Three things are a must for our foray into painting - a surface such as canvas or paper, paint tubes and a set of brushes. Not to forget - a desire to create, endless patience and a keen sense of observation.

Standard set of brushes available in the market are good enough for a novice painter. They are usually medium sized rounded ones with a flat or two thrown in. However as you graduate into higher levels of achievement, you will find it comfortable to paint with large sized brushes.

Brushes are made of synthetic hair or animal hair. The latter is preferable not only from an eco-friendly perspective, but also in terms of comfort that you feel when you bring brush to painting surface. Now to the specifics - usually there are 3 types of brushes.

1. Round brush - versatile to fill large spaces, as also to add finer details

2. Flat tip and squared brush - usually softer; they are ideal for defining borders, geographic shapes and straight & sharp lines

3. Natural bristle brush - Fine and wide at the same time, they serve the purpose of both the above types of brush. You can create strokes of various thickness by tilting and doing sweeping movements on the surface

Caring for brushes

1. Never leave them dipped in water for long. Ideally, lay them flat on a cloth that can absorb the dampness

2. If extra dirty, hold a piece of soap in one hand and rub the brush on it back and forth. Then rinse with water until water runs clear

3. If out of shape, you may restore the brushes to their shape, using your fingers

4. Always lay them flat to dry so that the weight is uniformly distributed across the length

5. If you have to place them vertically, the brush end should not be down. It will distort the shape and make the brush unusable.

6. Discard brushes when you feel they do not respond to your manoeuvering and they seem to have a mind of their own

Learning tips in using brushes

1. If you want to draw a straight line, it is much easier with a flat brush. Hold the flat parallel to the ground in doing so. Practise a bit, it is fun.

2. For filling large spaces, a bigger flat brush would be ideal. Say, when painting the sky or water body. You get a much smoother texture.

3. To give an impression of an uneven surface, I have tried holding a brush with paint 90 degrees vertically and bear down on it like sponging. The look is far more natural than a uniform dull shade.

4. You want to draw ropes on a sail boat or electricity lines criss crossing a village? Try dipping a piece of thread of appropriate length in paint (usually white) and smartly tough the surface with it and quickly withdraw without smudging. If done wrongly you will mess it up. With practice, however, it comes out right.

5. Remember, you cannot mix colors on paper or canvas. That has to be done on the palette. After mixing in the right proportion, you can trasnscribe on paper/canvas.

Hope you found these useful. Until next time then.

P N Krishnan