Paint brushes have three main parts: the handle, the ferrule and the bristles. The handles are most often made of wood and come in a variety of colors. The handles of oil brushes tend to be longer to accommodate the painter who is standing at the easel. The length allows the artist to stand back from the surface while working. Likewise, the long handles make it easier for the artist to hold a bundle of brushes along with his palette in his or her non-painting hand.

The quality and nature of the brush is determined by the bristles. Most often made from animal tails or skin, individual bristles can be pointy, blunt, or split into two or more ends (these are called flagged). Pointy hairs come from sable tail hair, weasel tail hair, fitch tail hair, mongoose hair, and badger hair. Blunt hairs come from sabeline (imitation sable), ox hair, or synthetic nylon fibers. Most flagged hair comes from hogs in China. Once gathered, the bristles are bundled, tied, and glued into the ferrule, which is the metal joint that holds the bristles in place and connects them to the handle. Brushes are made pointy, flat, or angled by the shape of the ferrule opening and the trim of the bristles. Each brush shape will make a distinctive brushstroke in the paint.

“In Mr. Walter Griffin’s four landscapes there is every evidence of a discriminating vision directing the impressionistic technique. The dry touches of pure pigment of contrasting colors produce an atmospheric vibration, and the movement and light of nature are admirably rendered.”

~ Unidentifed Writer in The New York Times, 1906

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