Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

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Pennsylvania
Posts: 1,479

Us Bears Mar 2, 2012

I need a #000 round sable artist's brush but I can't find any locally.

I use these brushes to retouch photographs with water soluble dye.
The brush needs to be able to absorb the dye to work properly and synthetic brushes just don't work.

When you make a photograph (a real photograph, not digital) you sometimes get tiny, white, pinpoint spots or squiggles in the final print because of dust on the film. The first line of defense is to keep your negatives scrupulously clean but there's no way to get every negative 100% clean. So the best line of defense is to cover the spots with dye.

You dilute your spotting dye with clear water until it is the right shade of gray (or color) to match the surrounding area then you dip just the tip of the brush into the dye mixture. Next you lightly dab the brush on a white paper towel to get almost all of the dye off the brush. The only dye that's left is what has soaked in to the bristles.

You touch the picture, very, very lightly with just the tips of the bristles until you make a bunch of teeny, tiny dots and you keep dabbing until the spot is gone.

Done carefully, your work should be virtually invisible unless you get right up close to the picture.

I've been trying to spot some photos but my old sable brush is over 25 years old and it's just about worn out. I bought a new one but it's made of "Taklon" synthetic bristles. The salesperson bamboozled me into buying it. "Oh, this is just as good as sable, she said." Well, that's a bunch of baloney! This brush stinks for photo retouching! The dye does not absorb into the brush. It just goes up between the bristles by capillary action. When you touch the photo, a little drop of water comes out instead of a smooth dab of color.

If I could only find a genuine Russian Kolinsky sable paint brush in #000 or #3/0 size (really tiny) but I'd settle for Canadian sable if I can't get the Kolinsky.

A brush like that is probably going to cost $15 or $20 dollars but it's the only kind of brush that works right.

I've seen Kolinsky brushes on line but they always come as sets. Usually 5 brushes in a kit and they usually cost $100 for the set.
Other places have the #0 and the #00 brushes but not the small, #000 brush that I need.

Anybody know of a place on line where I can get one or do they have one they are willing to part with for a fair price?

Thanks!

Randy