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Guitar brand brushes - extinct?
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Posted
I doubt that anyone is going to know the answer to this - there's a positive attitude.....
I have a small number of Guitar brand hog-hair brushes - cream handles, beautifully made. I would think they're at least 30 years old, and they were products of a Japanese company (may have been Sakura?). They're just about perfect for the way I prefer to work - stiff, springy, coming to a good chisel edge - but I've not seen the brand for years now. Maybe they were taken over by another company, just possibly a similar quality is still available. If you happen to know what happened to Guitar brushes, I'd love to know.
I know there are many other suppliers of oil painting brushes, and of course I know about Jackson's, Rosemary & Co, and more. But I'd snap up more of these particular brushes, could I but find them.
Posted
Thank 'ee, Peter. Thing is, I'm gingerly approaching 70, and have been painting for at least 50 years (I'll learn how, one day). Guitar is a brand that seems to have just vanished over that time, but the fact that I'm still using their long flat hogs today must say something for their quality.
I've found some interesting looking hogs on Rosemary & Co's site - and I remember that Syd Edward always recommended black hogs, from Jackson's. I have some Roberson brushes, too - how often do you see those these days? The company does at least still exist, though - but are wholesalers; I think some artists still have individual accounts with them, but the days when I could paint in bulk are sadly past - so I wouldn't qualify for an account with them (unless they're watching, and can tell me differently).
I wonder if this is really any more than nostalgia, to be honest - but do find that the highest quality vintage materials, from traditional artists' suppliers (or 'artists' colourmen' as they used to be called) still have the edge over some more modern products. Either that, or I'm just stuck in the past......
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Posted
Yes, Jackson’s black hog are excellent, I’ve been using them this morning in actual fact.
They will take a bit of rough treatment, I’m a devil for scrubbing in some of my passages, so not surprising that I get through a lot over a year.
They’re a bit longer in the fitch (if that’s the right word), than R&Co, which suits me better!
Posted
Good enough for me, I'll buy a few. Long - yes, that's what the Guitar brushes have, too - and I like long bristles ('fitch' may well be the right word, I'll have to look it up).
It's time I treated myself - I've just spent £118 on paint, so it seems only reasonable - and I know you'll agree - to add a few more brushes to apply it with; plus some conté crayon; some paper; a few more supports; and anything else I can think of while I'm at it: all suggestions gratefully received!
Posted
I do sometimes forget just how old I am ............ but, I'm only 70, and even that not quite yet...... I remember, indeed have proof of the existence of, this brand (it did exist: really it did!).......
Japanese hogs were very good brushes; much better than, e.g., the piggy bristles that were Jakar - which were and are utter junk. There are alternatives, and the best of those are what you should buy, rather than the rough-as-guts, crude bristles you can find offered in too many places. Economies on brushes just never pay off.