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Sables
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Message
Posted
They are nice brushes to have and use - the snag is that they do come from actual animals, and a well-known publisher of art books, Search Press I think, actively discourages its writers and readers from using animal products for brushes. There are very good synthetics available now, and I use them when I reasonably can - in watercolour though: that's difficult.
It helps to remember that but for the fur-trade in general, we wouldn't have sable brushes - it's not worth it economically to keep or trap these creatures just to make artists' brushes. The fur trade is one I hate, frankly, but nothing other than fur is adequate to resist the chill of a Siberian winter; it's the use of it to clothe people who don't need such protection that I find loathsome.
I'm not trying to make you feel guilty about buying sable brushes - I have a small collection of my own, including a red sable for oil painting which does a job virtually no synthetic could do. But I would want to encourage people to go for synthetics wherever they can: the price should help to achieve this; a quick look at the practices of fur farms should help even more.
Posted
I agree Syd, and I dont suppose I'll stop buying sable brushes unless I cant afford them. But if the poor beast was killed JUST for a few hairs off it's tail then that would be wrong...I imagine they are used for their whole pelt though.
Interesting entry in wikipaedia...
"The so-called kolinsky sable-hair brushes used for watercolour or oil painting are not manufactured from sable hair, but from that of the Siberian weasel."
I used to agree with you about fur, and yes, MM WAS a looker in her white furs...but after seeing so much of the stuff spread around the ski slopes of Cortina for no reason other than so that some women could parade wealth I found it distasteful. It wasnt even attractively done and the harvesting of fur was not worth the loss of life in that case. Yes I wear leather shoes, eat meat and drink blood. No, not that last one, but I think all creatures should be treated, alive or dead, with respect. When I taught my boys to fish and rifle hunt, I also taught them to handle the dead animal with respect: it is NOT just so much trash.
D
Posted
I confess to have never really liked sable brushes - I prefer a slightly stiffer brush that gives feedback from the stroke and the paper.
A sable brush (to me) is so soft and flooopy that there's nothing coming back from the stroke to the hand.
Mind you, it's possible to got too far the other way as well - stiff bristle brushes and such are nasty too, for the same but opposite reason (too firm and scratchy, no flow of brush).
Posted
I've never been so enamoured with sable brushes that I would wax lyrical about them but have never given the matter much thought. Having now done so I think that DD may have hit the nail on the head. They are great for holding washes although I never have problems in this respect with synthetic brushes - if I want a large wash I simply use a large brush - I have a great No22 which is constant use and has a great point for detail. However , as DD says, sables can be a bit flooopy.
Posted
My Pro Arte one are great too. I inherited a sable brush, which was lovely, but I don't think I could bring myself to buy one now. I thought they are now made from martens (same family as weasel), but no longer made from the sable antelopes of long ago. I don't think that Martens and Weasels are killed for food, but hogs are, so I still indulge in hog brushes.
Posted
It's the fur trade - sable brushes are by products from making fur coats (sable never did come from antelopes, by the way: their hair is either not long enough in the body, or too coarse in the tail). Martens, squirrels, mink all provide the fur - just not willingly. And that's where I have a problem with them - fur is a luxurious product, but a brutal business. The more you read about it the less you're inclined to buy a new sable brush. Thankfully, the trade in genuine mongoose has almost stopped, though only because the mongoose was driven to becoming an endangered species, and there are good synthetic alternatives.
Artists are as prone as anyone to getting all sentimental about the animal world while still using products ripped from animals' pelts: I don't wish to upset anyone, but I've seen Hazel Soan enthuse about the wonders of sable when painting her animal pictures - and I'm a little surprised she seems unaware of the irony. Or perhaps she is, but figures the critter is going to die anyway and we may as well take advantage of the fact rather than see the material wasted. I've sympathy with that point of view, but - well; I don't think it really works.
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