you prolly dont care but does anybody know of a way to get back into an Instagram account..? I somehow forgot the password. I love any tricks you can offer me!
@Liam Anson Thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site on google and I'm in the hacking process atm. Looks like it's gonna take a while so I will reply here later with my results.
Hullo Carrie, It has been a while since you posted this video, but up it popped on my sidebar so I watched it! I think the reason synthetic brushes have gotten so much better is they now make them more like natural hair brushes. Using different size "hairs" in each brush. The biggest trouble with synthetic brushes is all of the hairs were the same diameter or size. The real thirsty brushes have hairs of differing sizes and so will make your painting experience better and easier too! I know this is why synthetic's are so much better in today's brushes! OK off to find another video. I do hope your doing well ans taking it easy, slow and easy!
I have become addicted to your channel and watercolors. I'm so excited to continue learning more and more every day. Your style in filmmaking makes your videos so interesting and has helped share your passion for this wonderful medium. Thank you for inspiring me.
I am so happy to have come across your videos. They have been so helpful and I've already learned so much about the basics. You go into great detail and explain things in a way I have never seen anyone else achieve yet here on UA-cam. Thank you! Keep making these videos! 👏
I'd like to add one thing: FLAT WASH, FLAT BRUSH 😅 May sound obvious but when I started watercolors I was trying to do flat washes using round brushes 😑 While it is certainly possible to get even washes with a round brush, the flat brush is specifically designed for this task. Great video as always, with concise instructions and high quality visuals. Thank you! Happy painting, all!😁
I have more than a few expensive Sable brushes but personally, I honestly enjoy my W&N Cotman brushes the most. Best part is the Cotman won't break the bank!
I just discovered your videos...even though I am educated in arts watercolour has never been my true love (due to the fact it really is a difficult technique!) but your tips draw my ideas back to my watercolour lessons and the interest for this kind of art...thank you! :)
I would like to know more about real hair vs newer synthetic hair watercolor brushes. I'm also curious about the difference between soft brushes and brushes with more "snap". What does more snap mean for a watercolor brush? Thanks I'm a new subscriber to your channel
Buying a cheap watercolor brush set helps to figure out what sizes and what tips are suitable for my style. I think it's a good place to start because I don't know what Kind of art style I would developed.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I was getting so overwhelmed by the sheer mass of different types of brushes, I had no idea what to look for or where to begin. I’m getting a cheap set with multiple types in it first just to get a feel of the brushes, then I think I’ll branch out to the more organic brushes, as I can see those will be my final go to’s.
As a beginner who’s purchased mannnny brands of brushes, the Princeton Heritage 4050 Line are my fav brushes, perfect length, perfect snap, just the right point, not too long and sharp, affordable and pretty.
Thank you so much for this straightforward and information-packed video! I am a beginner and was browsing on Amazon but felt lost with all the shapes and sizes of brush.
What a great video!! I bought some brushes and didn't know what I was buying, but I ended up with a 0 Round, a 3 Extra Point, a 6 Round, and a 1/2" Mop, so I didn't do bad! I look forward to your other videos.
Hey! I'm just starting watercolor painting.i did not know anything about water color brushes. But thank you Soo much for doing this video.it was so informative.I learnt so much from it. Thanking you Sheetal
Thé best video about brushes I found so far. Thank you! I'm just beginning and l'm not an artist, I'm a crafter so I have so many questions. Thank you again!
I loved this video too. Now I know that I have too many cheap brushes that I will practice with. Then I will invest in a few better quality brushes, one at a time, to see how they compare.
