20 Best Brushes For Wet On Wet Oil Painting (2023 Updated)

This is my first time using Black Sable Brushes. I am SOLD! Love the way they lay the paint down, they so far hold together great during cleaning also. Red sable just comes apart. These do not. I’ve admittedly only used them a couple times so far, but very very happy and will purchase more sizes.

I have to say I am disappointed in this brush. It is described online as black sable and that it is “more stiff and substantial than Red Sable” which I find to be VERY inaccurate. I have a couple of DaVinci Red Sable brushes which I love and I was eager to try out their black sable line.

I could believe that this is squirrel hair, but not sable of any kind. In fact I wondered if I had been shipped the wrong item. (I hadn’t. ) The #14 bright (1840 line) I purchased seems entirely inappropriate for oil painting.

It has NO body at all and might as well be a wash or mop brush. It will not hold it’s shape with thick paint. The pictures included are after one use – bent, twisted hairs. I also bought a #14 filbert (1845 line) which seems to have a bit more body.

Might be okay for glazing but not for laying down confident, definitive strokes.

Love them. Perfect.

When used in combination with sponge brushes these oil brushes I have found give you much sharper lines to your oil painting. The Taklon brushes are beautiful and soft, great for creating mist and clouds.

Brushed and AS white paint arrived promptly as per usual. Thanks again, guys.

As a watercolor painter, sometimes you just want a brush that will push the paint. Different areas of a painting need various brushes. Sometimes you need a brush that will hold a lot of water and paint and sometimes you don’t.

I use Arches 300 lb. rough watercolor paper, which does wear down the point of brushes. Some softer and more expensive brushes just don’t push the paint. They become what I call wet noodles and will not stay straight during this process.

I have found these Grumbacher brushes to be inexpensive and wonderful to use in certain areas of application. They perhaps do not last as long as other more expensive brushes, but they do what I want them to do, and since they are such a good price, I buy new ones quite frequently.

These brushes get two stars for being inconsistent in quality. I purchased a series of round brushes in multiple sizes, and while the 10 and 12 are more than decent (and deserve at least four stars), the size 6 is unusable as intended.

It came with one hair that was half an inch too long, and there is no tapered point as is standard (and pictured) for these round brushes. I thought that I had one that was a fluke, but upon doing a bit of research into these brushes, I’ve found that YouTubers and other artists around the Internet have had similar issues.

I had a project to finish, so I ended up trimming the brush myself out of desperation, but I will be trying a different brand in the future. For more information on the decent brushes: they hold a fair amount of paint, the points reliably snaps back as desired, and they’re comfortable to hold.

I’m gentle with my brushes, and they are already showing signs of wear after a few days of frequent use, but more time will tell how long they ultimately last. For the budget I had to work with, they’ll do, but again, I’m happy to try new brushes in the future!.

I am a beginner oil painter and needed some brushes. I usually start with inexpensive brushes to see if I really want to continue with a new medium, but I have gotten burned with brushes that loose their hair or are not the texture I wanted several times.

I have tried many different brands of watercolor and acrylic brushes when using those kinds of paint and didn’t want to make more mistakes getting some brushes to use only for oils so I decided to go with a brand name I knew was good.

My oil paints are Winsor Newton Artisian brand so I chose the Winsor Newton brushes. This set is great for medium sized areas but a little too big for getting into corners and small spaces. But that may be because I am not a great painter.

They wash well, stand up to the paint, are a good texture, and I am very happy with them.

These Artisan brushes are just the right balance of stiffness vs. softness with fine synthetic hairs, knife-like chiseled edges and superb control. I often work with fluid acrylics as well as heavy body acrylics.

I need a brush that can handle it all. The Artisan brushes are perfect. Their hairs are fine enough to not leave visible ridges in my acrylic paint. They are softer than natural bristle brushes so they don’t push the acrylic paints completely away right down to the canvas surface.

But they are stiffer than natural sables or very soft synthetics. The filberts do soft blending of colors and edges like a dream, whereas a too-soft or too-hard brush just won’t work as well. I love the sharp edges of the brights.

I can use them on the flat, on edge, on a corner or even on their sides. I find the brights have better stiffness and spring than the longer, softer flats. I perfectly control my application of paint with changes of pressure and brush angle.

Because they are synthetic brushes they work very well with water-based paints and don’t get mushy or bogged down. They clean up easily and retain their like-new shape after many uses and thorough cleanings.

