
Often
called Red Sable because of its reddish-brown color, brushes made of
weasel hair make for practical oil painting brushes. This soft brush
hair comes from the tail of the Asiatic weasel, a type of marten. Golden
red in color, the hairs are not as fine or springy as kolinsky sable and
are only half as expensive. The finest brushes get damaged quickly in
the solvent and chemicals used in oils, so the cost-to-quality savings
is a nice benefit for using Red Sable brushes.
Offering snap and resiliency, they handle oil or acrylic beautifully.
They can cost up to 40% less than a Kolinsky brush of the same size,
while it still retains some or most of the desirable traits of a more
expensive brush. It is very important to be able to distinguish between
Red Sable Brush and Kolinksy Brush. Sometimes brushes made of Red Sable
are passed off as Kolinsky brushes, which carry a much higher price tag.