Really good "in a nutshell" video - maybe one of the best on brushes that I've seen so far. Only a few points I would like to add: 1. You cannot, I repeat CAN NOT, compare sizes across brands/manufacturers (and sometimes even series from the same brand). If your friend has a round brush size 8 and you want the same size you will need to know the exact brand and model too. This is absolutely infuriating. Some manufacturers will make very detailed catalogues with exact measurements in mm, but the consumer will probably never see these. 2. Natural hair isn't always more expensive than synthethic, at least in Europe. Pony hair is very cheap, and you should stay away from it. Squirrel can be cheap or expensive, and the cheap kind can be ok or it can be pretty bad. Sable can be very expensive and fabulous, or slightly expensive and good. I've never met a _really_ bad sable, but some cheaper ones have been "eh, I guess this is acceptable". There are also some other natural hairs that are more aimed at oil painting, but which also work ok-ish for watercolour. Mongoose, various badgers. These are generally sable-like in stiffness, but holds a little less water. Good buys if you want a snappy big brush and don't want to spend 100+ for a big sable. And in that vein: 3. There is crossover between WC-Acrylic-Oil when it comes to brushes. For WC-Oil it is mainly in natural hairs: sable, mongoose etc, ox (and insanely expensive imitations of these). For WC-Acrylic the crossover is mainly in softer synthetics (& the aforementioned very expensive badger etc imitations). The tricky thing is that you can't tell by looking at a synthetic brush whether it will hold water nicely or not at all, you can't actually even tell by the name of the fibre. All orange synthetics are NOT THE SAME. . Finally: use the brush you like! Only you know if your handwriting needs a stiffer or softer brush. And sometimes it pays to try something unlikely: About a year ago customers in our art supply shop told us that our high end synthetic varnish/gesso brush was actually pretty good for big WC washes. So now we show them to watercolourists too, no complaints so far.
PLEASE HELP: A bookstore near me is about to close so it had so amazing sales in all art supplies. I found some natural hair brushes for only 30 cents! Naturally, I bought a ton but the reason they were so cheap was because they were old and have pretty much lost their point. Whenever I try to paint with them they just bend so much they are unusable. Is there anything I can do to make the a bit more pointed and flexible? Should I try to get used to them regardless? Some people have recommended I make them "stiffer" using bar soap, does this really work?
Dip them in Water and starch solution and massage them by doing vertical strokes on a towel then do circular motions on the towel until a pointed tip and then leave them to dry And make the water and starch solution a bit thick
Might they also be sable, fox or ? Many new watercolorist have a hard time with my brushes till I teach them how to use them. When I used to teach...years ago....my first class was..."lets make love to your brush"...yes I was around in the hippy flowerchild era. But I was more mother earth even then.
FANTASTIC, that ks so much. How do you manage using the same brush for multiple colours? It seems to me that 75% of my painting time is spent emptying and cleaning my water glasses, there must be a better way, how are you handling this issue?
I bought a set of artist loft brushes, and they were not the best. Then I bought a set of four crayola brushes, and the two smaller ones are my absolute favorites.
I would really like to see a video that explains how to paint a big wash like a sky that is almost 2/3 of the scene. I'm just starting but even if I'm working on A4 or A5 paper i can't paint big areas since they get dry before i finish.
As an acrylic artist and beginner watercolor artist. I found that you just need to play around with the brushes you have. Find the sizes and types that work for you. Im partial to the #4 round. I also like a good filbert. I have a dislike towards goat hair mop brushes(hair everywhere ugh) but that might not work for you.
i have a huge question, i see you use watercolor ink for more intense pigment, and i wanted to know if this is a special kind of ink for watercolor or you can use any kind of ink, like colored or black chinese ink? i work at a supply store and i'm still learning everything about every single stuff we have and the other day an old lady reached to one of my co-workers and asked for chinise ink for making watercolor (notice this was after for some expensive stuff for watercoloring) and since then i'm in doubt... would you be able to explain me? lol
Good luck, Daniela V. ! I've been working in art supply on and off for close to 15 years, and inks are still mostly a mystery to me. Iirc (my current shop is specialised and don't sell any inks) "Chinese Ink" is ink that is totally watersoluble, ie no shellack added. People mix all kinds of stuff with their WC - there's really no one right way. One person likes the watersoluble inks, another the durable ones, a third gel pens, a fourth pencil, a sixth charcoal... Best you can do with a customer is confess your ignorance, try to look up basic properties (solubility, lightfastness etc) and learn, learn, learn! Asking customers about how they use stuff they buy is a great way of learning - most people are happy to tell you, and you learn loads of stuff that you can then pass on to other customers.
