Best Paint Brushes

best paint brushes


Looking for the perfect brush for your next masterpiece?

Check out my top 5 paint brushes on the market today.

The best weapon in your painting arsenal is without doubt the paint brush and the quality of your paint brush is what will ensure the satisfaction and the quality of the artwork you create.

Along with the paints, the paint brush is a very crucial part of a painting kit, so to help you, this guide will review a pick of all the best brushes you can get from the market today.

Brushes of all shapes and sizes will be reviewed here to ensure your complete satisfaction and to enable you to get the best out of your time whilst spent doing the hobby you love.


01) Dainayw Watercolor Paint Brushes, Round Squirrel Hair Paint Brush Set for Art Painting

Dainayw Watercolor Paint Brushes main

For Gouache, Wash/Mop – 3 Brushes

Features:

  • Squirrel hair bristles
  • Mop style brush
  • Smooth finish for the soft bristles
  • Packaged in an elegant gift box
  • Great for water color and gouache.

Description:

The Dainayw water color round paintbrush set contains 3 squirrel hair paint brushes that are great for smooth brush strokes. Each high-quality paint brush features a wash/mop type tip that is capable of great retention of paint and liquid.

The natural bristles offer a deal of retention and absorption that is unparalleled to any other paint brush.

Pros
  • The bristles of each paint brush hold a lot of paint
  • One of the best paint brushes to practice creating full strokes with
  • Perfect for watercolor and gouache
Cons
  • The set contains only three brushes
  • Some bristles may flake off in time

Review:

The Dainayw set is a great addition to your brush collection set if you’re looking for increased retention of liquid and a set of paint brush that will not break the bank.

The set contains the right paint brush for you if you’re looking for something on a budget that will enable confident brush strokes.


02) IRO Artist Paint Brush Set of 15 + 1

IRO Artist Paint Brush set

Flat and Round Art Brushes for Acrylic, Watercolor, Gouache, Oil, face, Body Painting. Pallet Knife and Sponge with organizing Pop-up Case

Features:

  • Comes with an organizing pop up case
  • Features a wide array of some of the best paint brush on the market
  • The set contains great acrylic paint brushes 
  • Includes a flat brush, angled brush, filbert, fan and many others
  • Versatile kit that works with several mediums
  • Synthetic bristles

Description:

The set contains paint brushes of a mass variety suitable for any artist. The set also features a paint knife for mixing your colors.

Pros
  • Contains a great selection of paint brush for any art
  • Synthetic and easy to clean
  • Easy organizing pop up case
  • Features angled brushes that are hard to find in a good set
  • Flexible handle for a great grip
Cons
  • Not so inexpensive
  • Requires a good amount of maintenance for the brushes to last

Review:

The set overall is a great purchase for any beginner artist to start out with even though they’re perhaps slightly on the expensive side.

The set contains a healthy brush collection, which includes an angled brush for painting trim, flat brush for straight strokes and round brushes for smooth strokes among many other types of brush.


03) ZenART Professional Watercolour Brush Set

ZenART Professional Watercolour Brush Set main

14 x Birch Wood Squirrel and Synthetic Paint Brushes including Palette Knife. Flats, Rounds, Filbert, Fan, Rigger, Cats Tongue, & Detailing – Satin Travel Pouch

Features:

  • Easy to clean
  • Value for money brush set
  • Short handles
  • 14 piece set

Description:

The ZenART set contains some of the best paint brush in their set. The set includes a wide variety of brushes that are more than fit for purpose at great value.

The set is mainly suitable for acrylic paints and water based paints.

Pros
  • Thin tip brush for straight line
  • Blend of synthetic and natural bristle brush
  • Inexpensive
  • Easy to use
Cons
  • Mainly good for acrylic but doesn’t work as well with other mediums
  • Not the most durable

Review:

Overall, there is not much to say regarding the set of brushes other than they are just okay for the budget. Sorry, just not my favourite but you may find it differently on trying them.

Good purchase if you’re in a pinch and need a few stand-in or back up brushes for your project.


