When I first got into decorative painting about 9 years ago, I went out and dropped about $150 on all kinds of brushes, most of which I have never used. I really didn’t know what to buy and I went on recommendations from books and what I thought I might use. I wanted to share which brushes have become my favorite and what you should spend your money on if you’d like to get started. The three places I buy my brushes are Dick Blick Art Materials, Wal-Mart, and sometimes a craft store like JoAnn, Michael’s or AC Moore. I purchase my nicer artist brushes from Dick Blick (http://www.dickblick.com/.) I prefer the Windsor Newton Monarch or Dick Blick Masterstroke brushes.

My favorite place to buy brushes, however, is Wal-Mart. I love these cheap-o Loew-Cornell brush sets for under $5.00. I only use about 4 of the brushes from the set, but they are so cheap, it doesn’t matter. These brushes hold their shape, have a nice “action” or bounce, and they hold paint well. The down side is that the purple paint on the handles starts to peal off after a lot of use and even the entire brush head sometimes pops off, but…these are cheap-o brushes from Wal-Mart, so what can you expect? I buy several packs at a time and can normally use one brush about 15-20 times…sometimes more. This is a great pack to buy if you want to give painting a go.

Keep checking my blog for more “Seeds of Wisdom – Tips & Tricks” about decorative painting, home decor, furniture repair, finding great stuff on the cheap and a lot more! Future posts will include Decorative Painting 101, European Motifs, Basic Strokes, My Favorite Resources, and more. I really enjoy comments, questions and seeing my follower’s list grow, so keep it up!