Your Brush Knows More Strokes Than You Do: Unlocking Hidden Textures in a Single Tool

Many painters feel they need a different brush for every job:

• One for fine lines
• One for washes
• One for foliage
• One for texture

Before long, the jar is full, the decision-making is exhausting, and the painting still doesn’t look the way you imagined.

Here’s a gentler truth:
Most of us are using only a fraction of what a single good brush can do.

Once you learn how to change your grip, angle, and pressure, one brush can give you an entire “vocabulary” of marks – from delicate twigs to broad skies and lively foliage.

This is one of the fundamentals of Fiona’s courses where she uses mainly just 2 brushes, a Red Sable Round and her own Pointer Brushes.

Let’s explore how to get more out of the brushes you already have.

One Brush, Many Voices

Think of your brush as a versatile instrument rather than a single-purpose tool.

With just one well-made round or specialty brush, you can often create:

• Fine lines
• Broad, sweeping strokes
• Soft, feathery textures
• Broken, textured marks
• Dots, dashes, and foliage shapes

The difference isn’t the brush itself – it’s how you use it.

Try this with a favourite brush

Choose one brush you reach for often – perhaps a medium round, or one of the Terry Harrison specialty brushes such as the Golden Wizard or Fan Gogh.

On a piece of scrap paper, challenge yourself to fill the page with as many different marks as you can make using only that brush:

• Light pressure vs firm pressure
• Tip of the brush vs the side of the hairs
• Slow strokes vs quick, flicking movements
• Holding the brush close to the ferrule vs further back on the handle

You may be surprised how many “new” strokes you discover.

Changing Your Grip: Control vs Expression

How you hold the brush has a big impact on the marks you make.

Closer to the ferrule

• More control
• Good for details, edges, and careful drawing
• Ideal for windows, branches, flower centres, and lettering

Further back on the handle

• Freer, more expressive marks
• Encourages looser, more relaxed strokes
• Ideal for foliage, grasses, skies, and looser florals

Neither is “right” or “wrong”. The key is to choose rather than always defaulting to the same grip.

Next time you feel your painting becoming tight or fussy, try sliding your hand further back on the handle and see how the brush responds.

Angle and Pressure: From Fine Lines to Broad Strokes

Two simple adjustments can transform what your brush can do:

• Angle – upright or tilted
• Pressure – light or firm

Upright with light pressure

• Use just the tip of the brush
• Creates fine lines and delicate details
• Perfect for twigs, fine grasses, telephone wires, or distant masts

Tilted with gentle pressure

• More of the brush touches the paper
• Creates broader, softer marks
• Ideal for distant hills, soft clouds, or gentle shadows

Tilted with firmer pressure

• Full belly of the brush in contact with the paper
• Bold, confident strokes
• Excellent for foreground shapes, tree trunks, strong shadows, and larger petals

A simple exercise:
Paint a single line across the page, starting with the lightest touch and gradually increasing pressure. Watch how the line changes from hairline to broad stroke without changing brushes.

Broken and Textured Marks (Without Fancy Tools)

You don’t always need a special brush to create texture. Sometimes, a slightly drier brush and a lighter touch will do the job beautifully.

Dry-ish brush on textured paper

1. Load the brush with colour, then gently blot on a tissue so it’s not dripping.
2. Drag it lightly across the paper, letting the texture catch the paint.

You’ll see broken, textured marks appear.

This is wonderful for:

• Rough stone walls
• Tree bark
• Distant foliage
• Textured ground and pathways

Terry Harrison often used this kind of technique in his landscapes to suggest detail without painting every brick or leaf.

Specialty Brushes: Let Them Do the Work

While you can achieve a lot with a simple round brush, certain shapes are designed to make specific effects easier and more consistent.

For example, brushes like the Golden Wizard, Golden Leaf, Deerfoot Stippler or the unique Fan Stippler can help you create:

• Clusters of leaves
• Grasses and reeds
• Textured hedgerows
• Soft, broken foliage

The key is to let the brush do the work rather than trying to control every tiny mark.

A quick foliage exercise

With a foliage or specialty brush:

1. Load it with a medium-strength green (your “cup of tea” test still applies- see the last newsletter).
2. Hold the brush a little further back on the handle.
3. Use a light, tapping or twisting motion to create clusters of leaves.
4. Vary the pressure so some marks are lighter, some stronger.
5. Drop in a darker mix while it’s still damp to suggest depth and shadow.

In just a few moments, you’ll have convincing foliage without painting every leaf.

Would You Like to See These Strokes in Action?

Brushwork is much easier to understand when you can watch someone experienced using the same tools.

In the Terry Harrison film library there are 2 free resources - How to use and Tips and Techniques where you’ll see Terry:

• Using a single brush to create several different effects in one scene
• Demonstrating how angle and pressure change the mark
• Letting specialty brushes do the work for foliage, hedgerows, and textures

In Fiona Peart’s courses, you’ll see the same principles applied in a slightly looser, more contemporary way – particularly in her florals and botanicals, where expressive brushwork brings petals and leaves to life.

To make the most of your next painting session:

• Choose one of our curated brush sets, such as the Favourite Five or Fiona’s Beginners Watercolour Set, so you’re working with tools designed for versatility.
• Pick a brush-focused tutorial from the film library – something where Terry or Fiona clearly demonstrate how they use each brush.
• Keep a scrap piece of paper beside you and copy each stroke as you watch.

If you’d like your brushes to feel like trusted tools rather than mysterious objects, visit the Film library and explore our brush collections. Choose a free film that focuses on landscapes or florals, pick up one of our recommended brush sets, and spend a quiet session discovering just how many marks one good brush can make.

Happy Painting
Martin