More Than Makeup Brushes

Have you ever forgotten to wash your paint brushes between projects, so now you’re stuck with an unpainted canvas, a quickly approaching art fair deadline, and brushes stiff enough to give yourself a stick-and-poke tattoo? No? Maybe that’s just me. I took the opportunity to test how the art of makeup meets with the art of painting using my Sigma Brushes.

My first project was a small oil painting of a shoreline. F40 Large Angled Contour Brush was ideal for establishing the wide details of the painting; the burning sunset in the background, the shape of the hilly shore, and the ocean that ran the length of the image. The F03 High Cheekbone Highlighter™ Brush was perfect for blending the rolling curves of the waves and adding the finer details to the painting, like the streaks of shadowy purple that run along the shoreline and add depth to the hills. For the finishing touches, I used the E25 Blending Brush to add whitecaps to the waves and rocks to the shoreline. And, of course, the E11 Bent Liner Brush makes for a phenomenal quill to sign your name along the bottom.

My second entry is a thrown clay bowl that I glazed in a powdered blue. The F10 Powder/Blush Brush made painting on the several layers of glaze not only easier, but faster as well. Because of the dense fibers of the brush, it held more glaze and distributed it evenly across the bowl’s surface coat after coat. 

Same held true for glazing the vase, and I utilized the small brush head of the E06 Winged Liner™ Brush to get into the small detailed cracks on the exterior. Using the 3DHD™ Blender, I was able to remove excess glaze without creating buildup on other areas, and I finished it with the same F10 Powder/Blush Brush technique I used on the bowl.

And then came the portion of the day every artist dreads: clean up. I had put my Sigma Brushes through a lot, and I was worried that these stains would never come out. Fortunately, Sigma Brush Care products are pretty good at their job. At the end of the day, the water ran clear and the brushes were clean, even the handles. The smooth polymer handle provides an easy-to-clean surface, just scrubbing at the stains under warm running water pulled the paint right off.

As a matter of fact, after my art fair experience, we ran a test of our brushes against other non-makeup mediums when they were fresh on the brush. Everything from fresh mod podge to craft glue to watercolors washed out without a problem. Just don’t let it dry on the brush like I did. Glue is still glue.