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Product review
Rosemary & Co. Sable & Kolinsky Sable Watercolour brushes.
For some time I have used ABS Sable & Kolinsky Sable Brushes. These proved to
be a superb brush at the fraction of the price of those offered by the large art
manufacturers.
It was brought to the attention of the forum that ABS were no longer trading.
A new Company was formed by Rosemary (Formerly Mrs ABS) to manufacture
quality brushes. Forum members expressed interest in the new company as a
possible new source.
A small sample of these have now been tested. The results are below.
The brushes tested were:
No. 7 Pure Red Sable, Series 99
No. 10 Pure Red Sable Series 99.
No. 7 Kolinsky Sable Series 33.
All three brushes arrived with exceptional points.
The following tests were done. These were not measured scientific tests simply those of an artist getting to know a new brush.
Flick test: After use the brushes were flicked to remove washing water and photographed without any additional forming of the points.
Capacity/flow: The No. 7s were used to paint the swatches below to test capacity and flow compared to a similar sized high quality synthetic brush (A No. 8 Round)
Fine lines and tip recovery tests
Broken wash test
Painting test: Tree (No. 7 Kolinsky) & Rock (No. 7 Sable) No other brushes were used for fine lines.
Flick test to test point recovery.
| Result: All three brushes recovered to state shown. |
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| L to R No. 7 Sable, No. 7 Kolinsky, No. 10 Sable. State of brushes after use without reshaping by hand i.e. flicked once to remove water. |
Capacity and flow test.
| Brush loaded full of paint. Painted until started to produce broken
stroke. All areas approx 2 inches wide. Result: All 3 Brushes painted larger area than synthetic brush. Flow much more controlled than synthetic. Very similar result to ABS. Sable painted slightly less area than Kolinsky. |
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| L to R Synthetic No. 8, Rosemary & Co No. 7 Kolinsky, ABS No. 7 Kolinsky
(worn in), Rosemary & Co No. 7 Sable. |
Fine line and tip recovery test:
| No. 10 Sable: Top lines approx 4 inches long Result: Capable of producing very fine lines. |
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| No. 7 Kolinsky: Tip recovery, painted left to
right. |
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Broken Wash
| No. 10 Sable loaded with watery paint. Held parallel to paper Result: OK |
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Painting tests:
| 2 minute tree: Approx 6 inches high | 2 minute rock: Approx 2 inches high |
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| No. 7 Kolinsky Colours used: Cadmium Orange, Indigo, Sepia |
No. 7 Sable Colour used: Sepia |
Brushes responded well, balance good and feel is what you expect from a good sable. The points are perfect.
Conclusion:
They'll do for me. Perform well, point well, exceptional value for money.
Contact Info:
Rosemary & Co P O Box 372 Keighley, West Yorkshire. BD20 6WZ
Tel: 01535 600090 Fax 01535 214114
email rosemary@rosemaryandco.com
Web site
www.rosemaryandco.com
Peter. 15th March 2004