I’ve had my current set of Artisans for several years now and they are still my favorites! It’s been a long search for the near-perfect acrylic brushes. For me, the Winsor & Newton Artisan brushes are pure gold.

My first set of good brushes when I began watercolour was the Lowe Cornell 7020 (?) red striped golden taklon. I graduated to Other synthetics from Escoda to Da Vinci and yet went back to my simple Lowe Cornell quite often.

Sable brushes came along and I thought I would never go any other way until I realized just what they were made from. When I discovered my old favourites were discontinued I was delighted to learn about King Art and their original Golden series.

Wow! Is all I can say right now. THE most wonderful point, excellent water and pigment load for a synthetic. I keep picking them up and leaving my sables on the table. Love the snap, the release of pigment and the best point I have seen in any brush.

I hope they last. But if they don’t the price is very reasonable and won’t break the bank.

These brushes came very highly recommended by several professional watercolor artists, after our instructor sang their praises every time we got together (for our virtual painting classes). I purchased the size 14 first and it actually exceeded my expectations.

When one of the artists mentioned the great price for the set, many of us stopped painting and started shopping. These are quickly becoming my favorites. They hold a great deal of paint for washes, yet come to a delicate point for fine brushwork.

Thank you for making such great brushes affordable!! We all love them.

since La Corneille ultraround 7020 brushes were discontinued, i’ve been looking for a replacement. i found this ultraround 9020 as a replacement. i work in gouache, on botanical and wildlife paintings, i need a sturdy, stiff and super needle pointed synthetic brush.

i’ve been ordering brushes from all different manufacturers and from all over the world, even custom made. so far this is the best i’ve found. it works as well as the original 7020. gouache is very rough on brushes, so i’ll still go through two brushes a painting, but at least i can again do the fine hairs and super tiny details i need.

Decent, relatively soft-stroke series and a nice “bounce” to the brush hairs on contact. However, was surprised with the flats I purchased how the outer hairs wanted to readily split away from the main brush to either side.

This happened repeatedly after initial water rinse, some brush soap and loading brush with any paint. I come to expect this eventuality with brushes that have been well-used. But getting the same from newly purchased ones is a tad upsetting.

I settled on cutting away the offending hairs with a nail trimmer and now they seem to be holding form better overall.

The brushes are great. This style had become one of my favorites since physically picking my up a couple in an art store about a year back. The shipping from Blick, however, leaves much to be desired.

There were no brush sleeves on any of the ones that I ordered, so the bag that they were shipped in was bent down at the top causing the tip of the brushes to crease and bend as well. They still have a slight warped end to them, which really kind of is a disappointment.

I like a good shape to my brush, so for them to be warped from the get go really sucks. Blick just needs to have better shipping practices is all. Will use the brushes for dry blenders.

I really like the synthetic mongoose brush i own, so i purchased the princeton and raphael brushes to try. I bought size 12 to match the one I own. It is much much smaller than I expected. It looks to be the same as a size 4 from Silver Effects.

For acrylic painting, though, it is not as soft as the nylon brushes advertised for acrylics, and it has wonderful spring. It is not quite as thin as I was hoping, in order to keep acrylics from building up in the ferrule.

Cleanup was not as easy as I had expected. However, the bristles are uniform. And I think the quality is higher than the Raphael branded one I bought. It looks more like a bright than an angular.

Your browser does not support HTML5 video. I’m really glad I bought these ZenArt Artist Choice Brushes. Not only were they a new experience for me, having barely used animal hair brushes, but they were a fairly strong set.

Initially, I was a bit concerned due to the largest brush, the number 12 coming with bent bristles, however it went back into shape pretty easily when I washed the ZenArt upon receiving them. As per the instructions on the back of the packaging, while washing away the glue that serves to protect them, I found that they shed a bit.

Which is fine, as most new brushes do. However, while cleaning them I found that the big size 12 and 8 brushes had loose ferrules. It wasn’t a big deal and didn’t have any affect on use. Now, aside from that when I went to paint with them they were great! A bit scratchy, and stiff, but I’d say those are good qualities for people that work with oils or heavy body acrylic paints.

Personally, I chose to paint a Totoro dice tower I 3d printed with some acrylic paints, and a lovely painting of a set of lungs. In my adventures with these brushes, I found that they would hold paint very well, clean up was pretty easy, and the length of them made it so I didn’t have to lean in really close if I didn’t want to.

