Watercolour Brushes

Which watercolour brushes should you buy? What should you look for when choosing watercolour brushes?

On many occasions we are guided purely by the aesthetics of the brush and art materials without really knowing how they are meant to be used.

Click here to learn about brush characteristics

Watercolour Brushes

A good brush must be elastic and durable, and also have a great capacity for absorbing water. But beyond that, we must consider other factors when choosing, depending on the technique we intend to use.

What types of brushes are there?

Hair type

Natural hair or synthetic hair. The main difference will be in the price, and previously in the quality. Although certain differences can still be noticed in terms of flexibility, nowadays there are excellent brushes made of synthetic fibres or blends, where the difference is hardly noticeable.

Size

The longer the hair tuft of the brush, the greater its absorption capacity for paint. Ideally, you should have a variety of different sizes and lengths.

Also taking into account the handle size, depending on your artwork.

Brushes are classified by numbers, from the finest to the thickest: from Nº0 to Nº24. Brushes are classified by width. Each manufacturer has its own specifications and thicknesses and lengths may vary for the same number.

They have a great capacity for retaining water.

Shape

Flat, angled, rigger, round, cat’s tongue, fan, precision…

Each shape has a specific use in watercolour techniques.

Round and flat brushes allow you to cover large areas while also creating shapes and details; fan brushes are ideal for botanical effects, and cat’s tongue and precision brushes for the smallest touches and soft strokes.

All of this will influence the final finish. There is a very wide variety of hair shapes.

Other characteristics

The material of the handles, wood or plastic, and the ferrules, which may be made of metal or plastic. Stainless ferrules are recommended to avoid deterioration.

The fine arts market has grown so much in recent years that we now have endless possibilities in terms of art materials. Specifically, brushes can be found in all types, including ergonomic ones or with special features for left-handed people and children.

There are also brushes with and without water reservoirs for work that requires a constant flow of water and moisture. Although these are not usually considered professional watercolour brushes.

We offer a wide variety of brands covering different prices and levels. We would like to highlight some such as Escoda, Raphaël, Da Vinci, Pentel or Isabey, among others.

There are brush sets, boxes and individual brushes available, travel formats and many other options depending on the needs and techniques you want to create, suitable for both professionals and beginners.

Gouache Brush

In our fine arts supplies shop, we also have Gouache and tempera brushes. Their characteristics are similar to watercolour brushes but with some differences, placing them halfway between acrylic and watercolour.

Discover our entire specialised catalogue of fine arts materials online.