In this unit, we will make our own brushes for use with slips, underglazes, and glaze. There’s an infinite variety of types, thickness, line qualities, and other characteristics, so be creative. Make some out of animal hair, natural fibers, your own hair, broom fibers, or cut apart a commercial brush and harvest the material to make your own unique version.
Various types of animal hair can be purchased easily at Bass Pro Shops and other fishing stores. If you are a hunter or know a hunter, you might be able to get a deer tail during hunting season. OR .. there’s always roadkill, but be safe! Keep an eye out for cars when you’re harvesting hair off a roadkill!
Once you acquire whatever you are going to use for the fibers in your brush, you need to find something to make the handle out of.
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Idea: Take a walk in the forest. Look for fallen sticks that would make good brush handles.
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Next, prepare the handle, drill a hole in the end of the piece of wood large enough to accommodate the size brush you are making.
When you get the sizing right, then sand and finish the handle to your desired look and feel. In this example, I used linseed oil to protect the wood.
Now, prepare the hair. This is the most tedious part as you will need to manually adjust and position the hairs. There are many different ways to do this, but what worked well for me was to use small elastic hair ties to band the base of the brush together.
Depending on your cut of hair, you might be able to band it while it is still attached the animal skin. Once you’re happy with the amount of hair you have bunched together, make sure it fits into the brush handle. You want it to be snug, but not so tight you can’t get it in there.
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Idea: Test the way it fits, making sure it seats far enough into the hole BEFORE you put glue on it. You want the hair to go about 1/2” - 3/4” into the handle.
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