This brush outperforms...
February 13, 2016
Verified Purchase
This brush outperforms the Windsor & Newton Series 7 no. 0. [Not the number 2,
which I have yet to compare with the Menso Brush.] When I first used the Menso
brush, the results were disappointing. But after months of monomaniacal of the
exercises from pages 19 and 20 from Gary Martin's "The Art of Comic Book
Inking," I was no longer making an utter fool of myself, and was able to advance
to a level of mastery where it can be left to other artists to cringe on one's
behalf (in German the word for this is Fremdenscham). I did have to purchase
two. If you purchase brushes sight unseen, this often becomes necessary, even
with the best of brushes. If the brush does not come to a point when wet, return
it. In some cases the brush comes to too thin a point, meaning there are too few
surrounding, supporting brush hairs to maintain the line. Such brushes produce
zigzags instead of thin lines. But one of my Menso brushes is just right, and
can produce hair thin lines without creating an uneven ripple on one side of the
line. I do not have this control with the Windsor & Newton Series 7 no. 0, which
is a smaller brush. This is counterintuitive, but there you are. The brush works
well with Yasutomo Black Sumi ink. These brushes should be cleaned after every
use. Other commenters expressed concern about ink in the plastic ferrule. The
technique for cleaning this is to dab some mild dish detergent onto the brush.
This will draw out the ink. That's a secret from The Art Student's League, where
my father once taught, revealed here at tremendous risk to myself.
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