All About Brushes for Watercolor

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Brushes: Goodness do I have brushes, some 30+ years old, some are newish --last 10 years or so.

These are only the brushes I have designated as Art brushes...I have a whole container of 'craft' brushes that are really inexpensive/utilitarian brushes for furniture, stains, glues, modge-podge etc. I do keep them separate.

Since I started taking Mather water color classes...I haven't bought any new brushes, but have been using this and that, most of which are left overs from ceramics, acrylics or craft painting. 

So many of the questions in the classes are about  brushes. Because Mather isn't selling any products (neither am I), I thought I would analyze my brushes and figure out which are the best for MY needs. Just like testing my paints in this post: 

WATERCOLOR TESTS

I thought I would set up my brushes according to styles and test them.

TESTING:

I dipped EVERY brush into clear water, squeezed the bristles and then dipped twice into prepared water color pans, once front and back. 

For this first page of what I call water carriers...I then made a flat stroke of color left to right, lifted, then made a stroke with the edge of the brush, then several side pressed down strokes to show how the brush spreads the colors.  These were all done with just the one dipping into the colors.

The biggest concern for Water colorists, is do synthetics work as well as Natural bristles. Natural bristles in large brushes carry a lot of color and water...they have a softer (slop or slide) type of application.

My Red grouping is Oval mops, I felt I had more control with the synthetic here, but for large areas of water or color...the naturals are great but $$$

The HAKE brushes at the bottom were originally purchased for glaze applications..which they are fabulous for, the bottom one is nearly worn out---I may be purchasing a few of these because of the water carrying ability.

For the Next Pages:

For this and all the pages following, I dipped the brush in water, squeezed, then dipped twice front back in color and did the similar stroke patterns across the page. 

If I had to re-dip the brush...I indicated so. 

Some brands of brushes are named, if I could read the print on the brush. Unnamed brushes were generally purchased in bag sets in craft stores.

Flats are just that---Flat brushes with a sharp edge at the top. My plan here was to show the first stroke as a zigzag---edge/to flat edge, then a line made with the skinny top edge, then blotches made by pressing down on the narrow edge.

I labeled these LONG Flats, but they are just known as Flats, while shorts are known as Chisels, which I don't have many in good condition (I used these a lot in craft painting)

Flats actually give you quite a bit of control for straight lines as well as making C or S shapes, great for shading.

Differences between Natural, Synthetic Taklon and Synthetic generic...you get sharper edges with Synthetics,  but,  there is a kickback on the synthetic brushes. 

Kick back is when the bristles leave the paper with a spring (see above) leaving some extra edges...most visible on the second from the bottom long synthetic.

Your Natural bristles carry a bit more water and have a softer feel to them. Flats actually give you quite a bit of control for straight lines as well as making C or S shapes, great for shading. 

I used only one paint load on all these but one...the no 8 had to be re-dipped, an unnamed synthetic brush probably from a craft assortment.

FILBERTS. I personally love Filbert brushes for florals and round shapes. 

They have been carefully trimmed to be oval and shaped. $$

You can see on the S and zig zag strokes--- it's softer than the flats. Side edges are softer and the blotches are more uniform. It's interesting that the edges are lighter, as the thicker center of the brush held more color.

Down below I made flower petals with one color dipping of each brush...these are all synthetics...Filberts in Natural hairs can be very $$$$

You can see the usage marks on the handles shows how old these brushes are!

Traditional bamboo brushes (general squirrel or other furs) were something I used a lot in Ceramics because they carry so much color and water. 

Control is a matter of learning...I'm used to heavier paints and I will need to practice control with water colors with my bamboos.

These were originally used in Japanese and Chinese watercolor and inks.

The newer Synthetic bamboos were wonderful to use and lots of control and they carried color well.  I purchased these online from Temu, I believe.

Other brushes I did with the same techniques.

First Grouping ANGLE brushes...another brush that can get expensive in natural bristles. I have four different angle brushes in synthetic. Of course they don't carry as much paint as the flats, but the edge handles differently and you can get great line/edges and lines with an angle brush.

The middle grouping of small flats, because they are small, I had to refill the paint on those to make the last blotches.They all carried the paint well, but Taklons seem to carry it the best,.