I bought acrylic brushes because i needed some brushes because i already have the watercolor and i want to try it, and i was so confused about what brushes i had to buy🤦🏻♀️
hey what is the brand and model and size of your angled brush ? I m really curious to try it ! you have the most useful video on brushes from all youtube. thankkkkssss
Hi, there. Thank you so much for posting these beautifully filmed and perfectly organized videos! I have a quick question for you: Is the angle brush you're referencing the same as a dagger brush? Cheers! :)
No. My understanding is that a dagger brush is a brush that has a very tapered, long tip on one side, and often the slope isn't straight. An angle brush is just like a flat, but cut at an angle.
Hm, okay. I had seen the dagger brush recommended as a good travel brush due to its versatility, so I was looking for more info about it. I guess I will just have to try one out. :) Thank you!
Great video, thx. So the numbers on brushes (i.e. Cotman 111, 666, 999 etc..) denote the different sizes or hair thickness of the brush? So like a Kolinsky 666, would mean it is brush with Kolinsky hair and 666 sizing?
Hi Carrie, I love your videos. I do have a question about the brushes. If it says the brush is great for arcylic, oil and water colors is that okay? I have some brushes at home that I use with mineral spirits they are the Zen brand and apparently they are good for all paints. Would that be okay? Let me know!
I bought a paintbrush and the hair is so messy like i regret it so much. My problem with brushes is, if their hair is soft or nah (bc the hair of paintbrush i bought is kinda hard to use bc its messy and not soft. Now, i bought a watercolor from faber castell and there's a paintbrush in there that is really good and thats the only one i use not the one i bought. The paintbrush from fabercastell that comes with the WC is good combine that all
Only those sizes differ so much per brand that it doesn't say much. I feel like your round brushes are way bigger than mine although I own a 4, 5 and 6 size. I need some bigger quality round brushes that still have a finer point I guess.
My question and confusion is , when watercoloruing what am I supposed to do?! Like , with the actual pans do I put a droplet of water on each of the pans , (on top of the wc cakes) and then put my brush over it and just , PAINT or do I after putting the droplets on top of the pans , do I grab a strong amount of swatches on the pallete and then put water?
Thank you for this tutorial.. It answered several questions for me and I am sure it will help many others. Thanks so much!
Very good
you prolly dont care but does anybody know of a way to get back into an Instagram account..?
I somehow forgot the password. I love any tricks you can offer me!
@Merrick Roman instablaster ;)
@Liam Anson Thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site on google and I'm in the hacking process atm.
Looks like it's gonna take a while so I will reply here later with my results.
@Liam Anson it worked and I finally got access to my account again. I am so happy!
Thank you so much, you really help me out :D
Hullo Carrie, It has been a while since you posted this video, but up it popped on my sidebar so I watched it! I think the reason synthetic brushes have gotten so much better is they now make them more like natural hair brushes. Using different size "hairs" in each brush. The biggest trouble with synthetic brushes is all of the hairs were the same diameter or size. The real thirsty brushes have hairs of differing sizes and so will make your painting experience better and easier too! I know this is why synthetic's are so much better in today's brushes! OK off to find another video. I do hope your doing well ans taking it easy, slow and easy!
I could watch you forever....such a natural UA-camr
I have become addicted to your channel and watercolors. I'm so excited to continue learning more and more every day. Your style in filmmaking makes your videos so interesting and has helped share your passion for this wonderful medium. Thank you for inspiring me.
THanks 😊
My grandmother just gave me all of her watercolour brushes and then some. So I found this super helpful. 👍🏻
I am so happy to have come across your videos. They have been so helpful and I've already learned so much about the basics. You go into great detail and explain things in a way I have never seen anyone else achieve yet here on UA-cam. Thank you! Keep making these videos! 👏
Wow you have a very steady hand with those fine lines - good job
Your videos are so underrated. I am a beginner and your videos are honestly so helpful! Please keep making them!
I'd like to add one thing: FLAT WASH, FLAT BRUSH 😅
May sound obvious but when I started watercolors I was trying to do flat washes using round brushes 😑
While it is certainly possible to get even washes with a round brush, the flat brush is specifically designed for this task.
Great video as always, with concise instructions and high quality visuals. Thank you!
