Watercolour & Gouache Brushes

On This Page:
- Sable Brushes
- Synthetic Brushes
- Choosing a Watercolour Brush
- Care and Cleaning of Watercolour Brushes
More in This Section:
- Watercolour & Gouache Brushes
- Artists' Watercolour Sable Brushes
- Cotman Brushes
- Sceptre Gold II
- Series 7

Choosing the right brush is important and at Winsor & Newton, they have over 150 years of brush making experience. It is this experience which enables them to provide a number of brushes that are ideal for water colour painting.

Water colour brushes are designed to control the flow of colour. The perfect brush will have a fine point, the ability to hold and evenly control colour and should be able to spring back into shape after every stroke.

As Gouache colour has the same properties as water colour, all our water colour brushes are interchangeable with Gouache and the same brush characteristics apply.

Winsor & Newton provide a variety of high-quality brushes made from different types of hair to help you achieve different effects.

Sable Brushes

There are different grades of Kolinsky, but the very best come from Siberia. The finest kolinsky is a soft, golden-brown colour that darkens at the tip.

Hairs from other parts of the sable pelt are used in lesser quality brushes. Second-quality hairs are shorter and less "springy" than their top-notch counterparts, however they're a little more affordable and still provide a high quality brush.

Series 7 Kolinsky Sable Brushes

Manufactured from only the finest pure Kolinsky Sable hair, in rust-proof, seamless nickel plated ferrules with black polished handles featuring gold print, Series 7 Sable brushes are the best.

As with so many of our top quality products, their unsurpassed excellence can in part be attributed to the rigorous selection of only the highest quality raw materials.

This tradition of excellence began in 1866 when Her Majesty Queen Victoria gave orders that Winsor & Newton, holders of the Royal Warrant, be commanded to produce brushes of the highest possible quality in her favourite size;  No. 7.  The brushes were to be made from the very finest Kolinsky Sable hair, the handles were to be ivory, and the ferrules to be sterling silver. Subsequently, these superior fine Sables were supplied to other connoisseurs, albeit with ebony handles and less lavish ferrules.

Designating them Series 7 preserved a link with the original supply to the Royal Household. It is this concern for quality, which has established Series 7 as absolutely unrivalled amongst Sable brushes, with a long-established world-wide reputation for excellence, which we jealously guard by unremitting care to every detail.

Series 7 Sables are still costly - they could not be otherwise, but if your work demands the best, if you appreciate long life and incomparable service throughout, the purchase is an investment, which will prove to be a long term economy.

The Range
Available in all sizes from 000 to 10.

Series 7 Kolinsky Miniature Brushes

These brushes are made to the same superior quality as Series 7, and contain the finest pure Kolinsky Sable hair.

The only difference being that the hair is comparatively short out of the ferrule, so that the point of the brush can be more accurately controlled during the most delicate work. 

The Range
Available in all sizes from 000 to 6.

Series 16 Kolinsky Sable Brushes

Made from selected pure Kolinsky Sable, these brushes are the equivalent to most of our competitors  top quality ranges. 

Series 16 brushes come to a fine point and possess great strength and spring.

The Range
This range has been discontinued and we only have size 11 available.

Series 3A Designers' Kolinsky Sable Brushes

Made with selected pure Kolinsky Sable, these brushes have an elongated shape, which gives an extra fine point especially useful for designers.

The Range
This range has been discontinued and we only have sizes  0 & 3 available while stocks last.

Squirrel Wash Brushes

Winsor & Newton Pure Squirrel brushes are made from the finest quality Russian squirrel hair, which is ideal for water colour washes. Pure Russian Blue Squirrel hairs are very fine, relatively thin and conical shaped with thick bellies, which enables the brush to hold a large amount of colour. They come to a very fine point giving control with washes and the naturally soft hair ensures their responsiveness. These hand-crafted brushes have  natural goose feather quills - more flexible and responsive than a metal ferrule. They are also useful for gouache, silk painting and any fluid colour application.

The Range
Available in a range of sizes from 000 to 12.

Cirrus Kolinsky Sable Brushes

Cirrus Kolinsky Sable brushes have been developed to provide a quaility sable brush at an affordable price.The Brushes are hand made from pure Kolinsky Sable by our skilled brush makers. Cirrus brushes have an excellent spring and colour carrying capacity combined with fine pointing.Each brush is individually inspected on completion, ensuring consistent performance time after time.The comprehensive choice of head shapes and sizes ensures Cirrus offers a brush for every need. They feature seamless nickel plated ferrules and ultramarine stained handles

The Range
This range has been discontinued in 2007 in the UK and only a few sizes are available while stocks last.

