I Made a Watercolor Brush from Roadkill (And It Actually Works)
The misfortune of Franky J…
…or the roadkill opportunity to save some money!
Misfortune has a tendency to favor someone else.
Every watercolor artist has a favorite brush.
Some people spend hundreds of dollars on Kolinsky sable brushes. Others swear by synthetic brushes.
Me?
I made one from roadkill.
Before you judge me too harshly, squirrel hair has been used in watercolor brushes for a very long time. In fact, many expensive mop brushes are made from squirrel hair because they hold an incredible amount of water.
I just happened to get my squirrel from a different supplier than 100 years ago, right?
Most watercolor artists buy their brushes.
I made one from roadkill.
My version just happened to have a more interesting origin story.
Before anyone starts writing angry emails, squirrel hair has been used in watercolor brushes for a very long time. In fact, many expensive mop brushes are made from squirrel because the hair holds an incredible amount of water. I did NOT run the poor sucker over. I just took advantage of an opportunity when I saw it.
The adventure started after a routine trip to the grocery store.
On the way there, nothing unusual happened.
On the way back, however, I spotted a squirrel in the road.
Now, most people would see a dead squirrel and keep driving. You shouldn’t play Frogger if you can’ win…
I’ve been thinking about making my own squirrel mop brushes for a long time. Everytime I pass an unfortunate critter in the road I am sad- but also see an opportunity (especially since squirrel mop brushes are really expensive now- especially good ones).
The tail was still in good condition. The rest of the squirrel not so much. I don’t know why, but the name “Franky J” flashed in my brain when I picked the poor sucker up off the road . I brought it home and started researching whether it was actually possible to turn it into a watercolor brush.
The answer was yes.
The next question was whether I should.
My biggest problem was removing the tail from the body
Deboning.
This is not a skill generally covered in watercolor workshops.
Nor does Daniel Smith include instructions for it on their website. Luckily, there are a few YouTube videos describing the process.
Carefully removing everything except the hair was easily the least glamorous part of the project. At several points I found myself wondering whether it would have been easier to simply buy a brush online.
But where’s the fun in that?
Once deboned, I soaked the tail in rubbing alcohol. While squirrel hair makes wonderful brush material, squirrels can also carry diseases. I wasn’t particularly interested in adding “rabies” to my list of art supplies.
Once the tail was disinfected, the drying process began.
During this time, I had another thought.
If one squirrel tail could make a brush, imagine how many brushes you could make from a raccoon.
Of course, raccoons — or trash pandas, as they’re more commonly known around here — carry enough diseases to qualify as biological weapons. So I decided not to pursue that particular business opportunity.
Eventually I was left with a collection of squirrel hair that was surprisingly well suited for watercolor painting.
After cleaning, sorting, shaping, and attaching the hair to a handle, I finally had a functioning brush.
And to my complete surprise, it worked.
Really well.
Squirrel hair is famous for holding water, and this homemade brush carried an enormous amount of paint. Large washes became effortless. Skies flowed smoothly. Backgrounds practically painted themselves.
Unlike Kolinsky sable brushes, squirrel brushes don’t have much snap.
That’s not what they’re designed to do.
Their purpose is to move water.
And this brush moves water exceptionally well.
I think it will be a good conversation starter. My students think its hilarious/horrifying. Maybe both. Probably both.
Though admittedly, it does make for a much better story than:
“I ordered this one from Amazon.”
Somewhere out there is a squirrel that never imagined it would spend eternity helping paint cathedrals, castles, cityscapes, and sunsets.
Life is strange.
Watercolor is stranger.
And one squirrel’s misfortune became one of my favorite brushes.
Thank you Franky J
The ferrel was created by using a piece of Duralar and wrapping it around the glued on mop and newly constructed handle (dowel rod cut and coated in UV archival varnish). I used thin metal wires in several places to keep ferrel attached.
Watch the full video on YouTube now:
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Ryan Fox AWS, NWS, TWSA
Ryan Fox Painting
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