Brushes for Watercolor, Inks & Aqueous Acrylics

Most of the natural hair brushes and half of the synthetic bristle brushes i make are great with Watercolor, Inks & Aqueous Acrylics. This section focuses on my best selling brushes with a bristle length of between about 1” to 1.5” long. This range of bristle lengths is great for general applications.

Most of my brushes produce a very fine point which makes the brush great for a lot of things. In addition, most of my brushes are very responsive and that makes it easier to produce a stroke that varies as you want it to, from very thin to very wide and back again. It is also easy to open the tip of the brush to produce a wide variety of stroke types.

Goat & Synthetic Blend Brushes

My Goat & Synthetic Blend brushes are my most popular, and for excellent reasons. This is a revolutionary bristle that offers a responsive hair-fine tip and a fabulous media holding capability. I call the Goat & Synthetic Blend brush “synergy in a paintbrush.” This brush is awesome for all kinds of water based media, and it is also excellent for solvent based media.

The Goat Hair i use is double dressed and originally designed for use with makeup brushes. Goat hair is not very springy but has a fabulous ability to hold and deliver paint or ink and form a fine tip. Goat hair is also rugged as natural hair brushes go, and you can expect a good service life. As with all natural hair brushes, they start out great and tend to get better and better over time.

I blend in about a 10% mix of my Synthetic Sable fibers and this gives the brush a springiness that also gives the brush a subtle and nice feedback. The feedback makes it much easier to do any kind of work. Of course in addition to having an excellent tip, the brush is also great on its belly, its side, or with the tip splayed out.

Because of its versatility, a number of artists bought my large and XL sizes of this brush and they wrote me to say they abandoned their other brushes in favor of my XL Goat & Synthetic Brush mix. You really can’t go wrong with this brush.

1” Long Bristle Goat & Synthetic Blend Brushes

The inch long bristle is favored by many because they are great for general applications and work well for tight control and excel for expressive work. The Goat and Synthetic Blend brush is also excellent for dry brush techniques. The fine hairs are great for dappling, making leaves, bushes, grasses and fine patterns. Longer hair editions of the Goat & Synthetic Blended Brush, such as the 1.5″ (below) do this even better than shorter bristle length editions.

1.5” Long Bristle Goat & Synthetic Blend Brushes

The 1.5 inch long bristle is favored by artists who like a more expressive brushes. These will produce softer curves and hold more paint or ink. These brushes are also great for stippling and hatching. The fine hairs are great for making leaves, bushes, grasses and any kind of fine strokes.

Goat Hair Brushes

My Goat Hair Bristle brushes are ideal for water based paints as well as all kinds of inks. Goat hair is the most widely used “go-to” brush for most of the world. My goat hair bristles are made from what is known as double dressed Goat hair. Dressing is the process of cleaning the bristle material. It includes washing, combing out so that hair length is uniform and no other debris are in the hair. Double dressing repeats this process with an end result of extreme high quality hair. My goat hair bristle material is actually designed for use as makeup brushes. There is no finer quality available.

My Goat Hair brushes are popular with artists who like a traditional brush that is on the soft side. Goat hair has about the best in media holding and delivery other than Sables, and Goat hair forms a fine tip. It is fairly soft and has a little springiness to it. It is an excellent brush for drybrush and can make very nice gradients as the volume of paint thins. Drybrush is great for filling areas in, and any time you want to diffuse the amount of paint in a location.

1” Long Bristle Goat Hair Brushes

The inch long bristle is favored by many because they are a classic painter’s brush which are good for general applications and expressive work such as organic curves and lines, plus a great soft drybrush, and it’s also good for stippling and hatching.

1.5” Long Bristle Goat Hair Brushes

The 1.5 inch long bristle is similar to above but favored by artists who like more expressive brushes by way of a longer bristle, and artists who use aqueous acrylics and inks. They are good for general applications, hatching and soft stippling, or more expressive work.

Brushes With Synthetic Sable Bristles

The Synthetic Sable brushes are ideal for water based and solvent based inks and paints. They are among my most popular. They are mildly springy easy to control, use very fine fibers that are both tapered and textured, and forms a hair-fine tip. The synthetic fibers are very resilient and will outlast any natural hair brush.

1” Long Bristle Synthetic Sable Brushes

The inch long bristle great for general applications and is very easy to control. It is a fun to use brush and is among my best sellers. It is excellent for stippling and hatching. because the fibers are springy, it is excellent for finely detailed work.

1.5” Long Bristle Synthetic Sable Brushes

The 1.5 inch long bristle edition is similar to above and is favored by artists who like a longer bristle. The longer bristle helps to produce more delicate curves and lines.

