Watercolour brushes

Watercolour brushes are soft and absorbent: they hold plenty of water and paint and release it onto the paper gradually, so your stroke stays smooth. On this page you'll find brushes the manufacturer has designed for watercolour paints – round and flat brushes, large mop brushes for washes, sets and water brushes with a water reservoir in the handle. You can choose synthetic hair, a synthetic alternative to squirrel or Kolinsky sable, or natural hair. Most of the brushes here come from Princeton (the Neptune and Aqua Elite ranges), Da Vinci and Daler Rowney (the Aquafine range). Some of them can also handle acrylic or gouache – the manufacturer states this for each brush.

Natural or synthetic hair for watercolour?

Natural squirrel hair soaks up the most water and covers a large area in a single stroke, which is why it is mainly used for large round and wash brushes, such as the Da Vinci 418. Kolinsky sable holds a sharp point and springs back into shape on its own after each stroke. Synthetic brushes cope better with frequent washing and dry quickly. Princeton Neptune imitates squirrel and Princeton Aqua Elite imitates Kolinsky sable, so you get similar absorbency and spring without animal hair. Daler Rowney Aquafine combines synthetic hair with sable.

Which shapes of watercolour brushes do you need?

• Round brush – the backbone of watercolour: use the fine tip for thin lines and press down for a broad mark.
• Flat brush – straight edges, bands of sky and even glazes.
• Mop and wash brush – a large, soft head for wetting the paper and covering broad areas wet-on-wet.
• Fan brush – grass, foliage and scattered strokes.
• Water brush with reservoir – carries water in the handle, which makes it handy for sketching outdoors and working with watercolour pencils.

To start with, two or three round brushes in different sizes and one flat brush are enough. If you want several sizes at once, take a look at our painting brush sets.

Can you use watercolour brushes for acrylics too?

Multi-technique brushes, such as the Daler Rowney Graduate Multi-Technique, are designed by the manufacturer for watercolour, acrylic and oil. Keep fine natural-hair brushes for watercolour only, as you won't be able to wash dried acrylic out of the hair. Alongside your brushes, you'll need watercolour paper, which absorbs water without buckling, and watercolour paints in tubes or pans.