How to Keep Your Brushes Simple with Matthew White

If you feel like you’re stumbling through dozens of brushes, Matthew White, Ep102, is a great example of someone who keeps it simple.

White likes a large mop, a medium round, and then a smaller synthetic brush that has a good point. He has a few additional ones for fine lines and tiny details like birds where he uses a sign writer's brush. But generally speaking, he sticks to 3-5.

By keeping it simple, he keeps it intentional. He’s not picking up a random brush and hoping it does the job. He knows what each of these brushes do.

For his first wash, which he wants loose, he mainly uses his large mop. For his second wash where he’ll need to paint in and around things while keeping a wet edge, he primarily uses the medium round. And he saves his smaller synthetic brush for his final layer of darks using the good point to get those small final dark details.

Put it to practice:

You don't need many brushes when you know what you want those brushes to actually do.

If you feel like you're constantly rooting through a mason jars filled with brush after brush, get curious about the different jobs you need your brushes to do throughout your process.

This could be a great #20for20 project. Act as a detective and see if you can figure out how you like to use different brushes.

For example, spend 20 days where you slow down your painting process so you can get curious about how you use your brushes. After you add a layer to your painting, take a minute to notice what brush you're using. Ask what job it did and how well it did it.

You might not know the answers at first. And that’s OK. Practice asking the questions and staying curious.

If an answer pops into your mind, don’t discount it with, “That’s stupid,” or “that doesn’t matter.” You actually don’t know what matters yet so write it down.

Keep notes physically on a piece of paper so you can start building on what you’re learning.

The first thing you might discover is that there are brushes that just feel good or don’t feel good. Trust that. Put away the brushes that don’t feel good.

Next look for ones that make the kinds of marks you want in your work or hold enough paint.

Keep asking questions and trusting the answers.

Slowly you'll find your 3-4 solid work horse brushes. Not only will this make your studio less cluttered, it will help you start to get really confident with what these particular brushes can do.