Most people hold a brush the way they hold a pen, close to the ferrule and braced against the paper. It is a grip that gives control over three centimetres and nothing beyond it.
The brush is a lever, and where you hold it decides which joint is doing the work.
Three grips, three scales
At the ferrule you draw from the fingers: precise, small, tight. At the middle of the handle you draw from the wrist, which is the right scale for a leaf, a shadow, a face. At the very end you draw from the shoulder, and that is where long confident curves come from.
A line that keeps failing is often a line being drawn from the wrong joint.
Let the balance point find your finger
A well-made brush balances just behind the ferrule. Rest it across your index finger and it will tell you where it wants to be held.
That balance is why a good brush feels lighter than a cheap one of identical weight — the mass is in the right place, so your hand is not correcting for it all afternoon.
Written by Tomas Reyes