New Artist Brushes for Watercolor only
Brand new sable watercolor brushes have their hair sized with a gum arabic solution and shaped to a point. The sizing fixes the final shape of the brush and protects the brush hairs during shipping and on the shelf until you buy it. To properly break in a new brush you must dip it in your water container and swirl it around until the sizing softens up and washes away. Don't bend the hairs while they are stiff, breakage can occur if they've been sized too heavily. After thoroughly rinsing, daub off excess water on a paper towel and reshape hairs. Store on flat towel until dry.
Do yourself a favor and keep separate brushes for each medium you use as an artist.
Acrylic paint dries permanent and insoluble. Even one use with acrylics can alter a brush's effectiveness for watercolor if it starts to dry at the base of the ferrule while you're painting. Because you have to be a bit more aggressive in cleaning, your brush can become damaged in the process.
Many inks contain lacquers or high strength dyes. Some can discolor your brush's hair, like hair dye. Most laquer based inks will build up quickly within a ferrule and destroy the brushes shape and point.
Liquid frisket contain liquid latex rubber. Washing liquid frisket out of your brush without annoying the heck out of the hairs is extremely difficult at best. If it has dried in your brush, write that brush off as a learning experience. Always wet a brush with mildly soapy water before starting to apply frisket. Even the synthetics and frisket tools.
As you can tell, any of these substances if used and left to dry in a watercolor brush, will kill it. To use other sable brushes or synthetics designed specifically for use with inks, acrylics or frisket.
