Brushing up on clean up

After reading this post by Mrs. Picasso - I thought I'd share my own twist on brush clean up. As a high school teacher, I would demonstrate my expectations for painting AND clean up at the same time. Sometimes I show clean up first to emphasize how important it is. When using watercolors, I would rinse the brush in the cup and tell them that if they did a good job washing the brush, they shouldn't be afraid to do this (Dragging the wet brush across my cheek). I tell the students that when they hand their brush in to me each day that they should be prepared for me to test it on their face, shirt or pants. During the first day of painting, when the first student turns in a brush I ask if they are ready for me to test it. They usually jump back and go re-rinse the brush just in case. If they hand it to me, I know they are confident that they did a good job and I don't test the brush. I guess no one wants to risk an $80 hoodie. I've never (and would never) actually do this, but I guess I'm crazy enough that they don't leave it to chance.