The Last group are Liners also known as Scripts...very long thin bristles. I thought the synthetics had more precision and held the color well.  I've used these for long lines and grasses. 

ROUNDS...are hairs arranged in a round grouping and not necessarily trimmed at the top. Golly this is what we used as kids. The all purpose brush...honestly you can do a majority of paintings with Rounds and Sharps(next grouping)

Rounds. This is another brush that I have as basically all synthetic. Again I only had to refill the smaller brushes to complete the marks. 

Sharps can make nice crisp ends on your lines and your blotches, great for leaves and flowers. They carry water/color pretty well. 

My biggest gripe about Natural bristle brushes is stray hairs, which is horrible in watercolor because if you leave it to dry---it leaves a mark, if you dig it out-- it leaves a mark. 

A Comment on brands: The Plaid/Folk Art brushes and the Susan Schwee watercolorist brushes were the most expensive in this grouping.

I also had lots of Royal garden brushes which have a special dyed Taklon which simulates pure red sable. They offer fine points, softness and flexibility like natural hair brushes. I wore these out in craft painting as they were my favorites...

Lowe Cornells can be pricy. When you want a really small sharp brush in 1, 0 to 10/0 you end up paying quite a bit. I keep a plastic guard on these brushes. My Royal Garden brush 0 is missing in the photo, I managed to misplace it for the photos. It has the flowers on white background on the handle...these are 20-25 year old brushes and still very usable.

ODDS or Whatevers.

Good quality foam (in paint depts at hardware stores) brushes are great for large paintings. I dipped this in water, squeezed and then painted...interesting. Windsor Newton's Paynes Gay is a fun color and I always have it in my pan next to an umber. 

The second brush is what I call a stiff bristled scruffy *(used and abused) brush. 

Wetted, squeezed and then dipped into side by side colors ...you can get some fun effects with a cruddy beat up brush.

The third line is a sea wool sponge..(try and get an assortment at a paint store/hardware store,) less expensive than a craft or art store. Again emmersed in water, squeezed out, then in paint...

Lastly this is FAN brush for acrylics...but... same process and see what you get...

I really recommend students to test their own brushes with a similar technique. Also how you would like to use them for reference. When you like the 'feel' of a brush---try others in that same brand or style...$$$ doesn't necessarily mean it is the best brand or brush for

how YOU paint. 

MORE About Branding: 

Walmart: Brushes in their assortments will be excellent/good/ and bad(cheap batches of kiddy brushes)  Cost effective its a great place to start. $  By all means buy your children/grandchildren at least decent or student grade brushes and teach them how to care for themn.

Artist's Loft brushes are mid-range $$ good buys, and are considered student grade. Michaels and Amazon carry these.

Bamboo brushes can be pricey. $$$ I've purchased from Art stores, Dick Blick, online and Temu($ cheaper with plastic handles but great bristles) over the years.

Loew-Cornell brushes: Amazon, Walmart, Dick Blick higher end brushes available cheaper in sets, but singles can get pricy. The white Taklons are strong and still flexible. $$$

Susan Schwee...apparently isn't selling brushes anymore...they were great...but she has what I call LADY watercolor books, almost made from patterns. But, she has a great use of color and shading...my motto is you can learn something from anyone.

Princeton/Heritage brushes can be found at Walmart, Dick Blick, and Amazon ...I have a few I think I bought in sets over the years as I have a few of each style in different sizes $-$$

Royal/Langnickel---student grade are pretty much sold in mixed sets by everybody...good buys and come in some great sets of what you might want to start with. $-$$

and many more...

NOW: Since China and importers have eliminated the middle man---Sable and Natural bristle brushes can be purchased directly from the manufacturer, so I may purchase a Sable set in the near future...

PS. I rarely paint with more that 5-6 brushes in a session, sometimes as little as two---it totally depends on how you paint. Some of these will go back into the 'craft' paint bucket and I will keep my favorites for

watercolors. You don't need a million brushes---honest.

 My Mather classes for Seniors 

are so much fun and they are free, 

if you are over 55 and interested, 

HERE is their website.

Thanks always for visiting. 

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question?

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I'll be participating at these fun parties.

Sandi