They were fairly comfortable and didn’t cramp up my hands, plus they look really nice. Over all, I think these Artist Choice brushes are really great. I do think that if possible, a brush guard would be beneficial for keeping the bristles safe in transit, I know they came in individual sleeves but the brush guards would add an extra layer of protection.

I’m going to keep using these brushes as I paint in the future, and look to ZenArt for more brushes as well. ***I did reach out to the company, and they were very helpful in their efforts to remedy the issues with the size 12 and 8 brushes.

They offered to send replacements, and when I got them I found that they were very sturdy had no loose ferrules and the bristles were not splayed or anything. Upon use, I found no issues with them. They work perfectly fine and seem to be of great quality! *** I definitely recommend trying these brushes out.

Your browser does not support HTML5 video. The brushes came in beautiful packaging; each brush was wrapped individually so they would not get damaged in shipping, and the ergonomic PVC case was enclosed with testimonials and promotional coupon codes from the company’s co-founder.

I love to see who is behind the product and their beliefs, and seeing the love put into the craftsmanship of the brushes along with their charity with partnerships like UNICEF make me honored to be an ambassador of their product simply by using them.

Seeing that these brushes are specifically crafted for acrylic and oil paints, I decided to paint an ethereal acrylic piece in an attempt to demonstrate how the brushes perform both wet and dry, and to see what textures and layers I could accomplish.

I am incredibly pleased with the piece’s end result. Using every sized brush in the set allowed me to pack an incredible amount of detail onto the canvas, and the brush glides beautifully onto the canvas with both acrylic paints and water.

A couple of reviews on Amazon state that some artists had issues with the bristles shedding off of the brushes and onto the canvas with the paint. I experienced this minimally, but not to the extent of leaving a negative review.

I believe that this can be lessened by following the instructions that came with the brushes – wetting the bristles and “prepping” them before use. My art style of textures and multiple layers also allowed some leeway with the amount of shedding because that layer would nine times out of ten get covered anyway, whereas someone with a softer wetter approach might have a harder time with the product.

Overall, these brushes are so enjoyable to use. As someone that primarily works with precision mediums like pencils, being given high-quality brushes that prefer further back, freer movements allow for a lot of fun and inspiration.

I would highly recommend both the brushes and the loving company that these high-quality brushes were designed by.

Overall these ZenArt brushes are really nice. They are flat and have a nice taper to them. I also love that they are nice and stiff. I find this especially helpful for smaller, more detailed areas. A couple brushes had a couple stray hairs upon opening but nothing a quick trim couldn’t fix.

I’m not sure I’ve ever had a set of brushes that don’t need an occasional hair trimmed. As far as the actual painting goes, I did lose a couple of hairs while painting the forehead of my dragon face.

This only happened when I painted another layer over a still slightly tacky layer so it didn’t surprise me. On a second painting, I only lost one hair over a much larger area. Overall, the shedding was pretty minimal but you should definitely wash/rub them thoroughly before the first use.

The handles on the brushes feel so good. They are super smooth. Definitely my favorite handles of all my different brush sets. I haven’t tried them with oils but they work well with acrylics.

These are great brushes for detail. The bristles are soft, but firm enough to give you lots of control. They don’t leave brush marks. I usually use the filberts, but these flats are great for graphic hard edged areas.

The body of the brush is very narrow, unlike a natural kolinsky sable brush. I use them when I want to be more accurate. None of the other synthetic sable brushes compare. I hope they never stop making them.

I started painting about 11 years ago and had this one brush that I really, really liked. I wanted to find more like it but had no luck since the printing on the handle had worn off. On a whim I ordered one of these and was finally reunited.

This line of brushes have good spring, excellent feel, and are almost indestructible. I’m still using the original one from 11 years ago after punishing it through scrubbing, hard-dabbing, and scumbling.

I’ve tried about 2 dozen other brushes from pure kolinsky sables to pure synthetics and other hybrids from all top-of-the-line manufacturers, but these are in a class unto themselves. If you are looking to get a lot of bang from your buck, this is a good line to try.

I used Daniel Smith Faux Mongoose for years until they stopped making them and had to experiment to find a replacement. These are the brushes I settled on. I’ve tried several brands and several styles within those brands but many were too stiff or too short and in the case of Rosemary and Co, too soft which I didnt think was possible.

It really boils down to a personal feel which varies with each individual but I like the bounce and they seem durable enough. They dont last forever but that could just be the way I paint, the canvas I use and/or how often I paint and clean them.

