"This is why we can't have nice things!"

Like all painters I started with a basic set of synthetic paintbrushes. They got ratty, and the hairs split and fell out, and they just didn't do the job I wanted them to do. And like most painters, I finally caved in and bought a $15 paintbrush made of natural sable hair. The thing is amazing - it holds paint in the brush rather than creating a weird globe of paint in and around the brush, and smoothly releases the paint. I put that thing to work as soon as I got it, and it was definitely worth the money I paid.

However, one day I was cleaning the brush with some Masters Brush Cleaner (if you don't have it, get it), and I noticed that a hair had come loose from my brush. I was horrified, because that's what happened to my GW brushes right before they took a nosedive and became nearly unusable. I carefully finished cleaning the brush and put it away. That was a couple months ago, and I still haven't had the courage to use it again.

It sounds silly, right? I bought a high-end brush that I'm now afraid to use. If I didn't have an airbrush it may have been used once or twice on a big surface, but I've still been trying to make my cheaper brushes work simply because it's not as heartbreaking when they start to die. My Winsor Newton is clearly the better choice unless I'm doing a job where the brush is just too big, but when I go to pick it up I think to myself well, I could just be a little more careful with a synthetic one and try to make it work.

I've been using my GW detail brush almost exclusively, and I really really want to get a Winsor Newton brush of the same size. I've been lucky that this one has been lasting me so long, but I know that if I were to get a size 1 or 0 I'd probably never touch another brush. Still, I think of that hair falling out and how more could come loose if I use the brush again, and I continue using my less-amazing synthetic brush.

What amazes me is that people talk about having their brushes for years without issue. Maybe I wasn't delicate enough, which wouldn't surprise me, but I was babying that thing. I guess a hair or two coming loose shouldn't be the end of the world, since a few hairs may not be properly glued.

It's like my conundrum with buying a single expensive model over several smaller ones. If I buy 3 brushes that do a B+ job, I can afford to lose them over time because the purchases seem smaller. But if I roll all that money in to a single purchase that does A+ work, and I somehow mess up the brush, I will probably snap the brush in frustration.

But I'm getting a colossal, and I feel really good about it. I won't use my huge model all the time, just like I probably wouldn't use a natural detail brush all the time. But when I do use the brush, I know I'll be happy. It's just getting over that fear of breaking it, and I just can't get over that hurdle.



So for those of you with an expensive brush (or any tool, really), how do you get over the fear of ruining a single item that costs three times what you'd pay for a junkier version? The results probably aren't three times better, so why put all your eggs in one basket? If you've used a natural brush before, have your results been worth that extra price? Let me know!

See you tomorrow!

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