Happy painting, all!😁
Hi Carrie, thank you for your video. Lots of good pieces of information. Can't wait to check the next you coming from this series.
I have more than a few expensive Sable brushes but personally, I honestly enjoy my W&N Cotman brushes the most.
Best part is the Cotman won't break the bank!
I just discovered your videos...even though I am educated in arts watercolour has never been my true love (due to the fact it really is a difficult technique!) but your tips draw my ideas back to my watercolour lessons and the interest for this kind of art...thank you! :)
Good job of explaining the basics of watercolor brushes. Perfect for me at this time.
I just love how you emphasized to value our old brushes. Indeed, it gives unique results that no new brushes can achieve.
wow man, made my life...
nice one, subscribed...keep'em comin...
I would like to know more about real hair vs newer synthetic hair watercolor brushes. I'm also curious about the difference between soft brushes and brushes with more "snap". What does more snap mean for a watercolor brush? Thanks I'm a new subscriber to your channel
Another great video loaded with super information! Thanks so much!!
Buying a cheap watercolor brush set helps to figure out what sizes and what tips are suitable for my style. I think it's a good place to start because I don't know what Kind of art style I would developed.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I was getting so overwhelmed by the sheer mass of different types of brushes, I had no idea what to look for or where to begin. I’m getting a cheap set with multiple types in it first just to get a feel of the brushes, then I think I’ll branch out to the more organic brushes, as I can see those will be my final go to’s.
As a beginner who’s purchased mannnny brands of brushes, the Princeton Heritage 4050 Line are my fav brushes, perfect length, perfect snap, just the right point, not too long and sharp, affordable and pretty.
I love the angle brush, It is my favourite for the oil paintig
thankyou for your help. I have decided to get learning water colour painting off my New Years rezzz list and do it !!!
Great video, just getting started and this helped a lot, thanks. Will check out your other videos.
Thank you so much for this straightforward and information-packed video! I am a beginner and was browsing on Amazon but felt lost with all the shapes and sizes of brush.
This was soooo helpful to me....thank you!!!
Thank you! enjoyed the tutorial. Answered quite a few questions I had on 'which brushes I should get"!
What a great video!! I bought some brushes and didn't know what I was buying, but I ended up with a 0 Round, a 3 Extra Point, a 6 Round, and a 1/2" Mop, so I didn't do bad! I look forward to your other videos.
What a great video!!! Really professional. It helped me a lot. Thank you so much!!!
i only use 1 round brush and 2 flats AND I AM COMPLETELY FINE
Thanks for your video. It's so informative. Now i know types of brushes better than before.
Hey!
I'm just starting watercolor painting.i did not know anything about water color brushes.
But thank you Soo much for doing this video.it was so informative.I learnt so much from it.
Thanking you
Sheetal
Thank you. As a beginner in watercolor I needed this tutorial. I was wondering if I could use my acrylic brushes. Now I know better!
Thé best video about brushes I found so far. Thank you! I'm just beginning and l'm not an artist, I'm a crafter so I have so many questions. Thank you again!
Thank you so much I never knew that much about brushes and you answered most of my questions
You’re an amazing teacher
Wonderful tutorial!
Thank you. I already subscribed.
Thank you for sharing. Answered a lot of questions.
I love your channel!!! Thank you so much!!!!
thanks for your tips 🙏👍👍👍
Thank you so much your video has helped me leaps and bounds 🎨
this video is really great. this is a goal for my future videos. very well made
Thank you! Great information!
Awesome info. Thanks for sharing.
I loved this video too. Now I know that I have too many cheap brushes that I will practice with. Then I will invest in a few better quality brushes, one at a time, to see how they compare.
Really good and well explained 👍🏼
You almost cleared my all doubt....all in one😅...thank u very much...🤗
Thank you for the infos 😊
Thank you!! That was incredibly helpful Carrie:))
I love your editing, your intros are so cool 💕
Maria Borboa thanks 😄
Love your videos
I get a Life is Strange vibe.
Potoo the Kakapo that's actually a Potoo I loved your name 😂
Same
Really good "in a nutshell" video - maybe one of the best on brushes that I've seen so far.
