Decent art brushes for around £50

Question

Hiya, my mate is really into her painting so for her 25th I was looking to spend about £50 on some artist brushes. She doesn't have any good ones at the moment and I'm utterly clueless.

Is there a particular kind of brush that is good for oil painting or should I be focusing on any particular brands?

How many brushes should I be looking to get for £50?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Answer 1

What a thoughtful gift.  Go to the art supply store and they will have several qualities of brushes.  For oil painting, natural bristle long handled brushes are used.  Think about her style of painting as to weather she would like small or larger brushes.  Grumbacher and Van Gogh are two brands that are nice.  I am in the U.S. though, don't know what is available in the UK.

Answer 2

Hog hair brushes are good. I love them. Winsor and newton are a good popular brand. If you want to but her something a little different go for oil sticks, I can't tell you how much I love them, they are really fun to use.

Answer 3

Hi.  I'd recommend natural bristle brushes.  Don't know brands well enough to recommend a specific one (others on here might), but what I look for when I'm buying higher quality brushes, are ones that come to the finest point regardless of size.  

There are four main shapes of brushes -- filbert, flat, round and bright.  Since you want to get a variety of sizes, my suggestion is to make them all rounds, which I feel are the most versatile.  (Matter of opinion, of course.) For L50 you should be able to buy maybe 8 to 10 brushes of higher quality.  The smaller the number, the smaller the size.  Don't know how large your friend paints, but I'd suggest something like 2 brushes in size 1, 2 in size 3, 2 in size 5, 2 in size 7 and 2 in size 10.  

This is just a start for her, but what a great gift.  I'd love a gift like that about now . . . .