Tools of the Trade: Watercolor Brushes

An interesting conversation has appeared in NSI circles. For reasons that have not yet been explained by manufacturers, kolinsky sable brushes are suddenly disappearing from the US market. One rumor is that the animal has been listed as endangered. Kolinsky sable brushes are prized by watercolor artists for their excellent paint handling characteristics, so artists who rely on them are understandably disturbed.I thought this would be a good time to talk about the watercolor brushes I use and why.I have a small collection of Kolinsky sable brushes, and I treasure them. I also have synthetic brushes, and while I don't feel as protective of them as I do of the sable, I still use them heavily and value what they add to my options.Sable: Pros and ConsSable is loved by watercolor artists because:

• Natural fibers hold more paint than synthetic.
• A well-made sable brush holds a very fine point and springs back to that point easily.
• Sable lasts for years, even decades, if treated well.

The downside to sable:

• Somewhere a sable lost its tail fur for that brush. It probably wasn't asked for permission. This tie to the greater fur industry is very disturbing. My artwork is not so wonderful that animals should die for it, and it's unclear how much a factor paint brushes are in animal mistreatment.
• These brushes can be destroyed by moths.
• Natural fur is expensive up front.

Synthetic: Pros and ConsOn the bright side:

• Synthetic fiber brushes are inexpensive up front.
• Synthetic brushes don't rely on the fur industry.
• Sometimes the stiffer bristles are just what you want.

The downside to synthetic brushes:

• Synthetic brushes wear out very quickly. A synthetic brush can lose its point in one painting.
• Synthetic fibers don't hold as much paint as natural, and they don't deposit the paint as smoothly.
• Over their life cycle, synthetic brushes are likely to involve chemicals and non-degrading materials that aren't good for the environment, however I have not fully researched this issue.

 A Direct ComparisonThe following image shows marks I made to compare two size 3 round brushes. It isn't a beautiful scan of the marks, but it's enough to see the huge difference in the way the two brushes released the paint. I touched the brush point to the paper, pressed harder has I continued the mark to widen the line, then gradually lifted the brush to taper back down to a fine point. I was surprised at how much of a difference I discovered. The sable marks are silky smooth compared to the synthetic, which dropped paint very unevenly, always leaving a small pool where I lifted the brush tip from the paper. The synthetic brush I used in this instance was one recommended to me as a good synthetic option.When painting with watercolor, it's best to put paint down and then leave it alone. The more you have to go back and mess around with the pigment on paper the more likely it is to turn into a difficult-to-salvage mess. With that in mind, the smooth paint deposit of the sable brush is far more appealing than the uneven lines from the synthetic.The sable brush used in that little experiment cost about $30, and the synthetic is about $6 online. Sometimes I'm in the mood for the somewhat stiffer synthetic bristles, and I'll always use synthetic if I'm doing something harder on the brush. I'm happy to have it in my collection.If I find a synthetic brush that behaves like natural fur I'll switch, but I'm reluctant to give up the sable characteristics.  On the other hand, for someone just starting to explore watercolors the low price of the synthetic brushes makes them the way to go.