Watercolor Brushes:
Make The Right Choice!
I use a variety of watercolor brushes to achieve soft wet washes, a dry brush technique, or other effects. The three things that make up a brush is size, shape, and what is it made of. Because of this some brushes are made for use with watercolors, oils or acrylics. All brushes are made from either a Natural or animal hair and they hold paint very well. The following discussion of various brushes includes my recommendations for watercolor brushes. Synthetic brushes are man made of either Nylon Filament or Polyester filament that is dyed and baked to make them softer and more absorbent. The advantages of using synthetic watercolor brushes are that they are less likely to get damaged from solvents, insects or paint. They are easier to keep clean then a natural brush because the filaments don’t have animal scale structures to trap paint. This makes synthetic brushes good for painting with Oil paint or Acrylic paint. Natural hair comes from many animals. The industries say that they don’t harm or kill any animals in the making of paintbrushes. I hope this is true! Here are some of the materials used in bushes. Kolinsky Sable: This is not really from a sable but from mink. The fur comes from the tail of the male of the species and is found in Siberia and Northeastern China. This fur is considered to be the best material for oil and watercolor brushes due to it’s strength, spring, and ability to retain it’s shape. This is a professional grade of hair and if cared for will last many years. You might want to consider the Da Vinci Kolinsky Round Brush Sets available online at Dick Blick Art Materials. Red Sable: The hair used for these watercolor brushes comes from members of the weasel family with red hair, not from the sable. It is used in a lot of brushes and styles for a variety of mediums. The quality and characteristics vary greatly. This type of brush is less expensive and a good alternative for the more expensive Kolinsky brush and they work similarly to each other. I find the Kolinsky Sable brush works better and does hold up a lot better for years of use. Black Sable (Fitch): Traditionally a brush used for oil painting and it is similar to Mongoose and Sable fur. Fitch or Black Sable is a very smooth fur ideal for blending paint and works well for portrait painters. This fur comes from Europe and is a more affordable substitute for Sable. Ox Hair: This hair is very strong with a smooth texture and comes from the ears of cattle or oxen. This brush is good for most oil and acrylics because it is resilient. It can handle a lot of punishment but lacks a fine tip; therefore as a watercolor brush it is useful for washes and blending. Squirrel Hair: Comes from two species of squirrel. Grey Squirrel-Talahoutky is always in high demand for lettering brushes and quills. It comes from Russia and is hard to get. Brown Squirrel-Kazan is easier to get and is used to make medium quality brushes. These brushes are very fine, thin-haired brushes taken from the tails of the squirrels. It points as well as a Kolinsky. Although soft to the touch and very absorbent, the hair tends to be brittle and somewhat floppy when wet. A tip to getting it to hold its shape is to soak the watercolor brush in warm water a few minutes before using it. Pony Hair: This is a soft but strong hair taken from animals at least two years old and is used for student grade brushes for watercolors. Goat Hair: This hair is soft and absorbent and is used in the making of oriental brushes. These hairs are not very durable and need some care and cleaning to make them last for a few years. Nylon Filament: White Nylon is raw synthetic filament that has not been treated and is not very absorbent. Golden Nylon a synthetic filament that has been treated and is softer and more absorbent. Used as a lower grade brush. Camel Hair: This hair does not come from camels but from squirrels, goats, ox, pony or is a blend of several of these hairs. How it is blended decides on how soft and absorbent it is as well as how expensive it is to buy. Because it loses its memory or (point) it is useful in some painting applications. Hog Bristle: Yes, these bristles come from hogs from several parts of the world. Chinese Shanghai hog bristles are highly sought after and hold their shape, giving you more control over the paint and it spreads thick oil paints smoothly and evenly. Bristle is unlike any other natural filler in that it forms a V- shape or flag at the tip and tends to have a natural curve. There are a lot of other watercolor brushes out there but these are what I mainly use and know the best. Here is a list of the brushes I’m using now. I use cheap white nylon brushes for applications of Masking Fluid. I use 1/2 ounce of dish soap in 8 ounces of warm water and soak the brush before using Masking fluid. Keep the brush moist with this solution. This prevents the Masking fluid from getting into the fibers and the brush will be much easier to clean. I ruined many watercolor brushes before finding this trick. My choice of paper, paints, brushes and other supplies are based on my experience and personal preference. If you have questions, please
contact me.
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