Haidee-jo Summers Brush Set

Haidee-Jo is internationally known for her ‘en plein air’ oil paintings of gardens, landscapes and seascapes. She is the Vice President of the Royal Institute of Oil painters (VPROI) and an elected member of the Royal Society of Marine Artists (RSMA). As well as a busy life painting, travelling and exhibiting, Haidee-Jo has authored two popular books on oil painting and is an editorial consultant for The Artist magazine. She has been award- ed many prizes for her work which features fresh and vibrant brushwork coupled with keen drawing and observational skills.

“When working en plein air you face many challenges so you need to give yourself any advantage that you can, like having reliable materials to work with. I’ve selected this range of brushes because they provide all the flexibility and choice that I need when tackling any subject. I prefer to use a good number of brushes each painting so that I’m not wasting precious painting time cleaning brushes – this also helps me to keep my colours clean. I often use the Bravura Filbert size 6 for ‘drawing in’ and planning the composition, and then move onto the Ultimate and Bravura bristle brushes for blocking in big shapes. The Eclipse and Ivory brushes are both synthetic and ideal for the next stages of refining those big shapes and introducing smaller shapes. Because the synthetic brushes are softer you can easily place wet paint on top of wet paint, and these brushes keep their shape well with a simple cleaning regime. I’ve included two small round Series 401. Pointed Sable Mixture brushes for small dark accents and highlights which I some- times need to finish a piece. The soft Mundy Mop is excellent for softening any edges that you want to lose.” Haidee-Jo, 2024.

We asked Haidee-Jo one brush you cannot live without?

Haidee-Jo's answer: Eclipse Long Filbert - Size 3. I do so much smaller work plein air (12” x 16” and under) and for small shapes in the painting I need a small but flexible brush that holds lots of paint - ideally two small brushes - one for dark accents and one for highlights - I also use these smaller brushes for ‘drawing in’ at the beginning and planning my composition.