PRO ARTE

We visited Pro Arte to meet the team and find out how their artists’ brushes are made. In the 19th century, Skipton emerged as an important mill town, and the Pro Arte factory is housed in what used to be a wool spinning mill, an impressive building built from solid Yorkshire sandstone. As you enter the double-height ground floor, you're greeted by shelves stacked with raw materials – boxes of bundled brush hair, ferrules, handles, and brush caps – alongside finished products ready for dispatch. From here you make your way up to the two floors where brushes are expertly made, innovation is planned, and business is done.

Being a family-run business, the atmosphere is warm as well as industrious, with a close-knit feeling among all the staff. Each expansive floor has open areas and side rooms where different parts of the brushmaking process are completed. Workbenches dotted with arc lamps are a hive of activity as expert brushmakers carry out their meticulous work. To one side, on the first floor, are the offices and a reception area showcasing brush stands through the ages, old advertising posters, and other curiosities from the company’s history.

THE SEVEN STAGES OF MAKING
A PRO ARTE BRUSH

Pro Arte have applied a lot of research into the types of brush hair they use, whether it be the finest synthetics such as Taklon and Toray, or traditional natural hair like sable, squirrel, and hog bristle. The hairs are sourced internationally and arrive in pre-cut bundles which may need further trimming before assembling the brush heads.

In the case of synthetic hair, different grades of hair are often mixed to achieve the perfect tension and responsiveness. For example, Taklon is much stiffer than soft Toray filaments, but when combined, the brush performance is enhanced. In the depths of the factory, a special room away from the elements (dry air can make hairs difficult to handle) houses a hair-mixing machine nicknamed the ‘pasta machine’. This strange-looking contraption has a conveyor belt where the hairs are carefully blended. Two operators monitor it, keeping the hairs even and preventing lumps or clumps from forming.

Upstairs, another machine can ‘speed-pick’ bundles of 50 mm or 70 mm synthetic hairs. In an exacting process, standard-size bundles are placed in the machine, which is set to the micrometre before cutting with a guillotine. The length is set to slightly overcompensate so that the ‘length out’ can be later worked firmly into the ferrule.

Shaping and inserting brush hairs into ferrules is done by hand and is known as ‘picking’. The picker must gather the correct amount of hair from the pre-cut bundles, which is then shaped using a brush cannon before being inserted into the ferrule. A brush cannon is a brass cone-like device that acts like a mould to help shape the hair, ensuring the filaments are evenly distributed. The ferrules are then placed into a Cannon Shaker, a small vibrating tray that firms up the distribution of hair.

In the case of natural hair, hand-tied cotton thread is used. This gives the picker purchase due to its uneven quality – unlike synthetic filaments, natural hair tends to be thicker at one end, making it harder to control and shape.

Next, a special epoxy resin is prepared using a static mixing machine. The machine can be set to make the correct amount of glue for the brush head batches required. The resin is then injected into the upturned ferrules via a compressor-controlled syringe, adjusted to give the correct dose depending on the size, shape, and type of ferrule. Ferrules differ between nickel-plated brass, gold-plated brass, or polished aluminium.

Before the brush handles can be fixed to the brush heads, the handles must be printed with the Pro Arte logo and relevant brush information such as the product name and size. This is done using an open or closed pot system depending on the handle length. Short handles are printed using the closed system whereby the ink is printed via closed etched plates. Long handles are also printed using etched print plates but the machine used is an open pot system, which can be quite messy.

The handles are carefully sourced for their straight-grained wood and are FSC-certified. They arrive at the factory pre-cut to the company’s specifications, including being triple-dipped in water-based lacquer. Handle shapes vary from classic handle designs to the exceptional tri-grip handle used for their Miniature series. 

The brush heads are fixed to their handles using one of two methods. For smaller brushes, the handle’s tips are dipped with PVA glue and then suspended vertically, with the brush head pointing upwards, which lets the glue settle while filling any gaps inside the ferrule.

For large brushes, a hot glue gun is used. The glue is applied around the inner edge of the ferrule and the handle is inserted and twisted around quickly so that the printed copy is in line with the flat part of the brush.  

Clenching the ferrule is partly aesthetic but also strengthens the brush. Clenching is done using a clamp-like device that crimps the ferrule, leaving ringed indents. The clenching device is adjusted to the correct size using removable metal plates organised on a board close by.

At last, the brushes are almost ready for packaging and their journey out into the world. Before that, some final touches are applied. The brush heads are dipped in a hot water vat and placed in a mould that gently oscillates, giving them as much uniform shape as possible. The brush heads are then dipped in gum arabic to preserve their shape and trimmed of any burrs or wonks with a fine razor.

Peter and Johnny were highly passionate about their artists’ brush company as they showed us around the Pro Arte workshops. Peter was particularly proud of how they were constantly looking at ways to keep innovating and offer new brushes that artists were looking for, such as their high-performance synthetic Sablesque range. He also pointed out that their flagship Prolene brushes had been regularly modified over the years to keep pace with breakthroughs in synthetic technology. 

Before we departed, he gave some sage advice when cleaning your brushes – gently knead the hair to loosen residue pigments, particularly around the ferrule, and shape them as close to their original form as possible before storing them away.

After years of research, Pro Arte developed a quality synthetic alternative to the sable brush with the creation of the Prolene range. Each brush mimics the characteristics of pure sable with its wonderful spring and colour-holding power.

The Acrylix range is made from taklon, a synthetic hair that offers firm and flexible brushstrokes with a lovely silky working texture. These short-handle brushes are ideal for painters who require precision detail with great pointing adaptability.

Sterling Acrylix brushes have silky white synthetic filaments and silver lacquered long handles. Originally designed for acrylic painters, they are also used by oil painters who benefit from their flexibility, precision, and versatility.

Prolene Plus are purely synthetic, but the fibres are softer than classic Prolene and exude a feel much closer to natural hair. The brushes have improved colour-holding and pointing properties, and are widely used for watercolour, gouache, and other media.

Connoisseur watercolour brushes are made from a perfect blend of pure sable and fine synthetic hair designed for excellent colour retention and highly responsive brushstrokes. They are considered one of Pro Arte’s most prestigious ranges.

Roy Ranson Hake brushes are made with goat hair and are styled after Japanese hake. These long-handled brushes are ideal for artists who wish to emulate the technique of Roy Ranson who paints in the ‘fast and loose’ manner.