How I Decide Which Watercolor Brushes to Buy

I was never very picky about my watercolor 💧brushes until I started painting with acrylic inks, and found myself painting on a much smaller scale, with tons of details. This is now my new favorite shape watercolor brush! I don’t have a super steady hand, but something about the shape of this brush makes it a lot easier to control my lines. xoxo Prof Lieu
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Clara Lieu was an Adjunct Professor at the Rhode Island School of Design from 2007-2020. Her artwork has been exhibited at the International Print Center NY, the Currier Museum, Childs Gallery, the Davis Museum, and more. Lieu received an artist fellowship from the MA Cultural Council, has written for the NY Times, and lectured at Brown University, the NAEA conference, and in Vancouver & China. She has been profiled in Artsy, Hyperallergic, KPCC, & WBUR.
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[@shastahill]

Another helpful short! Your recommended brush seems a lot like the one distributed for a library associated watercolor class i took. I would like to try a sumi-style brush as i've also seen you use. Someday😅

[@ralphchristianson]

Some valuable advice from the teacher of teachers and excellent artist. A vast topic we all need to learn about.

[@makinsavage5975]

I can relate and agree. I work in different mediums but still choose brushes like you. Yep I try and take care of my brushes but sometimes I am so into creating I don't take care of my brushes. Art first brushes sometimes take a beating.

[@edgarej]

I love the angled shader brush tip the most!

[@apples2apples2apples]

this video landed on my feed at the right time! i also am guilty of not treating my watercolor brushes too well (i always leave them sitting in paintwater) and was looking into getting new ones. also wanted to thank you on how great your channel has been as a resource for artists of all kinds and all backgrounds. i love how down to earth and passionate the team here on art prof is, and cannot thank you enough for the inspiration you've given me to keep going on my own art journey.

[@artprof]

You're so welcome! -Prof Lieu

[@artfossils]

I probably use a size 6 or 12 round brush the most. Brands don’t really matter if the bristles feel really nice and work well. I just make sure I clean my brushes with masters brush cleaner soap and put it back into shape before I let them dry laying down.

[@artprof]

That masters brush cleaner is the best, I love it! -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist

[@artfossils]

@@artprof I really like the masters one for watercolor or shaping the bristles but for acrylic paint or screen printing ink, try the speedball pink soap. So so good!

[@decomane030]

❤

[@Heyreneesews]

This is a good one for beginners. I like touching the brushes and checking for bounce too❤

[@artprof]

"Checking a brush for bounce" is such artist shop talk, I love it. 🤤 -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist

[@bluefox5331]

I have a liiittle bit of an allegiance cause the brushes I have for some time now work great- and one from a different brand is... Nope. Frayed so fast with the same care. So I will avoid those ones and trust the tested ones a bit more

[@californiadreaming567]

Best to go to the store. I ordered three brushes online and one arrived unusable. I asked for a refund but I never got a new brush or m money back. It was an expensive brush

[@artprof]

Oh noooo, I'm sorry you lost money on that bad brush purchase! I only buy brushes online that I've already used in person before. -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist

[@samrodriguez9653]

An Artist is only as good as the tools they use

[@sadblob4577]

You could make masterpieces out of literally the most garbage art materials you could possibly find

[@Robyn-yc5md]

...not at all true😅