Only a few points I would like to add:
1. You cannot, I repeat CAN NOT, compare sizes across brands/manufacturers (and sometimes even series from the same brand). If your friend has a round brush size 8 and you want the same size you will need to know the exact brand and model too. This is absolutely infuriating.
Some manufacturers will make very detailed catalogues with exact measurements in mm, but the consumer will probably never see these.
2. Natural hair isn't always more expensive than synthethic, at least in Europe. Pony hair is very cheap, and you should stay away from it. Squirrel can be cheap or expensive, and the cheap kind can be ok or it can be pretty bad. Sable can be very expensive and fabulous, or slightly expensive and good. I've never met a _really_ bad sable, but some cheaper ones have been "eh, I guess this is acceptable".
There are also some other natural hairs that are more aimed at oil painting, but which also work ok-ish for watercolour. Mongoose, various badgers. These are generally sable-like in stiffness, but holds a little less water. Good buys if you want a snappy big brush and don't want to spend 100+ for a big sable.
And in that vein:
3. There is crossover between WC-Acrylic-Oil when it comes to brushes. For WC-Oil it is mainly in natural hairs: sable, mongoose etc, ox (and insanely expensive imitations of these). For WC-Acrylic the crossover is mainly in softer synthetics (& the aforementioned very expensive badger etc imitations). The tricky thing is that you can't tell by looking at a synthetic brush whether it will hold water nicely or not at all, you can't actually even tell by the name of the fibre. All orange synthetics are NOT THE SAME. .
Finally: use the brush you like!
Only you know if your handwriting needs a stiffer or softer brush.
And sometimes it pays to try something unlikely: About a year ago customers in our art supply shop told us that our high end synthetic varnish/gesso brush was actually pretty good for big WC washes. So now we show them to watercolourists too, no complaints so far.
Tona - put your views on your channel, I only see one video there.
Can’t thank you enough! You make things simple and easy! 😀😀😀💕
Very informative. Thank you!
PLEASE HELP:
A bookstore near me is about to close so it had so amazing sales in all art supplies. I found some natural hair brushes for only 30 cents! Naturally, I bought a ton but the reason they were so cheap was because they were old and have pretty much lost their point. Whenever I try to paint with them they just bend so much they are unusable. Is there anything I can do to make the a bit more pointed and flexible? Should I try to get used to them regardless? Some people have recommended I make them "stiffer" using bar soap, does this really work?
Lia gianopoulou yes also you can cut pieces of drinking straws to protect the bristles
Are you interested in selling some of them?
Yes leave the bar soap on overnight. Then rinse off the next day.
Dip them in Water and starch solution and massage them by doing vertical strokes on a towel then do circular motions on the towel until a pointed tip and then leave them to dry
And make the water and starch solution a bit thick
Might they also be sable, fox or ? Many new watercolorist have a hard time with my brushes till I teach them how to use them. When I used to teach...years ago....my first class was..."lets make love to your brush"...yes I was around in the hippy flowerchild era. But I was more mother earth even then.
this helped me tremendously, thanks for sharing
great video. learned allot 🙌🙌
Thank you helpful but I hope you differentiate synthetic and natural brush besides which is cheaper
I have decided I love the isabey 6201 is my favorite watercolor brush...now to get the 8 and maybe if there is a 10.....
Thank you!, great info for a newbie (using mixed media for scrapbooking)!
FANTASTIC, that ks so much. How do you manage using the same brush for multiple colours? It seems to me that 75% of my painting time is spent emptying and cleaning my water glasses, there must be a better way, how are you handling this issue?
Thank you 😊
This vid made me remember to buy a round and liner brush. They always run out of stock
Thank you!
what brand of round brushes do you use
this was great info thanks.
Thank you! Very useful.
Glad to hear that! 😃
I bought a set of artist loft brushes, and they were not the best. Then I bought a set of four crayola brushes, and the two smaller ones are my absolute favorites.
I like your vids the most (for beginners like me)... you make watercolor less intimidating
The opening of this vid is lit
I would really like to see a video that explains how to paint a big wash like a sky that is almost 2/3 of the scene.
I'm just starting but even if I'm working on A4 or A5 paper i can't paint big areas since they get dry before i finish.
