

Watercolor paint is about trial and error, and in time you’ll figure out your style and which watercolor brush is best for you. Whether you’re using a wash technique or a detailed technique, the round or flat brush can assist you in achieving certain strokes. It is all based on the style and preference of the artists. The brushes range from straight edges to more angular edges. Flatįlat brushes allow artists to use produce clean edges in their watercolors. Larger round brushes are known for the wash technique and are also called mop brushes. Small round brushes, particularly ones made of sable hair, create finer details in watercolor work. Generally, there are round tips and flat tips, and each has its own specific advantage. There are different types of watercolor brushes to consider for different techniques.

What Brushes Should You Have for Watercolor? They, too, can hold water and paint nicely and offer an even distribution of paint-to-paper. As the amount of pigment you can take each time is limited, its a bit more difficult to paint largescale projects, but each pan will go a long way. Pans, which are only activated when touched with a wet brush, are great for their portability. But natural hair brushes are usually costly, due to their animal sources.īut modern-day synthetic brushes, often made with care and detail from nylon or polyester fibers, are a fierce competitor to natural hair brushes. The most common way to buy watercolors is either in small tubes or in trays of solid paint called pans. Their capacity to hold paint and water, while offering an even distribution of paint-to-paper makes it hard to beat. Traditionally, watercolor paint brushes were made with natural hairs, and artists tend to consider these superior to purely synthetic brushes.

We tried out some of the best and shared the results to save you some time at the art supply shelf. In the case of Kolibri French Watercolor Brushes sizes range from size 6 (diameter = 6mm) up to size 16 (diameter = 16mm).Find the right watercolor supplies for your practice. The best standard of measurement a consumer can use is to compare similar lines from various manufacturers' size for size. Sizing for various types of brushes is often rooted in tradition and the country of origin, or set for any number of reasons when a particular brush line is first created. are simply labeled in inches and fractions, regardless of their hair type.Īlthough we have discussed two of the most logical and more common systems of sizing, it is important to note that there is no industry standard that manufacturers must follow. You may also find that many flat brushes in the U.S. Roughly translated, 3/0 means 3 units less than a millimeter and 10/0 is 10 units less than a millimeter. So, when a brush is sized 10/0, 3/0, etc. This standard is effective, except that it is difficult to measure and assign a value to any measurement less than 1 mm.

One millimeter is equal to a size 1, 3 mm to size 3, etc. Natural soft hair and other synthetic brushes are measured using the metric system. Long handle synthetic filament brushes designed to be used as an alternative to bristle brushes are also sized this way. In turn, a size 6 is 1/2 inch, a size 18 is 11/2 inches, and so on. Natural bristle brushes are measured using the English system, which means a size 12 is equal to 1 inch. In the United States, the English or the metric system of sizing is commonly used, depending upon the type of brush. The order is determined by the size of the ferrule opening and in many cases, the number on the brush is in fact the size of the ferrule opening. Numbering brushes provides order for brushes within a series. When wet the brushes form an absolutely perfect point. The brushes can hold a large quantity of water respective watercolors. The tuft is secured to the wood handle by a synthetic quill and wrapped in four places with brass wire. Kolibri French Watercolor Brushes are made of synthetic squirrel filaments to produce a brush that holds water exceptionally well and comes to an excellent point. Kolibri Imitation Squirrel French Watercolor Brushes are handmade in Germany by Feurer & Sohn-one of the oldest brush manufacturers in Germany (established 1898).
