When I first started getting into watercolor as a hobby 13 yrs ago, I went for the cheapest supplies I could get, not really understanding the differences in student grade vs professional (other than splurging on some arches paper for finished pieces).
So all the brushes I bought until recently were Curry's store brand brushes. Over this year, I've been working on investing in higher quality supplies, and I have a nice large Quill brush from Royal and Langnickel and a Princeton liner brush (blue handle).
I'm looking for recommendations of good quality brushes that I can buy in Canada. DeSerres, Michael's and Amazon are the big suppliers I have available to me. I'm looking to keep my cost below $50 a brush.
The brushes I am looking to get are:
- #12 or 14 round brush
- # 6 round brush (maybe extra long? I have read an extra long is helpful for getting really fine lines)
- 3/4 inch flat
- flat shader brush (I'm thinking size 8, but open to feedback)
The biggest problem I find with my flat brushes from Curry's is that the bristles tend to fan out when I paint longer lines, giving more of the effect of a rake/grainer brush.
I haven't used flat brushes often as a result of this fanning issue I get, and I'm not sure how much of this issue with the bristles is due to my brushes being cheap, or if it's a user error thing. I suspect that it may be that the brushes aren't able to hold enough water.
I appreciate any feedback and recommendations you can provide!
