Ultimate Guide to Best Watercolour Brushes
Paintbrushes for watercolors come in a variety of shapes, sizes and hair types. It can get rather overwhelming if you’re reading about it for the first time. Brush choices are quite personal and subjective, depending on your medium and the type of subjects you paint. The goal of today's blog post is to organize and condense the information you need to know in order to choose watercolour brushes wisely.
Types
Regular Brush
A regular brush has a wooden/plastic handle with various types of bristle shapes and materials. This is what I use on a daily basis and the good thing is there are many brands and different price points to suit your individual needs and usage.
PROS
- It’s a good quality brush you will enjoy using in your studio. This is the most common type of brush you will see, they are largely affordable.
CONS
- It’s hard to bring them outside for painting.
Travel Brush
A travel brush usually comes in two parts: a short handle with a bristle end, and a cap that protects the brush. When the cap is removed, you cap at the end of the handle to extend the length of the brush handle for painting. When you cap the brush, it’s short and fits into pocket or even your palette so it’s convenient to bring it out for travel.
PROS
- It’s a good quality brush that you can bring out for plein air or travel use. It’s a step up from the water brushes if you often paint on the go and enjoy doing plein air.
CONS
- Only certain brands make them, and it’s usually part of a more premium line of brushes so it’s also more expensive.
Water Brush
A water brush has a container or reservoir as its handle but it’s designed to hold water. It also has a cap to prevent any water leakage. When you use the waterbrush, you lightly squeeze the handle and water gradually seeps down from the reservoir onto the bristles. This means the brush bristles are permanently moist or damp. It can also be used to lift color directly from watercolor pencils or water soluble crayons.
PROS
- It is the most affordable brush option available and comes in an easy to choose sizing guide: small, medium, large, flat brush
- It is very handy for travel because you don’t need to carry an additional water cup . Just squeeze the handle for some additional water and wipe it on a serviette to clean your brush while painting on the go.
CONS
-
I wouldn’t recommend this for beginners, because water control can get real finnicky with these brushes. Sometimes you get a sudden random blob that rolls down the bristles.
How to choose a brush
Criteria
Snap: How well the brush snaps back into its original shape after being used
Spring: How well a brush can hold its shape when in use.
Load: How much water can the brush hold
Hair
Synthetic Fibers: Bristles of synthetic brushes are usually made of fibers like nylon, polyester, or other man-made materials. These are very affordable and if you’re a little rough with your brushes, you don’t have to worry about replacing them!
Real Hair: Usually made with sable, the most premium being kolinsky sable hairs, these are usually cost a premium. When properly cared for, can last a really long time, release water evenly and they have very nice pointy tips. Downside is these can get quite expensive.
Combination Hairs: Made with a combination of synthetic and real hair fibres.
Shape
For Versatility:
Round - This is the most common and most versatile brush, you can use it for everything. If you could only get one brush, pick a round brush.
Flat - This is used for broad linear strokes and for applying washes, it gives a very clean crisp look if you’re painting lines and straight-edged subjects.
Filbert - This is a flat brush but with an oval shape that’s good for painting floral petals.
For Flat Washes:
Wash - This is a flat brush but much wider than the flat brush. It has slightly longer hair than the hake.
Hake - This is a brush from Japan with short and wide bristles. It is also great for painting large swatches of washes.
Mop - Mop brushes are thick bellied and holds a lot of water and pigment, it is perfect for wetting the paper or painting work that is heavy on paint and ink.
For Detail Work:
Spotter - This brush has very fine and short hair which gives you a lot of control for small detail work.
Rigger - This is a round brush that has long hair and a thin point. Some people use this for calligraphy but this is also meant for detail work. Longer hairs mean it’s more difficult to control so it is purely up to personal preference which one you prefer.
Size
Brush sizes go from 0000 to 50, although you won't need the majority of them. You should have a decent selection of round brushes, but when purchasing other brushes (such wash brushes), consider how you intend to utilize them before making your purchase.
My Top Picks
For your first set of watercolor paintbrushes, I'd suggest three round brushes in sizes small (about size 2 - 3), medium (approximately size 6 - 8), and big (10 - 12). They'll be all you need initially due to how versatile they are. I’ve completed an entire painting with just a size 6 round brush, it’s a little slow but it can be done. As for the other types of brushes, it depends on the type of work you do. I find it helpful to have a wash brush for doing background washes when painting landscapes, and a spotter brush for detail work.
My preference is synthetic brushes and my go-to brand is always Princeton. I use the Heritage 4050 series with synthetic hair because I love how snappy the brushes are.
