Tips on holding a paint brush to get better stoke.

-The best way to hold your brush when painting is to hold it near the end of the handle, in this way you have a little more space and give you a better view of what you are doing in the canvas.

-If you need more of control(ex. painting in details.,), you have to hold the brush near the head of the brush., or much better to have your own feel or create you comfort zone in holding the brush. There is no technique or style in holding your brush, just practice and it will develop it self.

-Style can acquire through time, while techniques is in a matter of practice. The manner in which you become fluent in theses techniques actually became a part of your own unique style.

A brushstroke generally implies four separate actions:

* Cleaning the Brush - The main thing to remember here is to always pull your brush, never push it. This reduces wear and also shapes the hairs of the brush.

* Shaping the Brush - If you clean a brush correctly it should be shaped and ready to go. However, for delicate work (e.g., thin lines) you can chisel-shape the brush. That is, you hold the brush at a 45 degree angle to your horizontal palette, push down on it, and then slightly forward. The brush tip should now have a straight chisel-like edge.

* Loading the Brush - Now you can load the brush with paint in several ways. Shovel-loading a brush means lowering it onto your palette and pushing it at a low angle into a pile of paint. The paint is only on one side of the brush.

* Application of the Paint - A shovel-loaded brush makes precise strokes of varying thicknesses and almost functions as a writing tool.

A tip-loaded brush can be held perpendicular to the canvas and, while lightly touching the canvas, create very thin lines.

A pull-loaded brush is useful to create run of the mill strokes that don't require too much precision.

A body-loaded brush is good for applying impasto strokes and heavy highlights. Impasto is a painting style in which the paint is laid-on very thickly.

Much more can be said about this but just remember, the ease with which you apply brushstrokes depends on how you load your brush.