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Brush Basics

Watercolor brushes typically have long, absorbent hairs, and the best are of natural fiber. By tradition, a watercolor brush as a short handle, since the artist executes fine detail and works close to the paper or medium.

High-end watercolor brushes, such as kolinsky sable pointed rounds and red sable rounds, are prized for their ability to keep a fine point, useful for detail work. Desired qualities include resiliancy and snap.

The cost and scarcity of high-quality natural fibers has fostered the development of good synthetic alternatives. Synthetic watercolor brushes can be used with other media.

Starting your brush collection:
These five brushes will give you a great starter set:

small round for fine details
medium round as a multi-purpose brush
bright to paint fine details and straight lines
one-inch flat for applying washes, gradations and backgrounds
fan to add textures and feathered edges or painting grass

 typical bright

Learn more about watercolor painting with ArtVideo's watercolor courses.

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