FM DYNASTY FOLIAGE WAVE BRUSH
SPECIALTY BRUSH / DECORATOR SERIES 100
USED FOR:
Landscapes, Scenerys, grasses, foilage, trees, bushes, etc.
APPEARANCE:
Brush is angled with shorter bristles at the heel of the brush and longer at the toe (front) of the brush. Within the bristles, as you can see from the photo, there are long and short bristles...this is what helps you get that wonderful foliage-y look. The bristles on this brush are stiff which is exactly what is needed for the effect you are looking for.
SIZES:
The foliage wave brush is available in 4 different sizes and I would recommend the purchase of all 4. 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and 1.
BREAKING IN:
The first thing that I did when I got this brush was to give it a bath. Tepid water and a good brush brushcleaner. I then dried the brush on a nubby face towel briskly to remove any stray hairs and also to splay the brush out a bit. This is one of those brushes which "performs" better over time...there is NO wearing this brush out unless if falls apart and with an FM brush this is very unlikely. The quality is top of the line. Lay your brush(es) on the towel to dry and then stand bristles up in your brush caddy/jar.
BEGINNING TO PAINT/LOADING:
I always soak the bristles of these brushes in tepid water for at least 5 preferably 10 minutes before beginning to paint. This helps to soften the bristles which is "a good thing". The next step is to gently/but briskly dry your brush to "damp" on a nubby towel and following the vertical picture above you want to splay th e brush by pressing the heel of the brush on a hard suface and twist the brush every so slightly to spread the bristles out. This is what gives you the airy look to the foliage. HINT: When painting trees you do not want it to look rounded. You want it to look natural, and airy with the sky showing through and different areas of negative space for a more realistic look.
EFFECTS:
WATERCOLOR EFFECT:
If you want a very distant watercolor effect for your background...just a hint of color; you
would leave your brush wetter than normal, almost "drippy" and I load my entire brush with
color or colors.
OIL PAINT EFFECT: If you want to "leave" color behind on your painted piece you would load a little heavier than normal ... loading only the tips of the toe of the brush/
NORMAL ACYRLIC LOOK: Load the toe of your brush lightly with color.
With all three of these effects your touch to your surface is soft and quick pounces with just the toe of the brush. This pounce IS NOT the same pressure of pounce you use when stenciling. You want the touch to be gentle. Move your hand in different directions as you pounce on your
foliage so that you don't get a solid oval shape to your tree which is unnatural and unattractive.
With bushes, foliage, trees, etc. you will normally use 3 different colors or shades of color so that you get depth to your tree starting with dark and ending with your lightest color. Also establish your light source and this side will be the lightest of your tree.
CLEANING YOUR BRUSH: I use one of the brushy basins which is shown on my blogsite and clean my brush as I go so I don't have dried paint to contend with at the end of my session. When doing a final clean I use one of nubby heart scrubbers and my brush cleaner. When done
I once again rub briskly on a nubby towel, lay on the towel flat to dry (NO need to condition/shape these brushes) then stand bristles up in a brush caddy/jar when dry.
Shortly I will paint some foliage photos showing the effects of using this wonderful brush.
Happy Daze,
Diana
This was sooo much fun to paint. It was done on canvas using Matisse acrylic Paints, Brenda Harris mediums, Dynasty Brushes and Debbie Mitchell Stipplers. I recently purchased a barnwood frame handmade by 
I have brushes which are my ultimate favorites and they consist of several manufacturers or artist specialty brushes. Starting at the far left from left to right. All of the brushes are by FM Dynasty/Black Gold. Round, Dagger, Feather Edge Flat, Flat Shader, Oval Wash White Tip, and Dry Brush.
