Gouache Brush Maintenance 101: Taking Care of Your Brushes

I often hear artists say “if you take care of your brushes, they will last you a long time.” While I agree with this sentiment, I’m not thinking much about my brushes while I’m painting. I’m in a flow state. Because of this, I don’t think brush maintenance should be complicated.

Honestly, I’ve done zero research for this article. Everything I know on this topic was learned on the job. I’m simply going to give you three memorable rules I’ve learned from my own mistakes.

1. Never Leave Your Brushes In Your Water Cup

There’s only one instance were I ruined a brush instantly. I accidentally left it in my water cup all day. The bristles settled into a curved shape I couldn’t undo, and I had to throw the brush away (RIP).

Leaving your brushes in your water cup will also result in peeling handles, which doesn’t feel great on your hands when painting.

If there’s only one golden rule to follow, follow this one, and you’ll do right by your brushes.

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2. Clean Your Brushes With Soap

Full disclosure - I don’t always clean my brushes immediately upon finishing a painting. I know you’re supposed to, but gouache is water-based, and dries quickly, so it’s difficult to wash them before the paint dries. I often think, ”the paint is already dry, what’s the harm in waiting until tomorrow.” I know, my behavior is shocking. If you paint with non-water based paints, you definitely want to wash your brushes as soon as possible. Take it from me, dried acrylic is not easy to get out of a brush.

To clean my brushes, I simply put a little liquid soap in my hand, brush the bristles back and forth in the soap, and rinse until the water runs clear. I often wash several brushes at a time. You don’t need to use soap, but it’s the best way to make sure you don’t have streaks of unwanted color in your paint the next day.

When you’re done cleaning your brushes, dry with a paper towel mold the wet bristles into their original shape, so they stay that way.

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3. Avoid “Swirly” Motions

This is a mistake I made when first starting out. You never want to hold your brush upright (at a 90 degree angle to your palette) and swirl it around. This will cause your bristles to fan out over time, and you won’t be able to fix it. Always hold your brush at an 45 degree angle or less when mixing colors and washing your brushes. Keep any circular motions wide, so the bristles don’t get tangled. In the back of my mind, I’m always trying to keep the bristles fairly straight. It’s just become a habit over time.

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That’s it. If you follow these tips, you’ll be leaps and bounds above other artists. If you do make a mistake and destroy a brush, who cares. Don’t be too hard on yourself, because it happens to the best of us. For this reason alone, I don’t buy expensive brushes because I don’t want the added pressure of having to keep them perfect. $10 per brush is the max I will spend, and that’s pushing it. I only paint with five kinds of brushes, so that keeps the cost down as well.

For the brushes I use, you can read this article here or subscribe to my newsletter for a free supplies list.