Don’t think of your brush as if it is a broom to be used for sweeping paint from side to side. Unlike a brush being used for house painting, watercolor brushes rarely are used to stroke paint back and forth over the same surface area. The fewer strokes the better ( Less is More ). Watercolor is a transparent media and each layer of paint shows through the subsequent additional layers. The primary role of the watercolor brush is as an applicator, transferring paint from your palette to your paper.
In part 1, we discussed the moisture characteristics of watercolor brushes, in part 2, we want to explore the various watercolor brush types their sizes and application characteristics. The pros and cons related to the selection of brush types during painting. In other words, which brush might best be used and when you might want to use it in the creation of a painting.
Brush types are typically organized by the shape of the bristle end of the brush, the brush head. Brush heads get their individual shapes based on the end contour of the brush’s ferrule in conjunction with the makeup and composition of the bristles used, individual bristle characteristic shapes, bristle lengths, as well as the bristle mixtures (natural & synthetic mixes) and bristle mix densities ( actual number of hairs used to make up the brush head ).
The main brush types typically used for watercolor painting are Rounds, Flats, Riggers and Liners, Mops and Quills, and Wash brushes. There are also other brushes that are variations of these main types that are used for very specific specialty purposes which we will address as appropriate.
Various Sizes Of Round Brushes
Round brushes will have a round contour ferrule end at the heel that forms the brush head into a round configuration that normally comes to a point at the brush tip. Round brushes come in a variety of sizes often numerically designated from 0000 to 50. The brush’s size essentially describes the diameter of the brush head at the ferrule contour. Unfortunately, brush sizes vary among manufacturers. This means that a size 12 brush with one brand may not be the same as another brand’s size 12 brush. Basically manufacturers have their own sizing definitions so brush sizes are not universal. Brush sizes of a single brand will normally relate to the other sizes of that same brand, so relative sizes will be consistent by manufacturer. To add to the size confusion, manufacturers sometimes use millimeter designations as well as sometimes designations in inches or fractions of inches.
The Round brush is the most versatile shape and is normally recommended for watercolor beginners as their first brushes. Round brushes are good for drawing as well as laying down washes.
Various Sizes Of Flat Brushes
Flat brushes will have a flattened oval shaped contour ferrule at the heel of the brush head. In general, the brush head takes a rectangular flattened shape with its tip coming to a broad sharp edge as opposed to the pointed tip of a round brush. Flat brush heads come in varying lengths as well as widths. There are numerous variations of Flat brushes that vary by their bristle lengths as well the ending edge shape of their brush tip. Examples of Flat brush variations are :
Bright – is a type of flat with short bristles best suited for short controlled strokes
Angular (shader) – a flat whose tip edge is cut at an angle as opposed to being a straight edge.
Sword or Dagger – Similar to an angled brush but with varying length bristles that form a flat sharp pointed edge that resembles a knife shape.
Filbert – a flat brush whose point is oval shaped instead of squared off.
Cat’s Tongue – Similar to filbert but with a more pointed tip.
Fan – Long, flattened bristles whose tip is shaped like a spread open fan.
Riggers and Liners – these specialty brushes are a variation on the Round shape brush. These type brushes have longer bristles than regular Rounds. The Riggers come to a point and are primarily used to paint very long thin lines. Traditionally, the term Rigger comes from the fact that these brushes were originally designed to paint detailed sailing ship rigging lines. They are very useful for rendering tree branches and for detailing. Liners are similar to Riggers in being long haired rounds but instead of being pointed they have a squared tip like a Flat. They are excellent detail painting brushes.
Rigger (left) Liner (right)
Mops and Quills are similar large load/charge holding capacity brushes. They are often talked about as if they are the same type of brush. But they are not the same in their makeup and construction or application. Mops are constructed similar to Rounds in that they have round contoured ferrules at their heel to form the brush head. Unlike most typical Rounds, Mops have significantly more hair density forming big reservoir bellies for holding large charges of paint. In general Mops don’t point like regular Rounds which is where they get their Mop name. Quills are normally constructed with exposed wire wrapped around the brush handle to form a round brush head instead of using a typical round contoured ferrule. Quill brush heads have significant hair density to form big reservoir bellies for holding large charges of paint similar to Mops but the brush head points at the tip more like a regular Round. Mop brushes are designed to hold plenty of water / pigment for the purpose of painting over large areas easily. They are excellent for painting skies. They are often used similarly to Wash brushes for wetting paper to facilitate wet techniques. Mop brushes do not need a sharp point because they are not meant for painting details. Quills, on the other hand, can cover large areas of paper , carry a large charge and also can produce detailed strokes similar to a regular Round making Quills more versatile than Mops. .
Various Sizes Of Quills
Wash brushes are a variation of a Flat brush that are designed to have big reservoir bellies for holding large charges of paint or water. They are used to get broad area coverage for laying down washes and for wetting large areas of paper to support wet techniques. Wash brushes often vary by the width of the brush head usually expressed in inches and by the length and density of the hairs used to form the brush head. A Hake in an Asian developed Flat Wash brush. Hakes typically have wide, flat handles with long bristle heads usually using course goat hairs that are attached to the handle by wire or threads. They are unusually versatile brushes designed for big washes as well as a wide range of varying strokes. Using a Hake is a bit of an acquired skill and they certainly are not for everyone. Hakes were made popular by the British watercolor painter Ron Ranson who used them almost exclusively.
Choices For Application
A minimal brush set for watercolor painting might consist of a couple of Rounds sizes 8 and 12, a couple of Flats sizes 1″ and 1/2″ , a 2″ Wash brush and a size 3 or 4 Rigger. There is very little that is needed beyond these brushes. For working on larger size paintings, typically 1/2 sheets ( 15 x 22 ) or full sheets (30 x 22), the addition of a large size Quill ( 8 to 14) as well as larger Flats or Washes may be desirable. Liners are excellent for doing work on animals or figures that are added to a landscape.
Brush Care
Brand new brushes need to be “conditioned” prior to being used for painting. New brushes are shipped with a solution of gum arabic (glue) on them that is used to shape and protect the brush head in transit. You’ll need to dip a new brush in clean water and swish it around to remove the gum arabic sizing before the brush head can be used. Once the sizing is gone, reshape the brush head with your fingers and leave it to dry on a flat surface. Various manufacturers use varying amounts of glue so some brushes will require more rinsing / cleaning than others.
Brush care Do’s
Store your brushes in a clean, dry area.
Clean your brushes after every painting session.
After cleaning, reshape the bristles to an appropriate shape with your fingers.
After cleaning, leave the brush to dry on a flat surface so water does not trickle into ferrule and handle which can cause the wood to expand loosening the adhesive and/or crack the ferrule. Hanging the brush with the brush head facing down is an excellent way to dry brushes.
Brush care Don’ts
Never leave your brushes bristle end down in your water containers. If left for long periods of time, the water will cause the wood to expand in the handle and loosen the ferrule. The hair on the brush will also become damaged as it will “bend” the point leaving it in a permanent distorted state.
Do not use your watercolor brushes for acrylic, oil, ink, or any type of paint other than watercolor paint.
Here’s a tip: When painting, use your older or cheaper brushes to activate or mix the paint with water on your palette and save your more expensive brushes for the actual painting. This will preserve your nicer brushes longer and prevent them from being worn down by constant abrasive mixing.
In a future article on brushes I plan to discuss brush marks and strokes with a focus on which brush types are best used, although most brush marks can be produced by almost any type of brush some types are easier to use.