I was trying to replace a set I regret parting with years ago when I thought I’d never use oils again. These are the brushes that come closest to what I had. The competitor brushes I have a bunch of by a few brands and they aren’t built nearly as well in shape, etc.

(those lose shape and bristles while these don’t); one use so far but I gave them a real beating in the washing process and also left them in turpentine for a few days. I used a brush cleaner/conditioner that made them a but softer after a brush cleaner soap while stabbing them in a metal coil.

after first use and they are now even more fabulous. Will definitely buy more. Going on over 30 years of experience and a masters & bachelors at 3 too art schools – one of which recommended these in my 1st oil class there.

I am a college art instructor so I’m no beginner but would buy these as a beginner and advanced painter for oils. They are far superior to what you can get at a local boutique art store or a chain store and are affordably priced on a student / artist budget.

Cared for properly, I expect them to last hopefully forever. The brights have always been my favorite but I am also liking the filberts for line or detail work over the brights or rounds. Go for even numbers as a beginner, 2-12, or 4-10 depending.

Note, they come very stiff due to starch or whatever they use but a washing or just use turpentine and oil like linseed with oil paint should soften them up if you don’t have a conditioner or don’t pre-wash them as I didn’t.

I’m excited to use them again and toss my other brushes. (Note, you will need a whole different set of brushes for acrylic, you can’t go back and forth, for acrylic I prefer synthetic bristles but these are ok if you don’t mind texture.

Very pleased with my purchase, but have not had the opportunity to try them yet. I took time looking at various brushes & decided on these ones for price & hood value. I would recommend these as a starter to oils.

This is the perfect brush when you need to lift in watercolor but don’t quite need the strength of the Fitch scrubber. It provides a nice intermediary step and allows you to lift a fine line and small area or soften edges left by masking.

It’s the one David R Smith uses!.

After a LOT of searching – and expert help from our representative – we finally found just the right brush for our Sip & Paint fundraiser. Our teacher was thrilled to get exactly the brush she needed.

It was especially challenging because availability of so many products has been limited. #sweepstakes.

This brush is just what I needed. It is well made and I should get years of use. I am trying to follow Bob Ross’ teachings and if he saw what I have done, he would just laugh and laugh.

Awesome quality – no loose fibers and perfectly good construction in all. Also you really can not do with improvisation. For wet on wet technique, this is a must – The tool for the job, really. After receiving this, I ordered another full set for specific situation whenyou need to use the colour from the starting step somewhere at the and of the “process” but meantime you still need to use other paints.

Splendid brush.

I used it with a tutorial for oil landscapes. The teacher said several times that I should scrub the paint into the canvas. That’s when I noticed several bristles stuck in the paint.

Nice handle w/ great natural bristles for thick applications of acrylic paint w/ just the right amount of texture creation if desired.

I used these brushes to varnish after a sealing an acrylic painting. The bristles were stiff and left streaks. I would suggest finging a softer brush and when you find a good one, let me know please.

Fantastic brush great quality and another great purchase from art discount.

This is a true Bob Ross product it works just like it’s supposed to very pleased with it

I recently began painting again, and my boyfriend gave me brushes for Christmas to start my oil painting endeavor. I was greatly disappointed, as after 3 paintings were complete, my Langnickel brushes were frayed at the tips, making them useless to me.

After looking on line, I knew I wanted to get a red sable set, and none of the local art suppliers had real sable. I ordered a few from another company, but their selection was poor. When I saw your website, and noticed the low prices on your high quality brushes, I immediately ordered the ones I needed.

I couldn’t be more pleased! Your end result is only as good as the tools you use. I have created several new pieces using my brushes, it made it so effortless, as you did not have to struggle with an inferior product.

I will continue to purchase my tools through your website, thank you!.

I have been doing some research online and read dozens of reviews, trying to find a very good brush for blending oil paints. I bought a Da Vinci fat filbert in size 12 and have been using in for over a year now for every single painting.

The bristles are very soft, but dense, allowing blending without leaving marks on the canvas. It’s such a wonderful brush, it is however small. I just placed an order for a size 16, so I’m hoping it will be bigger for those larger areas on the canvas.

I am still relatively new to painting. I started to paint with oil a couple of years ago. Finally, I decided to try a brush which is although pricier than many cheaper brushes but much better quality – and I absolutely love it! It works the paint amazingly well.

