Brushes with Russian Sable Bristles

My Russian Sable Brushes are fabulous.

Russian Sable is a soft bristle with a long taper to the tip.

The Russian Sable brush is excellent for any water based paint or ink. It is also excellent for any solvent based paint or ink. But remember that solvents accelerate natural hair brush wear.

Russian Sable has a light springiness or snap. The hair is fairly uniform and is about 1/4th the diameter of a human hair. The hair has a long taper at the tip end which gives the brush a long and ultra-fine tip.

The Russian Sable hair I use comes from the tail hair. It is double dressed, meaning the hair is thoroughly cleaned two times, and irregular hairs are combed out. As a result, it is uniform. To use a simile, Russian Sable is kind of the Mercedes SL class of the paintbrush world.

Russian Sable hair is very hard to come by. It took me nearly 3 years to track down a small amount of it.

I offer this brush in bristle lengths of about 3/4″, 1″ and 1.5″.

The first row (below) shows the 3/4″ bristle length brushes, the 2nd row shows the 1.5″ brushes. Click on the image for more information.

1/2” Long Bristle Russian Sable Brush

The 1/2″ inch long bristle is great for producing thin lines, lettering and Calligraphy, and general applications where ultra-fine detail is desired, and where the artist likes a responsive brush. Russian Sable works for all kinds of painting techniques.The brushes not only excel when control is needed but they are fabulous to produce soft dry brush techniques. I will be adding larger diameter sizes in the near future.

3/4” Long Bristle Russian Sable Brushes

The 3/4″ inch long bristle is great for producing thin lines, lettering and Calligraphy, and general applications where ultra-fine detail is desired, and where the artist likes a responsive brush. Russian Sable works for all kinds of painting techniques.The brushes not only excel when control is needed but they are fabulous to produce soft dry brush techniques.

1” long bristle Russian Sable Brushes

The 1″ inch long bristle is good for general applications where ultra-fine detail is desired, and where the artist likes a very responsive brush. Russian Sable works for all kinds of painting techniques.The brushes not only excel when control is needed but they are fabulous to produce soft dry brush techniques and is good for fine stippling and hatching.

1.5” long bristle Russian Sable Brushes

The 1.5″ bristle is favored by many because they are great for ultra fine lines and also for organic lines, curves and other expressive work. Like the shorter bristle editions of this brush, the 1.5″ long bristle is excellent for a soft dry brush.

Special edition Russian Sable Brushes

The Special Edition Russian Sable brushes combine some of my most amazing brush handles with a roughly 3/4″ to 1″ long bristle. They are designed as calligraphy brushes, which means they are pretty good for most uses. Each brush is a one of a kind creation.