brush production

Parts of an artist brush and quality relevant attributes

The brush head

The handle

Presentation of different applications and brush shapes
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Choosing the right brush with the brush symbols

The right brush care
The historical development of brushes
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The desire to create a nice home
inspired mankind to search for suitable
colours and tools
Oldest documents of art was
discovered in South-West-France and
North Spain: cave-paintings of Altamira
dated 18000 – 13000 B.C.
First these paitings were considered to
be counterfeits.
The historical development of brushes


During excavations a „painter's
studio“ was discovered
Brushes made of bones and animal
hair

Different sizes and lengths

Paints made of animal fat and blood.
The historical development of brushes

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Brushes counted as on of the oldest
tools of mankind
Brushmaking is over all one of the
oldest trades
In the past times brushes were made
by artists themselves and by their
assistants
The historical development of brushes


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About 250 years ago brushmaking became a separate trade
The German centres of brush
production are in Bechhofen and
Nuremberg
The only vocational school for the
training to become a brushmaker
(3 years) is in Bechhofen
Parts of a brush
hair / bristle
adhesive
Ferrule
Crimping / glueing
crimping / glueing
Pressung
/ Verklebung
Brush handle
Brush handle
stamp / imprint
Material for the brush head

Significant for the quality of a brush

Basics:
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Natural hair
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Synthetic hair
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Natural bristle

Synthetic bristle
hair
tip
shaft
root
bristle
root

shaft
flag
For natural hair and bristle the climate is very significant:
The colder the area and weather, the better the quality
Natural hair

The hair has one individual tip. The surface of the hair is
rough.
root

shaft
Before the hair can be used
by the brushmaker, it has to
be washed and thoroughly
cleaned. The different hair
lengths are separated and
sold in bundles.
tip
Natural hair

Kolinsky
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Hair of highest quality and price
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Taken from the tail of the red sable Kolinsky

Lives in Siberia and North China

Purchasing price for 1 kg: up to 12.000 €

Tips of the hair very long and thin
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High paint holding capacity

High flexibility

Perfect hair for liquid media
Natural hair

Red sable

Very valuable hair, similar to Kolinsky

Single hair tips not as long as of
Kolinsky

Suitable especially for water colour
brushes, liners,

Suitable for application of acrylics in
nail design
Other types of natural hair
not relevant for nail brushes
• Squirrel hair
– Hair taken from the tail of squirrels, very soft
• Ox hair
– Hair taken from the ox ear, medium stiffness
• Fitchew hair
– Hair taken from the tail of the animal
» Badger
» Used for shaving brushes
» Pony hair (also know as camel hair)
» Taken from the fur of ponys
» Goat
» Taken from the back of goats
» Used for powder and rouge brushes
Synthetic hair

The hair has one individual tip. The surface of the hair is
even and smooth.
root




shaft
Synthetic hair imitates the
attributes of natural hair
Available in different diameters
and colours
Substituting more and more
simple natural hair qualities
The best quality of a synthetic
brush is achieved by a perfect
mixture of different diameters
and qualities
tip
Synthetic hair

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Originally used for “punched” brushes and simple
school paint brushes (without tip!)
Higher qualities meeting higher requirements were
developed in Japan by Toray.

Almost at the same time competitor Teijin
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In the meantime various copies from Far East

Most used diameters: 0,07, 0,10 und 0,15mm
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Tip treated chemically and /or mechanically
Synthetic hair
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Toray

Synthetic hair of very good
quality

High elasticity
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High shape retention
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Mostly used in golden colour,
also white, black and wine read
and various mixtures
Very suitable for gel application
Synthetic hair
„Toray“ selection gold
- Mixture of different diameters, for
every brush size an individual
mixture
- Best results in elasticity, shape
retention and paint holding capacity
- Used for high quality nail design
brushes, mainly gel application
Synthetic hair
•
Toray selection „Tiger Toray“
– Toray hair imitating natural
colours
– The single fibre is extremely
conical shaped
– High shape retention, great
snap
– Highest liquid holding capacity
for synthetic filaments
Common Toray
Tiger Toray
Synthetic hair
•
Wine red Toray
– Toray hair with different diameters
– Wine red colour
– Excellent stability
– High shape retention and low abrasion
– Perfect for gel application and OneStroke-technique
Synthetic hair
• Konex
– Toray imitation
– Made in Korea
– Often in golden or white colour
– Only used in 0,10mm
– For economic brushes and basic
equipment
• Other brands for synthetic fibres
– Orolux, Sintelux, Jax, Artisan ...
Natural bristle

The bristle has multiple tips = flag. The surface of a natural
bristle is rough.
root



shaft
Before bristle can be used by
the brushmaker, it has to be
cleaned thoroughly and
bleached.
The naturally twisted bristle are
bound, cooked and dried
After this process they are
separated in the same length
flag
Natural bristle

Natural hog bristle mostly from China

Especially strong, because pics are grown
in free-range husbandry

Mostly taken from the back of the pics, because
there it is the longest and strongest

Colours: white bleached, grey, black

For brushes mainly white bleached
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Chungking bristle is especially strong
Synthetic bristle
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Synthetic bristle for artist brushes can have one or multiple
tip. The surface is rather smooth.
The synthetic bristle used for
brushes is mainly prepared in
Germany
Basic material is Nylon 612
The synthetic bristle is produced
through different mechanical
processes
Synthetic Bristle - BRISLON
BRISLON

Perfect imitation of natural bristle
with artificial flag

Suitable for pastose media

Light colour like natural bristle

Great capillary effect
®
Summary
Quality attributes brush head

Paint and water holding capacity
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Elasticity

Strength and length of tips
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Shape retention
Ferrules
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Seamless ferrules

Made of metal tubes
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Silver ferrule:nickel-plated brass tube
Golden ferrule: nickel-plated & gold-plated
brass tube
Aluminium ferrule: made of 99%
pure aluminium
Ferrules with seam

Cut out of metal plates

Wraped over a mandrel and soldered


Nickel ferrule: made of nickel plated tin or copper
Metal ferrule: made of tin
•
Raw material
Handles
– Mainly beech and poplar wood from native and renewable forrests in
Europe
– Acrylic handle, plastic handle, aluminium handle
•
Varnish
– Different colours,
– different surface effects
•
Shapes
– Round “English shape”
– Round short
– cylinder shape
– 3-edged-shape
– Straight shape:
acrylic handle or aluminium ZIGMA-Line
How can I find the right brush ?
• Application
– media
gel or acrylics
– technique
e.g. one-stroke
– effects
e.g. nail art
Application
- regarding media -
• acrylics
•
Requires highest quality of red sable and Kolinsky
brushes
•
Optimized liquid holding capacity is essential
•
Fine but stable tip with good snap is required
Application
- regarding media • Gel application:
•
Mainly brushes with synthetic fibres:
– Golden Toray
– Wine red Toray
– Tiger Toray
– Synthetic fibre imitating sable
– The different fibres should be tested with
the chosen gel

Red sable:
– Used for gel in flat shape
– Special shapes for NailArt and 3D
Brush care
Brushes should be valuable tools and not through-away products
For a long duration here some advice:

Never let the brush stand too long in water or cleaning detergent. The brush
head can become loose or the ferrule can become rusty.

Always clean the brush thoroughly after every use.

Remove colour from brush head and ferrule
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Dry moisture with clean tissue or cloth

Hand the brush upside down to dry

Dry the brush with room temperature