When the brush is in water, I could see the hair spread out untidily and there were a few strands of wavy hair. Winsor & Newton Series 7 Kolinsky Sable brushes are best suited for use with watercolour paint, but can also be used for other water-based paints such as thinned gouache. Perfect for both washes of colour and fine detail work.

Rosemary & Co, Da Vinci Maestro and Artis Opus are equally good options if you are looking for the best quality and reliability. and Rosemary & Co brushes are especially popular among the more Budget Concious Painter. Best value for money here, with no doubt. Synthetic brushes are generally more resistant to washing & conditioning. Imagine washing a doll’s hair with a normal hair conditioner? It’s not going to make much of an impact. Synthetic brushes do have their uses, however, especially when using Oil & Enamel paints as the cleaning and thinning products (most of which are alcohol-based) will destroy the hairs on a typical sable brush. And whilst the sips of these brushes often curl. they can usually be straightened out and retrained to a point using some hot water. Most importantly, Series 7 fulfills the essential qualities that define the finest watercolor brush for artists: Whilst there is no simple answer, the thing to take away here is that the best brush is the one that works for you. One that fits your style and budget appropriately, just don’t break the bank on a brush expecting it to make you a wizard. Start out with some cheap options like Games Workshop and/or Army Painter and work your way up when you have learned proper care and protection. In all honesty, the optimist in me does realise that the brush names are much simpler for beginners to understand. Have a guess what a base brush is for? They are fair work-horse brushes for the price. You may be surprised to find that these are actually the cheapest brushes on the list. Approximately 50% cheaper than the average cost of brushes listed here (not including the artificer brushes) and they do the job. But many long-term painters will tell you that they just don’t last very long. and I can concur with that statement.If you are after standard brushes for the likes of basecoating, edge-highlighting and layering/glazing/shading. Don’t start here. It may look like the brush is unable to release water evenly but if you make a conscious effort with your technique, you can release water evenly. Flow Control - The color flows evenly and consistently from the point, with enough color carrying capacity in the belly of the brush to allow flowing gestural strokes. To be honest, you could just get a #000 & #1 rather than either of the #00 & #0 depending on what you paint. Another good option would be a #10/0 for things like eyes, but a good pointed brush of any size can do this.

Holding more paint, having a more reliable tip and lasting much longer than W&N makes these stand out. Made of Kolinsky Sable specifically for watercolour by Raphaël of France these are the true up-and-comer of the miniature painting range. They are also cheaper than the more Popular Winsor & Newton Series 7 brushes (only 10% more expensive than the average price of brushes on this list).

I’ve had no issues with mine, but I’m an infrequent user and I keep them washed and clean with masters brush soap. They are an excellent choice of brush, but you are paying nearly half again on top of the Raphael 8404 Series and they are almost/over triple the cost of Rosemary & Co’s Series 22/33 respectively.