Originally submitted at Jerry’s Artarama Art Supplies

A limited edition series of CREATIVE MARK  fine blue squirrel hair brushes! For centuries, natural blue squirrel hair has been one of the most cherished hairs for making high quality artists’ paint brushes. This traditional hair is extremely soft and highly absorbent, and offers several advantages over modern…

Squirrel LE Brushes and Set

Horrible, worthless brushes….

Pros: Fails To Glide, Rough, Stiff, Fails To Hold A Point

Cons: Poor Quality

Best Uses: Maybe Not Even For Glue, Maybe For Glue

Describe Yourself: Artist

Primary use: Personal

Was this a gift?: No

As an artist I need good brushes for all my work, and I invest in them, so when I saw these, I thought it would be a good thing to try them out. Unfortunately they were definitely nothing like the packaging asserts. Not at all. All I can tell you is that you have to say NOT to every single promise, including believing that these are even made of natural blue squirrel hair. NOT “soft and absorbent, hold lots of color.” NOT “handmade” NOT “round shape with fine point”. The tips are waxed into a pointed shape and you have to literally break off the coating to use them at all, but then you have a brush without any shape whatsoever, never mind a fine point. The brushes are quite literally worse than the cheapest department store brand. DO NOT BUY THEM. You will be wasting your time and anything else you expend on them. Jerry’s sells VERY good brushes, but these are not they.

I wrote this review at Jerry’s site, but I wanted to add since I did write it, that the packaging pretends that these brushes are, and I quote, “entirely handmade”  — the brush head is “hand-shaped and tied” and yadda yadda yadda.. But how can this be? Do they really expect us to believe that the metal ferrules were individually metal-worked? And the wooden  lacquered handles, that is, painted with shiny paint, were individually painted and for that matter carved by hand? NOT! NOT! NOT! I do not for one second believe any of it and it bugs me that they think that they can get away with it. These brushes were NOT entirely hand-made, that is just plain masculine cow flops! I wouldn’t even give a hoot about the lies, if the brushes were decent but the idea that they could call this set worth  nearly $70 or so, for 6 brushes, and then pretend to drastically mark it down for a once in a lifetime CHristmas sale just burns me. They are and always were crap. And they knew it. They know it now. I don’t get it. Why are people so dishonest. Wouldn’t they rather put out a decent product for a decent price and have some pride in what they make? People would buy it, then, and not complain.

But no, they would rather CHEAT people, once, but a lot of people. Once. Than have a limited number of repeat customers who were loyal to a good and trustworthy manufacturer. Oh, I will get off my soapbox but this sort of thing just disgusts me.