The Hake de-mystified - it's that man again!

Alan Owen strikes again - he has a perky little piece on YouTube, telling us that the Hake brush is actually really easy to use.  Now - I've seen comments all over the internet from people who've tried the Hake, and found it just about impossible to use.  So what does he mean, it's easy!?  Well, go and take a look and you'll see.  The Hake is indeed difficult to use if you think it's like a normal watercolour brush.  But it holds vastly more water than even squirrel mops and sables - the bigger the Hake, the more water it can hold.  So people have applied a wash of water, and then mixed their colour, dipped the Hake into it - still very wet - and have applied it to the paper: and you've not got a painting, you've got a flood.   It's not enough with the Hake just to take off the drips on the end of the brush by stroking the lip of your water container - it needs to be squeezed out, or all you'll get is something so floppy and useless that it's like trying to substitute a snooker cue with a length of string.   Squeeze out the excess water, though, combine the Hake with a rigger/liner brush, and if you can paint at all it'll work for you.  But go and take a look.  

I'm a cod man, myself - although hake DOES make a change!  The 'proper', i.e. Japanese pronunciation is (they tell me) ha-kay; but I seem to remember Ron Ranson, who popularized it, pronouncing it just the same as the fish's pronunciation.  Well, I SAY the fish's pronunciation, actually I don't believe the fish pronounces anything, or even knows what it's called, but............. Peter, you dragged me into this; drag me back out of it.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDffzEgDgtQ Here's the link - he says painting with the Hake is "as easy as falling out of bed"!  Well it probably is, for him!  He also says "it's a bit of a con-trick, really...": love this man's videos - he can make a quite controversial comment, which if it came out of my mouth would sound sarcastic and bitter, but from his, I defy even the most dedicated Hake-ist to be offended!  Warm, funny, and above all - a real artist, who knows his stuff.