Waterbrushes - comparing Derwent with Caran d'Ache

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[@realfingertrouble]

It's said spend your money on good paper first - I learnt this the hard way,, then good paint, then brushes. You can get really cheap great brushes now - synthetic ones, I mean I've painted with Kolinsky sable and something like Versatil from Escobar or even the cheap Daler Graduate brushes are amazingly good in comparison. Whereas you can't cut corners with paper. Paint, maybe - some student/graduate paints are OK, and you can get cheaper brands (Royal Talens is one of those) or use Inktense or other paints that maybe aren't the high price of Old Holland or whatever. But paper? There is no shortcut. Although modern pulp paper and cotton mixes can be really good, nothing really replaces 100% cotton.

[@PassionforPencils]

Agreed, 100% cotton works best for me too, but I have to say I Hahnemühle Brittania paper works really well for me also.

[@gorway7]

Great review - I think the Caran d'ache is just in another league, design and quality wise - I have not had chance to try it yet but have used the Pentel Aquash brush when outdoor sketching for years, it's also a great brush especially the large one. A great idea I picked up for cleaning the brush tip when sketching outdoors or don't have the luxury of a table, is to take an old cotton sports sock and cut off the toe end - you can fold it over and wear it as a wrist band which is really convenient. I wear it on my palette hand so its always there in the right place to dab off the tip. It's a great solution to life's great mystery of the missing sock syndrome! - now you know what to do with that draw full of odd socks. I would also like to share a point I see all the time with people using water brushes - there seems to be a misconception that you are required to squeeze the barrel each time you need to deliver flow of paint or water, this is not the case. A well regulated brush pen or water brush works like any other drawing implement that has a built in feed system i.e capillary action - just like a fountain pen or felt tip (No squeezing required). You can of course increase the flow when needed for washes or creating a mix in a palette by squeezing a few drops of water out. Flexing the tip also increases the flow slightly. In normal use I just apply the damp tip to my paint palette and flex the tip gently to increase the wetness while loading the brush then apply to my sketch - again no squeezing - as you spread out the paint, the water brush will continue to deliver fresh water into the tip at the same rate you are drawing from the tip. Obviously when trying to cover a large area quickly, like a sky, the built in regulator cannot provide enough flow on its own, in which case a gentle squeeze may help. Give it a try - it is particularly good in colouring type books or sketch pads where you need to avoid over wetting the paper.

[@miklosnemeth8566]

Yes totally right in oractice day and night the difference. Even after an hour of using carandache you will feel the big improvement.

[@robinalcorn5140]

I find the Derwnt brushes aren't good for fine work because they do not stay evenly wet. If you squeeze one, you get a big drop of liquid rather than just a wetter brush. What they are wonderful for is filling them with liquid color (e.g. dye inks or diluted liquid watercolor) for uses such as brush script or when you need a brush that stays wet for long strokes. I use a baby wipe as a brush wiper. One doesn't need to squeeze the brush so it stays filled longer. Also, the suggestion I've read to first put a drop of water on each pan of color you plan to use really works. All your colors are ready from the start, as were the colors you used for the second acorn. I've never seen the Caran d'Ache pens locally. Thanks for showing us how they work!

[@Tippel3]

Exact the same here! I bought the Derwents as my first waterbrushes. It was not what I expectet and I couldn't get used to it. I though maybe it's not for me and used them once in a while. Then I got interrestet to the red "brush" from CD, whats very different from all others and wanted to give it a try. The set of 3 was offered, so I bought the set. I fell in love with them right at the first stroke I made. Couldn't stop and testet all watersoluble supplies I have, also lettered with them. The issues I had with the waterflow before where history and even with the big brush from CD I can make more precise and finer strokes as with the small one from Derwent. Once I had an issue with a brush from CD. The waterflow was nearly not existing and I also couldnt press a single drop out. I figured out, the problem was the piston that wasn't placed exacrly in the middle. After correcting this problem, it was as perfect as before. The special "red brush" from CD is also very cool and gives different and great results but you have to be careful which paper you use with this, some start pilling very fast. The downside of this one is, the cleaning takes time and isn't as easy and fast to make it alongside. Like you, the only ones I might try sometime in the future are the Pentel. But more for filling them with Watercolour, Ink or things like this what I won't do with my CD.

[@marijadika6444]

Definitely the Caran d'Ache is better, but I haven't seen it for sale here in Canada...

[@cynthiarosiek4098]

marija dika Have you checked Amazon?

[@PassionforPencils]

I ordered it on Amazon.com US

[@Erginartesia]

To be fair, the paints were sitting there wet a lot longer when you used the Caran d’Ache brush than when you used the Derwent. I STILL think Caran is the best watercolor brush on the market, but I don’t think the paint richness test is as much about the brushes as about the length of time that the paints were wet.

[@amvisions1]

The caran d 'Ache brushes are the most undervalued waterbrushes out there. They are fantastic. A lot of people do not use them or fill them the right way. You can use them pulled out as in this video or you can fill them and have the pump system down. A bit less water put still plenty for a good size painting and a lot more compact. And these brushes do not leak. I always have them filled in my pencase. Never a leak and great to control the waterflow.

[@miklosnemeth8566]

@@amvisions1 I fully agree, carandache brusheas are day and night different because of the far better water control.

[@gracieallen8285]

You hold the Derwent water brush under the water faucet to fill.

[@ellyfranken6137]

i have both to, my caran d'ache works way better.

[@cynthiarosiek4098]

You are filling the Caran d'Ache like I fill my fountain pens. So much easier to hold it "under the faucet".

[@Tippel3]

they are supposed to get filled the way she did

[@Erginartesia]

Cynthia Rosiek since w/c brushes are often used for outdoor painting, I think this demo of filling the brush is more useful.

[@nou257]

omg so thats how u put water in this. genius and innovative, caran d’ache!

[@patriciaschoenberg1261]

Your watercolouring is beautiful. Thank you.