Thank you for your report!
We have received your report and it is currently under investigation by a forum moderator.
Is this hake ok?
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
I recently bought a new hake, its called an Artist Hake by Jacksons. Probably their own brand and quite cheap. But unlike all the hakes I see people use on you tube mine dos not form a neat edge to the bristles but splays and forms a tufty brush type of edge. Is this right? Im trying to post a picture.
Have I wasted my money or is this how they all start??
David
Posted
Hard to see what's going on, but this may be just that the brush is coated with a shellac or something similar and needs a gentle wash in plain soap and water. Try that - cool water at most - shape the brush with your fingers and leave to dry.
Does it feel - before you've washed it that is - rough and stiff? Is it clumping? If so, I wouldn't be surprised if it's a quite cheap import (but no hake should be tremendously expensive) which has had a coat of something to keep it from damage in transit and prevent mould in the hair.
When you've washed it, left it for around 12 hours so it dries completely, it should feel soft and springy. If it still looks as if you've got an airedale's tail on a stick, and feels as ropey as it looks - yup: send it back.
Posted
I use a hake, and am not sure there's not some misunderstanding here.
The brush will not, when dry, form a crisp edge - it'll fluff out like a dusting mop (in fact if you get fed up with it as a brush, it's rather good at cleaning off your bric-a-brac..); or it should. It won't look, as yours did when you photographed it, like the underbelly of a wet rat. The hake should be made of goat hair, and while my acquaintance with goats is, if not non-existent at least not extensive, their hair is not noted for its crispness.
It will - or should - assume a crisp edge when the tip is dipped in water: while it's good for wetting paper when fully charged (rather too good) you don't wet the whole brush and slosh the paint on with it if you're hoping for anything beyond a watery mess. Dip the tip, squeeze out the excess water, and you should have your chisel edge.
With the brush in the condition you showed us, I'd be amazed if you got any result with it at all - but am looking forward, all keen anticipation, to seeing what it looks like when given the treatment recommended.
I agree with Syd about at least one thing - the shape of the brush strokes can very easily start to look angular and artificial, and Ron's method doesn't please everyone by a long chalk. To see how to use it without producing those, check Steve Cronin's videos on YouTube, plus Alan Owen's and Dave Usher's. When it works, it's wonderful - but it just doesn't suit some people's style, and they get frustrated with it.
By the way, I don't know if they still offer them there, but my four hakes came from Chromacolour UK, and aren't Ron Ranson's own. If I were buying again, I'd go back there, or to Rosemary & Co. I have had to re-stitch one back into its handle, but apart from that I should say they're as good as they were ten years ago.
This one was done with the hake, Syd - you can maybe see a few odd shapes where I allowed the brush mark to get a bit too descriptive.
Posted
Interesting comments. I have a Ron Ransen hake from Pro Arte which I have never taken to [my problem not the hake]. I do have a similar problem with a Pure Squirrel mop, also from Jacksons, which I also have problems with. Watching "professionals" on this site I don't see them having difficulty like me. My mop won't hold any kind of point and apart from wetting broad areas of paper I can't see a use for mine. Any thoughts?
PS both my hake and my mop are currently drying after similar treatment as suggested earlier.
Sketcher
Posted
The mop should come to a point if you wet it, then give it a good flick (being careful to avoid the cat, they object to this) to expel the excess water: or squeeze it (the mop, not the cat) to achieve the same thing, and shape with you fingers. The pressure you then apply needs to be extremely light, but it should keep its point if you don't press too hard. Both with the hake and the mop, the secret lies entirely in the amount of water used, and removed before use.
Posted
Tee hee - Syd: you don't have to use them, and if you're getting enjoyable results with your existing complement of brushes, why should you? I did because I was curious about them at the time, and they were so cheap (perhaps inexpensive would be a better word) that I thought I had very little to lose. If I'd not found them fun to use, I wouldn't have persevered - struggling on with tools that are just frustrating you is pointless. Um, pointless - geddit? (Sorry.... it's that time of year again: t'is the season to be silly, tra-la-la-la-la: and I've only had one pre-prandial G & T so far, too..)