I've been away from art for most of the summer. The surgery, an arthritis flare in my drawing hand, two visiting teenagers underfoot, and, most recently, a major upheaval at work has kept me either convalescing or stressing. I did take a five-week session of life drawing, and lately I've been practicing my brush strokes.

Yes, the quality of your brushes makes a difference. I'll post some practice studies shortly. Both were done with #4 and #2 natural hair brushes. But there IS a difference. The burgundy series was done with cheap brushes. Sure, they were marked "sable", but they were still crap. The purple series was done with Kolinsky sable brushes. (Utrecht Vermeer 221, affordable luxury. [link] ) Oh, yeah. Big difference. I'm a believer. You definitely get what you pay for.

Just for grins, I've been doing these brush stroke studies in the ACEO format of 3.5 inches x 2.5 inches. I'm not sure I understand the ACEO trend, but what the hey -- the practice paper goes further, right? And perhaps I'll eventually get an image or two I can offer for sale. (If you see something you like, send me a private message. We'll talk. I also sell prints and originals posted on my website [link] )