04) Golden Maple 6Pcs Japanese Nylon Flat Paint Brush Set

Golden Maple 6Pcs Japanese Nylon Flat Paint Brush Set main

Short Wooden Acrylic Handle for Oil, Watercolor, Acrylic and Gouache Paints

Features:

  • Good for many mediums
  • Includes nylon bristles
  • Comes with over three flat brushes and different sizes of brush
  • High capacity retention

Description:

The Golden Maple 6pcs Japanese Nylon Flat paint brush collection comes with 6 different sizes of flat brush for a smooth finish on your art projects.

The set brush collection has high-quality bristles along with a flexible handle on each brush to ensure optimal usage convenience.

Pros
  • It has nylon bristles which are superior to polyester bristles
  • Easy to use
  • Compatible with all mediums
  • Easy to clean
Cons
  • Not so budgeted
  • Limited to being just flat brushes so not ideal for anyone looking for an all in one starter pack

Review:

The Golden Maple set is great for when you’re in a pinch and need a flat brush for your project, it’s always good to have a variety of size options in a certain type.

Overall, a good purchase if you are looking to keep an extra set of flat brush options in your painting art supply.


05) Artify Expert Paint Brushes Art Set

Artify Expert Paint Brushes Art Set main

For Acrylic Oil Watercolour Gouache | a Kit Hog Pony and Nylon Hairs | Including Two Large Size Nylon Brushes and a Carrying Pouch

Features:

  • Wide range of flat and round brush
  • Natural hog bristle
  • Set of 38
  • Great for all medium

Description:

The Artify set is an amazing collection of natural brushes ideal for oil paints and other mediums. It features a selection of 38 paintbrushes.

The set includes various flat and round brushes for your art needs.

Pros
  • Extremely affordable
  • Easy to clean
  • Includes carrying roll
Cons
  • May suffer quality issues
  • Not very durable

Review:

This set offers cheap and affordable brushes that come in a wide variety of sizes and styles.

However, the purchase may be a hit or a miss depending on how long these may last you.


General Information About Best Paint Brushes

Finding the best paint brush for your daily use is generally a trial and error thing. What one may like others may not. So, it’s best to keep an open mind while trying to find the perfect fit for yourself.


Conclusion / Roundup

The uphill battle to find the best paint brush collection for your art career hopefully was made easier using this guide.

I’ve covered a lot of brands, shapes, sizes and price ranges; there are so many variables to look at when making your choice, but ultimately every artist has their own preferences and requirements and so will need to do their own research too over time (perhaps based on my findings above).

This guide has covered as many of the greatest picks that I’ve come across recently, which you’ll hopefully agree with, and if not, may inadvertently point you in a direction that is better suited to your way of painting.

Painting is an ongoing journey so it’s up to you to find out what suits you best from style to size to budget and this will ensure you ongoing enjoyment whilst pursuing your hobby / profession of painting.

So have fun, and get painting.


FAQs

What paint brushes do professionals use?

As you’d expect, professionals tend to use the higher quality and not so much the budget quality bristle brushes.

What paint brush gives the smoothest finish?

Nylon brushes give the smoothest finish and are apparently the best for latex paint. The next best brush would have to be polyester bristles as they are similar in texture and quality.

What are natural bristle brushes?

Bristle brushes are categorized into three types: Natural bristle, Synthetic bristle and Blended filament. The general rule is that the more expensive the brush gets, the more natural bristles it will have in its makeup.

This means that an inexpensive synthetic-bristle brush will not perform as well as a pricey 100% natural bristle.

Natural bristles are classified into four types: Hog, Sable (also known as Kolinsky), Pony and Camel. These are found in hairs that come from different animals, which is why it’s confusing for most people shopping around to understand the difference among them.

According to many artisans, kolinsky brushes are the best in terms of hair bristle quality.

How much is a natural bristle brush?

There can be a wide range of prices depending on the hair’s source. Typically, hog bristle is the cheapest type and camel hair is the most expensive.

Keep in mind that within each animal-sourced category there are great ranges of quality.

If you’re just starting out, go for pony or sable brushes as they are much more user-friendly in general, and you can always upgrade later.


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Written By Adam Rushton

Adam has made a name for himself in the illustration industry and is a passionate blogger and writer on the subject of art, illustration and graphic design.

His artwork has been featured in countless publications and used for very well-known media projects. As a professional illustrator for over 20 years, Adams media outlets, a wealth of knowledge, and experience enable him to consult and advise artists and illustrators in this country (from York and Manchester to Southampton and London) and all over the world.


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