Alain F. Wet on wet technique
As an acrylic artist and beginner watercolor artist. I found that you just need to play around with the brushes you have. Find the sizes and types that work for you. Im partial to the #4 round. I also like a good filbert. I have a dislike towards goat hair mop brushes(hair everywhere ugh) but that might not work for you.
Really helpful. Thanks.
i have a huge question, i see you use watercolor ink for more intense pigment, and i wanted to know if this is a special kind of ink for watercolor or you can use any kind of ink, like colored or black chinese ink? i work at a supply store and i'm still learning everything about every single stuff we have and the other day an old lady reached to one of my co-workers and asked for chinise ink for making watercolor (notice this was after for some expensive stuff for watercoloring) and since then i'm in doubt... would you be able to explain me? lol
Good luck, Daniela V. ! I've been working in art supply on and off for close to 15 years, and inks are still mostly a mystery to me. Iirc (my current shop is specialised and don't sell any inks) "Chinese Ink" is ink that is totally watersoluble, ie no shellack added.
People mix all kinds of stuff with their WC - there's really no one right way. One person likes the watersoluble inks, another the durable ones, a third gel pens, a fourth pencil, a sixth charcoal...
Best you can do with a customer is confess your ignorance, try to look up basic properties (solubility, lightfastness etc) and learn, learn, learn! Asking customers about how they use stuff they buy is a great way of learning - most people are happy to tell you, and you learn loads of stuff that you can then pass on to other customers.
What about brands? Thanks for these tips
I bought acrylic brushes because i needed some brushes because i already have the watercolor and i want to try it, and i was so confused about what brushes i had to buy🤦🏻♀️
Really helpful!!
Do you ever use filberts?
Thank you very much.
hey what is the brand and model and size of your angled brush ? I m really curious to try it ! you have the most useful video on brushes from all youtube. thankkkkssss
Informative :)
Helpful thanks!
great video, thanks
Thank you very helpful
Hi, there. Thank you so much for posting these beautifully filmed and perfectly organized videos! I have a quick question for you: Is the angle brush you're referencing the same as a dagger brush? Cheers! :)
No. My understanding is that a dagger brush is a brush that has a very tapered, long tip on one side, and often the slope isn't straight. An angle brush is just like a flat, but cut at an angle.
Hm, okay. I had seen the dagger brush recommended as a good travel brush due to its versatility, so I was looking for more info about it. I guess I will just have to try one out. :) Thank you!
Thank you.
Thank you
Thanks for this
its useful for me thanks
Great video, thx. So the numbers on brushes (i.e. Cotman 111, 666, 999 etc..) denote the different sizes or hair thickness of the brush? So like a Kolinsky 666, would mean it is brush with Kolinsky hair and 666 sizing?
i always kept wondering who you reminded me of... the answer is: you're a way less obnoxious Version of Lacy Green! :) and that's a good Thing imo.
woah, that video editing
ty!
Thank you for tutorial...
What tape do you use for water paint papers??
I love brushes
Hi Carrie, I love your videos. I do have a question about the brushes. If it says the brush is great for arcylic, oil and water colors is that okay? I have some brushes at home that I use with mineral spirits they are the Zen brand and apparently they are good for all paints. Would that be okay? Let me know!
I bought a paintbrush and the hair is so messy like i regret it so much. My problem with brushes is, if their hair is soft or nah (bc the hair of paintbrush i bought is kinda hard to use bc its messy and not soft. Now, i bought a watercolor from faber castell and there's a paintbrush in there that is really good and thats the only one i use not the one i bought. The paintbrush from fabercastell that comes with the WC is good combine that all
Only those sizes differ so much per brand that it doesn't say much. I feel like your round brushes are way bigger than mine although I own a 4, 5 and 6 size. I need some bigger quality round brushes that still have a finer point I guess.
Are brush sizes uniform? Does the size refer to circumference or width of the brush head?
My question and confusion is , when watercoloruing what am I supposed to do?! Like , with the actual pans do I put a droplet of water on each of the pans , (on top of the wc cakes) and then put my brush over it and just , PAINT or do I after putting the droplets on top of the pans , do I grab a strong amount of swatches on the pallete and then put water?