Why knowing your tools matter

For a long time, I thought that learning how to paint — especially portraiture — had nothing to do with the tools you were using. Surface, paint, mediums, brushes. I didn't think any of it mattered.

So I enrolled in my first community courses and all the way up until the London Atelier of Representational Art (LARA) — where I was handed the ultimate framework to elevate my realist portrait skills.

But my work was still not great. And I couldn't understand what was missing.

Every time the mentor ran a short demo, I would try to memorise every little step — what he was using, how he was mixing the paint, which brushes and how he was moving them. But a very timid, insecure me was too shy to ask: why are you picking these brushes? What are you painting on? Why this palette? Too many questions that felt embarrassing to voice.

So I rarely did. And when I eventually asked, I got short, not very useful answers.

After embarking on a self-teaching journey — five years entirely by myself, researching everything from materials to technique to brushwork and rhythm — I realised that tools don't just matter. They actually explain why certain paintings look the way they do, and why others don't.

Today I want to talk about brushes.

I tried thousands of them. All sorts of bristles, handle lengths, shapes. And my painting style — how the portraits were built, how they looked on the surface — was heavily dictated by the brushes I was using.

The thing I struggled with most was edges.

For a long time I had fallen into the habit of using long flat synthetic brushes. I loved them for blocking in — the planes, the shadow shapes. But past the block-in and modelling phase, I was struggling to make those flat brushes handle edges without forcing them.

I was frustrated. Why were edges so difficult? Other painters seemed to deal with them effortlessly.

It had to be the brushes. So I decided to get out of my comfort zone and get myself a set of long-handle hog brushes. Out of my comfort zone because — I'm vegan, and I had resisted buying animal products for a long time. But I had to find out if the brushes were holding me back.

The result was immediate. As soon as I switched to long-tip flat hog brushes, the problems I had been struggling with for years disappeared. The edges started to merge naturally as I was painting — not as an afterthought, not forced. Just forming on their own.

I reached out to Pro Arte and asked if they'd be willing to send more of their range for me to test. They sent everything — hog brushes, synthetic, flat — and I tested all of them until I found the ones that truly helped me materialise my vision.

Because for a long time, that vision has been driven by two painters: Antonio Mancini (first portrait) and Rembrandt. I've literally made myself very small and imagined diving into those portraits — into the transitions, into the fibre of the painting itself.

In my studio, I tried to understand how they were moving the brush, what they were using. And gradually some of my portraits got stronger, and the edges started becoming something really interesting.

These are details I rarely talk about on Instagram. Somehow I've trained my audience — and the algorithm — to see the big picture. Whenever I go into this kind of detail, I know only a few of you will read it. And resonate. So thank you for being here and still reading.

Digression aside — the brush set I designed with Pro Arte has this particular obsession of mine at its core: edge control. Sharp if you want sharp. Soft if you want soft. Blended, broken, whatever you need. You decide — and the brushes follow your hand.

We also included fan brushes, which are extraordinary for painting hair. Hold from the tip, move gently downward, and the hair appears almost effortlessly.

And two small synthetic brushes with an extended handle — because I like to keep distance from the surface even when doing detail work. The closer you get, the heavier the mark, and you risk losing that painterly quality. These brushes give you precision and fine highlights while letting you work wet-on-wet, just like any soft brush.

Pro Arte made a beautiful design — the sleeve is gorgeous, the handle has my name on it, the feel is sleek and elegant.

If you'd like to try them, here's the link:

BRUSHSET SHOP