Whether you’re a newcomer to the world of painting or a seasoned pro looking to expand your supply collection, this article helps you navigate the diverse paint brushes of the world.
There are several ways to categorize the vast world of paintbrushes. You can break them down by handle length, illustrating how short handles deftly perform up-close detail while long handles offer control in your broad strokes. You can organize brushes by their bristle types, with natural bristles like hog, squirrel and sable contrasted against synthetics like nylon and taklon. Or, intuitively, you might group brushes by shape: round, flat, fan, filbert, etc.
These are each perfectly legitimate ways to classify brushes. However, for the sake of ease, this article mostly hews toward differences in medium. Below, you’ll find a breakdown of brushes by their intended materials, like watercolour, oil, acrylic, varnish and gesso. Further along, explore specialty brushes like sponges and pinstripes to round out the picture.
Break out the canvas, and let's get started.
Watercolour Brushes
Uniquely designed to retain and smoothly release water and pigment, watercolour brushes generally feature softer bristles. At their best, they glide over the canvas effortlessly, allowing the artist a high level of up-close control over their masterpiece. They typically feature short handles (watercolourists tend to sit close to their artwork) and come in a range of natural and synthetic bristles.
When getting started with watercolouring, consider a high-quality brush set from respected brands like Winsor & Newton or da Vinci, which come with various head shapes. You can find these premium brands (as well as all of the brushes listed below) at Above Ground Art Supplies, either online or in-store.
Oil and Acrylic Brushes
Compared to their watercolour counterparts, oil and acrylic brushes feature heavier, coarser bristles. This robustness allows them to handle the thicker consistency of the materials. Hog bristle brushes are the most popular choice for oil, while many prefer synthetic bristles for their acrylics. That said, there are no hard and fast rules; learning what’s right for your style should be a playful journey of trial and error.
The brands mentioned above make terrific oil and acrylic brushes. Some other names to look for are Escoda, Liquitex and Princeton, each producing brushes in a range of bristle materials and head shapes.
Varnish and Gesso Brushes
Gesso is an essential material used to prime a canvas for painting. It makes the canvas less absorbent and, therefore, easier to apply paint. Varnish, meanwhile, adds a finishing touch after the paint, protecting the artwork and enhancing the final appearance.
Because the aims here are consistent, broad strokes, varnish and gesso brushes are very wide. They feature long, soft bristles that hold a lot of material so you can make (relatively) quick work of priming and finishing. Shapes run the gamut from straight and flat for long strokes to angled brushes for detailing.
Sponge, Pinstriping, Lettering and Stencil Brushes
Then, there are the rest. As the intro mentions, the world of paintbrushes is diverse and expansive. Often, artists keep a small army of brushes at the ready, many for niche purposes.
For instance, pinstriping and sword striper brushes wield their long, thin bristles to create decorative lines; lettering brushes excel at calligraphic flourishes; stencil brushes leverage short, firm bristles for stencil applications; silicone blades effortlessly move heavy paints and hot encaustics across the canvas; and sponges dapple paint for everything from pastoral clouds to abstract expressionism.
If you aren’t sure where to start, the best course of action is to speak with helpful professionals at a quality art store. They can steer you toward brushes suited to your style and purposes.