Mi Bebé | Penina F.

A paintbrush gush

Say it with me: Princeton Neptune Oval Wash brush (3/4”)

I promised another publication I’d write a full-on post about this brush and right now I’m stuck. Need to start over. Because how to describe the delight and awe of using this beautiful, perfectly functional paintbrush? It challenges and teases me (I should add that to the full-on post). It’s not only exactly what I need to make the marks I want to make 95% of the time, it’s also beautiful.

I love the shape of this brush and the feel of its materials: wood handle, metal ferrule, synthetic—yes, synthetic—hairs (no squirrels, performs at least as well). It sweeps from thin to fat to thin again in a single stroke. Painting with it feels a little like dancing.

The tradition of a fat-bellied and fine-pointed paintbrush is at least 1,500 years old. The idea of a flat, rather than a round brush with those qualities is a comparative toddler at just 150 or so years.

I’ve called it The Brush, The Marvelous Brush, and Mi Bebé, partly because Princeton Neptune Oval Wash brush (3/4”) is a mouthful, and partly because it warms my heart to pull it from the brush jar, swirl it in water, and pause with it over the paper.

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