Brushes With Siberian Elk Bristles

My Brushes with Siberian Elk Bristles are the best brushes you’ll ever use.

The Siberian Elk brush is excellent for any water based paint or ink. While it is excellent for any solvent based paint or ink, remember that solvents accelerate natural hair brush wear.

Siberian Elk has a springiness or snap to it that is unique in all the world. The hair diameter size ranges from Kolinsky fine (about 1/4th the diameter of a human hair) up to a little thicker than goat hair. The hair tapers to a hair-fine tip so the brush has has a short and very-fine tip. The combination provides the best tactile feedback you’ve ever used combined with about the best in media holding capability.

This brush will spoil you.

The Siberian Elk hair i use is double dressed, meaning is is thoroughly cleaned two times, and the irregular hairs are combed out. This makes the hair uniform. Siberian Elk is very responsive and the vast majority who use it are delighted.

This hair is very hard to come by. It took me nearly 4 years to track down a small amount.

The 1 inch long bristle length is ideal for general applications. It is very easy to control and does everything extremely well. You really can’t go wrong with this brush. The fine diameter hair is great for wet brush, drybrush, stippling, hatching and fine detail work.

As an aside, if you want all that and something that’s about the best fine detail brush around, see my 3/4″ and Itty Bitty series of this brush.

1” Long Bristle Siberian Elk Brushes

The 1 inch long bristle is favored by many because they are great for general applications and also easy to control. The brushes excel at just about everything . The Siberian Elk brush is also excellent for dry brush. The fine hairs are great for dappling, plus making leaves, bushes, grasses, fine patterns and sensuous lines.

Brushes With Russian Sable Bristles

My Russian Sable Brushes are fabulous.

The Russian Sable brush is excellent for any water based paint or ink. It is also excellent for any solvent based paint or ink. But remember that solvents accelerate natural hair brush wear.

Russian Sable has a subtle springiness or snap. The hair is fairly uniform and is about 1/4th the diameter of a human hair. The hair has a long taper at the tip end which gives the brush a long and ultra-fine tip.

The Russian Sable hair I use comes from the tail hair. It is double dressed, meaning the hair is thoroughly cleaned two times, and irregular hairs are combed out. As a result, it is very uniform. Russian Sable is kind of the Mercedes SL class of the paintbrush world.

Russian Sable hair is very hard to come by. It took me several years to track down a small amount of it.

1” Long Bristle Russian Sable Brushes

The 1″ inch long bristle is good for general applications where ultra-fine detail is desired, and where the artist likes a responsive brush. Russian Sable works for all kinds of painting techniques.The brushes not only excel when control is needed but they are fabulous to produce soft drybrush techniques and is good for fine stippling and hatching.

1.5” Long Bristle Russian Sable Brushes

The 1.5″ bristle is favored by many because they are great for ultra fine lines and also for organic lines, curves and other expressive work. Like the shorter bristle editions of this brush, the 1.5″ long bristle is excellent for a soft dry brush.

Brushes With Silver Fox Bristles

My Silver Fox Brushes are a delight to use.

They are a little springier than Russian Sable and have similar ultra-fine tip.

The Silver Fox brush is excellent for any water based paint or ink. It is also excellent for any of the less viscous solvent based paints or inks. But remember that solvents accelerate brush wear.

The Silver Fox hair is fairly uniform and is about 1/4th the diameter of a human hair. The hair has a long taper at the tip end which gives the brush a long and ultra-fine tip.

My Silver Fox brushes are made from the guard hair of select Silver Fox. This is a very rare and extremely fine type of hair, with each stand about 1/4th the diameter of a human hair. It is similar to Russian Sable, but with a smaller diameter. Silver Fox hair is a little springier than Russian Sable.

It is excellent for lettering, wet or drybrush and makes soft drybrush results. It is a spoiler of a brush and many who use it have made it one of their main brushes.

I offer this brush in two bristle lengths of about 3/4 inch and about 1 inch.

3/4” Long Bristle Silver Fox Brushes

The 1″ inch long bristle is good for general applications where ultra-fine detail is desired, and where the artist likes a very responsive brush. Silver Fox works for all kinds of painting techniques.The brushes not only excel when control is needed but they are fabulous to produce soft drybrush techniques.

1” Long Bristle Silver Fox Brushes

The 1″ inch long bristle is good for general applications where ultra-fine detail is desired, and where the artist likes a very responsive brush. Silver Fox works for all kinds of painting techniques.The brushes not only excel when control is needed but they are fabulous to produce soft drybrush techniques.