Great for detail and fine work. I will be getting more Da Vinci brushes for sure. Very happy with my purchase.

If you get a brush that states: Made in Germany, it’s not fake. Many of Bob’s products were outsourced to: Germany, Italy and Japan. The palette knife which says: Made in Japan is actually more to the quality Bob wanted from his knives because he insisted they’re made of real steel.

The USA couldn’t keep up with the demand for his products so they contacted Japan back in the early years. My brush is fine, at least so far ;).

We have several other Ross brushes and while not perfect, they havent had this problem. We gave up on it after one painting. Very poor quality.

Excellent brush. I am sure it’ll last a long time as long as I take care of it. Now, I can paint happy little trees.

While synthetic Sable is not the real thing in paint brushes. These are about as close as I have experienced. They load very well, and retain their spring and control. I would recommend these brushes for acrylic or oil painting by intermediate or professional artists.

They should also be considered bybant level artist who wants to step up to great handling brush. I have recommended these to several artist friends. I use them extensively for my oil and acrylic work.

Oil on canvass. Inks. Not great for fine detail. Doesn’t unload paint as expected using various mediums. (personal preference here). Cleans ok with OMS and soap. Ferrule collects. Reasonable price. Worth a try if a “brush collector”.

Shipping charge is high unless over minimum. Too many tracking scripts on Jerry’s site.

I’m more accustomed to a specific brand of brushes that I started using early in my painting experience. So my expectation of any other brush was not high. After trying the two brush test set, I liked them and decided to try more.

Frankly, I’m really pleased with the performance. I’m no pro, but I’ve found myself reaching for these in my brush jar more often than my more expensive set, and the wear has been nearly undetectable.

I have been oil painting for 25 years and have collected many different brands of hog hair bristle brushes since starting to paint in college. I had been working on a painting recently with lots of detail and realized I kept grabbing these two or three Grumbacher Gainsborough brushes, which surprised me because I bought them about 20 years go and were better for the small shapes I was painting over the newer brands of brushes I had more recently acquired.

After one particularly challenging painting session I realized I wanted a full set of Gainsborough rounds and ordered them to make my painting sessions a bit easier. So happy I did. Washed them before use to remove the starch and they held their point very well.

The handle has a nice balance and the metal ferrule is somehow not as glaringly reflective as some other brands. Most importantly I like the way it pushes the paint around. I paint in thin layers but some brands are too soft and take forever to cover an area, or they are too hard and scrape all the way through when you dont intend to.

These lay down color just right, and blend colors nicely. Planning to enjoy this set hopefully for another 20 years, I really like them a whole lot!.

I’ve been painting oils with these brushes for about eight years and mostly love them. About one out of ten brushes I order have a lower quality where the bristles are either too short or splayed or both.

Customer service, if you read this, will you ask Grumbacher to make the handles thicker? These handles are too thin and flimsy which makes them difficult to grip for high control, and if I paint with any kind of vigor the handles break.

I usually paint with acrylic and have found these particular brushes work well for me. The handles are long enough for good control, the bristles hold enough paint to last a few strokes without having to reload continuously.

The strokes are smooth but you can fan them out for making texture like leaves on trees and for scumbling. They seem to bounce back easily to original position.

I bought these because of the great sale was too good to pass up. My only disappointment was my large 20 flat brush appears to be used! It has no chiseled edge, and the brush is bushy. All the rest of my brushes were in perfect condition.

They came quickly in the mail as usual! Also Jerry’s Artarama has excellent customer service too! I will be in touch about my brush and they will take care of it! They really are a fantastic company for great prices and customer service!.

The hog hair bristle make these brushes stiffer than standard brushes meaning they are ideal for what o need them for , only slight criticism is that the handles are extremely long , however the case is a great addition.

The round brushes were not in the best shape,some stray bristles.

Ideal brush set complete with storage what more could you need

Disappointed in this brush because the high-quality bristles fanned out and do not form a pointed end as depicted. I purchased the long filbert #8. I thought the extra expense would prevent this. However, it is a well-made brush: long handle, nice finish, securely fastened ferrule.

Size one extra long. The length doesnt really give it the give i was hoping for but that might change with use. Its still a brush im glad i have and i use it just not as intended so much. Its more like a size 2.

Im gonna try some other sizes in this line. The legth does help keep me from filling the brush to the base which from now on im gonna get long bristles in all type brushes.