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Synthetic Brushes

Artists generally recognise that pure sable brushes are the best - but costly. So consideration of price may cause many to use synthetic brushes instead.

Whilst today's synthetic brushes perform excellently, pure sable still has the edge. We have developed two brush ranges to a high standard to offer you this more affordable option.

Sceptre Gold II Brushes

A brush that is made from a mix of pure sable and synthetic fibres, giving a performance that's close to sable at a price closer to synthetic. The flexibility of the hair makes the brushes soft enough to work the colour, but also have a strong snap so they return back to their original shape with ease. The inclusion of a high proportion of sable in Sceptre Gold II gives the brush considerably greater ability to make larger washes in one stroke than purely synthetic brushes.

The Range
Available with short handles in Round, Long Round, Lettering, One Stroke, Fan and Wash brushes.

Cotman Brushes

In creating this range of pure synthetic brushes we apply the same skills, generated over many years, as those used in making the finest sable brushes.The secret of the Cotman brush lies in the fibres. By blending fibres of differing thickness we achieve the three most important qualities sought after by the artist. The thicker fibres contribute strength and spring whilst the thinner fibres improve colour carrying. Together they retain a perfect point, time after time. A wide range of styles and sizes to suit all applications is available giving most of the qualities of sable at an economic price.

The Range
Available with short handles in Round, Long Round, One Stroke and Wash brushes.

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Choosing a Watercolour Brush

Every water colour brush in the world should do three important things. It's how well these things are done that separates the best from the rest. Here are the three benchmarks that every water colour brush aspires to:

  • A great point - The brush should come to a crisp point, an excellent brush will hold that point during use allowing the artist to create edges and fine detail.
  • Perfect 'snap' or spring - The brush should spring crisply back into shape during use. The right degree of spring allows the artist to have control with an element of ‘give and take' between the brush and the surface.
  • Even flow control - The colour should flow evenly and consistently from the point of the brush and there should be capacity within the belly of the brush to allow the artist to lay down flowing, gestural strokes of colour.

Water colour brushes are generally made from two types of hair:

Sable
There are different grades of sable hair, but the very best are the Kolinsky sable from Siberia. The finest Kolinsky is a soft, golden-brown colour that darkens at the tip.

The finest hairs come from the tip of the tail of the male Kolinsky, hairs from other parts of the sable pelt are used in lesser quality brushes. Second quality hairs are much shorter and less "springy" than their counterparts, however they are a little more affordable and still provide a high quality brush.

Synthetic
We also provide a selection of brushes made from superior synthetic filaments. The advantage of these brushes is their affordability, however our many years experience in brush-making mean that we have been able to source synthetic fibres with excellent colour carrying capacity and much improved spring. This makes our synthetic brushes a first choice for many artists.

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Care and Cleaning of Watercolour Brushes

It is important for all artists to take care of their tools. Brushes in particular can last a lifetime if they are of the right quality and are cared for properly. See our handy hints below to help you make the most of your Winsor & Newton Watercolour Brushes.

Care of Water Colour brushes

  1. Wash your brush as per cleaning instructions below. The most common cause of a brush no longer pointing is the build up of pigment particles in the base of the brush. If they are allowed to build up they simply push the hairs apart and prevent the point from forming.
  2. Avoid storage in direct sunlight.
  3. If you are storing brushes for any length of time, make sure they are clean and perfectly dry before putting them away in an airtight box.
  4. Moth repellents are recommended when storing the brush, but cannot be relied upon as a sure preventative against moth damage.

Cleaning of Water Colour brushes

  1. Brushes should be wiped clean on a lint-free rag and then rinsed under running water.
  2. Clean brushes gently with cool water and mild soap, gently swirl the soapy brush in the palm of your hand.
  3. Repeat washing and rinsing the brush until the soap and water run clear. You’ll be amazed how much colour comes from the brush head. Take particular care to ensure that the base of the brush head is clean.
  4. Some pigments may stain the brush slightly, but this will not affect the performance or the life of the hair.
  5. Gently reshape the head and remove excess water from the brush head.
  6. Dry the handle and ferrule and stand head up to allow the hair to dry.

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 Click here to see our range of W&N Watercolour brushes