Thank you for your report!
We have received your report and it is currently under investigation by a forum moderator.
Brush control
Welcome to the forum.
Here you can discuss all things art with like-minded artists, join regular painting challenges, ask questions, buy and sell art materials and much more.
Make sure you sign in or register to join the discussions.
Hang on Studio Wall
This is a Studio member-only feature!
Join our Studio membership and save your favourite Painters Online content, from gallery artwork to step-by-step guides, to your own online mood boards. Create your go-to place for inspiration and learning. Plus, members can also enjoy a range of exciting features including monthly art videos and a digital magazine library.
If you are already a Studio member, simply login to your account.
Not a Studio member? Why not try our free 30-day trial - no commitment, no credit card required
Message
Posted
Do you want me to be rude Syd ???????
I actually understand the reasons , but I think the word " Lyrical " is a bit facetious "flowing" is probably a word I would prefer. If you are standing at an easel holding the brush at the end and loosely, it will give nice marks. Each to their own. Though I would do this with a piece of charcoal and a life drawing .
I lived in Hong Kong many years ago and did a Chinese Brush painting course actually taught by a Chinese artist. The brushes were held in a very particular way and if we didn't hold it correctly , knuckles were well and truly rapped ,It hurt . But it did teach brush control.
Posted
No.
I don't.
Lyrical seems to refer to the words to songs - or poetry. Sylvia mentions "flow" - well, poems flow more than prose, and the theory seems to be that your marks will flow better if you hold the brush at the end of the handle. Either that or you'll drop the darned thing.
Edited
by Amanda
Posted
Depends on what I'm doing - "lyrical" should refer to writing or music, not painting, to which it bears no relevance. Unless you can play a lyre and paint at the same time, possibly: I think I might pay to see that...
What they mean of course is loose - not tight and constrained - free - but they had to go and use a word they've picked up from poetry (where did you find this example? We could always run the writer out of town, or, alternatively, tar and feather... Either of which seems appropriate).
I hold the brush in a variety of ways depending on what I'm trying to do with it - if it works, do it: but don't do it because you think it looks "arty", obviously. As it happens, I find that painting trees benefits from this approach, or can do .... but I would be very cautious about getting self-conscious about it; Chinese painting does require this approach, called "the way of the brush", but that's a very different brush, a particular grip, and I understand you can't write in Chinese calligraphy any other way. But then as I can't manage Chinese calligraphy anyway, it doesn't much matter to me. Watching traditional Chinese artists at work - not those who mass produce knock-off copies of the old masters and flog them to the unsuspecting, the tasteless, and those who have a big wall to fill up at minimal cost (what they want is anaglypta wallpaper...) - is absorbing; but it's not this technique.
If you use a swordliner or dagger brush - and I seem to remember Syd that you acquired one - you might find that holding it towards the end of the handle would bring rewards: the danger of course being that you could get carried away and find yourself inadvertently flinging it across the room or right into the ear-hole of Mrs Syd, which would occasion recriminations and a certain amount of muttering about the Bide-a-Wee Old People's Home and Secure Reformatory. Err on the side of restraint, I suggest......
Posted
Painterly - yes; good word, if usefully vague: I certainly prefer it to "lyrical". I think Erebus's point is interesting because it shows how differently we approach these things - if I used his approach I know I would get tight and niggling, to which I have something of a leaning to start with; he, be it said, does not - right and wrong doesn't exist here: you get to develop your own handwriting, which we tend to call "style", over time, and I think the most one can say is that maybe it's a good idea to experiment with holding the brush in different ways but if you're happy with what you're doing, keep doing it. You can't readily force yourself into a different way of doing this, especially if we don't have North Light's tutor to rap us over the knuckles if we do it wrong.
Posted
I don't know about 'lyrical' but I hold the long handled brushes in a hammer grip for blocking in and most other parts except for any fine detail when I resort to a pen grip. The hammer grip encourages a looser approach, which is my personal preference, and is probably as close to lyrical I am likely to get in this life!
Posted
Just worth repeating this perhaps - interesting though the digression into Chinese painting and calligraphy is (in the hands of a master in the technique it's not boring, but it's a technique I've not yet seen a westerner able to master: it takes years of practice and for a Chinese is part of the same culture which produces the handwriting - calligraphy - they use every day of their lives) it hasn't got a lot to do with the original subject of the post: it's a very, very specialized area, away from the way in which we would expect to use a brush. The brushes are totally different, too - you can use Chinese brushes for western-style watercolour, though I suspect that might make a Chinese or Japanese painter wince, but if you do, other considerations come into play which are distant by some way from Syd's original post.
If you do want to pursue Chinese painting further, there are demonstrations by Lian Quanzhen (I'm typing that from memory, so hope you'd be able to find him) which would be interesting. Even a superficial look at them, however, would tell you that this is very much not the sort of thing that was in Syd's mind when he kicked this topic off.
Posted
I.M.O. Syd, lyrical stroke might be a reference to the action of an orchestral conductor, with an air of nonchalance. As a beginner experimenting with different strokes, I find certain styles benefit certain mediums. The approach of stiff waisted, arm movement I've tried and found this beneficial for heavy, impasto style with a slightly aggressive approach. Holding the brush nearer the end does encourage a looser approach, whilst near the ferrul I find more conducive to detail work. Also the type of brushes used,whether hog type or sable will have a bearing on what stroke is produced. The beauty to all this is the journey, and the excitement of finding a new method or style that works.
Posted
AFAIK, these acronyms (many of which are TLAs) often derive from TXT MSG speak or the IT world (and I have an MSc in that subject).
IMHO, they are redundant and rather impolite outside of their original context. I make a point of understanding them but as I very rarely ROFL, or actually LOL (let alone PMSL) when communicating via ICT, I seldom use any of them. If I tried really hard, I daresay I could squish a few more of them into this example text but it does go against the grain for a well brought up TW.
-----TRANSLATION----
As far as I know, these acronyms (many of which are three letter acronyms) often derive from text message speak or the Information Technology world (and I have an Master of Science degree in that subject).
In my humble opinion, they are redundant and rather impolite outside of their original context. I make a point of understanding them but as I very rarely roll on the floor laughing, or actually laugh out loud (and you don't want to know what the other one is as it is slightly rude and would have been most embarassing for me) when communicating via information communication technology, I seldom use any of them. If I tried really hard, I daresay I could squish a few more of them into this example text but it does go against the grain for a well brought up technical writer.
-------------------------------
DISCLAIMER: Fun is being poked at the phenomenom, not the unwitting user of the abbreviations
Edited
by Amanda
Posted
I did a list of NHS acronyms and abbreviations a while ago = I tended toward the vulgar, to be entirely honest, open, and manly about it...... Nothing like a bit of smut to make the office admin team chortle.....
Every profession has them, and the Internet has added to the phenomenon by creating its own - to be honest (again; and is one not ALWAYS honest, despite what the Judge said?) they annoy me. IMHO they're a BUGGER (bleeding unnecessary gurt great excess of rubbish). While I'm never one for extremes, I do think people using them ought to be shot. ROFL.