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Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019 Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019
Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019

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What are the different types of paintbrushes?

Choosing between the different types of paintbrushes is an important decision that every artist, from beginners to seasoned professionals, needs to carefully consider. With a vast range of shapes, sizes and fibres that have each been made with a different purpose in mind, it can be difficult to understand how to choose the right paintbrush shape. The brush that you select can have a significant effect on your art, influencing everything from brushstroke precision to the texture and style of your work. 

In this journal, we’ll delve into the different shapes and how they are most commonly used, to help you make more informed decisions before investing in your brushes. It is important to bear in mind that a lot of artist uses their brushes differently from how they were designed to be used, so have a play around and find what works for you!

Round Brushes

Round brushes are one of the most common shapes used by artists. Their wide range of uses means that they can adapt to different strokes within a painting. Bigger brushes can create thin lines, or by applying more pressure they can paint broad strokes or washes. Smaller round brushes are more suitable for fine detail and intricate painting. Take a look at our round brush ranges here.

With round paintbrushes being so adaptive, they’re used by artists painting in any medium, meaning that they are widely available with different types of fibre (synthetic, sable, hog and squirrel). Each hair type has a different effect on how the brush works.

Long Flat brushes

Another commonly used shape, flat brushes have a range of uses dependent on the size or the medium they’re used with. For watercolour and gouache, larger flat brushes can be used with plenty of water to create a background wash, and smaller flats are suitable for thin lines or filling in. Flat edges make these brushes perfect for continuous lines or smooth blocks of colour. See our flat brush range here.

Long flat brushes are often used with oil paint to create more precise detail where their longer, stiffer fibres allow for more control. By flexing the longer hair and changing the direction of application, you can create some different textures.

Short flat brushes

Also known as bright brushes, these paint brushes have shorter hair lengths suitable for painting broad strokes and covering large areas of the canvas with paint quickly. This makes them suitable for backgrounds and base coating.

The shorter hair lengths don’t allow as much flex when moving colour, making these brushes suitable for heavier pigments such as oil and acrylic. This also has the effect of providing the artists with more control over the edges of their brush strokes, allowing for defined lines.

Filbert brushes

Combining the versatility of a flat brush with the soft blending capabilities of a round brush, filberts allow for a wide range of strokes. Their flat belly and rounded tip make them suitable for flowing lines and colour blending. This makes filbert brushes popular for still life painting as they provide a balance between detail and blending. Explore our filbert brushes here.

Gentle use of filberts can allow them to create delicate textures and capture depth and realism within your art, such as fur, feathers or foliage. Artists are also able to achieve curved lines as the rounded edge of filbert brushes can follow outlines- commonly used for painting small petals on flowers or adding subtle accents.

Mop brushes

Catered towards watercolour and gouache paint, mop brushes are ideal for covering large areas of the canvas quickly and efficiently. Their short hairs and wide belly allow them to hold large amounts of paint, making them a good choice for washes and even colour application over large areas. This is often seen in landscape paintings for skies and mountains.

But don’t be fooled by their wider shape, mop brushes are also suitable for fine detailed lining work as well. Our Sablesque brush range combine stiffer hairs alongside softer, creating a fine point able to hold copious amounts of colour.

Rigger brushes

Characterised by their fine, long hairs, rigger brushes can produce long lines and intricate details. They use long hair for precise control that is able to hold a lot of colour- suitable for continuous lines within one brush stroke. This is reflected in their name, the term ‘rigger’ originated from painting the rigging on ships. See our rigger brushes here.

Another popular use for rigger brushes is calligraphy and lettering. They can create crisp, controlled lines suitable for decorative letters and intricate styles.

Fan brushes

As the name suggests, these bushes have a wide, flat shape that fans the bristles out. This means that they typically carry less colour, making them suitable for blending colours and creating soft transitions. But they can also remove excess paint by gently sweeping away loose pigments without damaging the underlaying paint. Explore our fan brushes here.

Their shape makes them just as suitable for creating texture and patterns. The fanned bristles can be used to stipple, drag, or lift paint, creating surface variations and patterns. This makes fan brushes suitable for sweeping strokes often used in foliage or drapery, adding depth.

Dagger brushes

Named after their sword-like shape, dagger brushes have an elongated head, tapering from a thick ferrule to a fine tip. Their unique design allows them to create a variety of strokes. Daggers are particularly adept to producing long, thin lines similar to the rigger brush. Their tapered head allows them to hold more colour and makes their strokes more gestural. This makes them popular in producing movement with lines- such as painting grasses and trees, or even as fine as hairs. Take a look at our dagger brushes here.

Artists can also use dagger brushes to create waves and textures, particularly in watercolour and gouache paintings. The angled bristles can be dragged across the paper, and with varying pressure, can create variations in line thickness to add a sense of texture to the surface. This makes them popular with artists painting waves.

Stippling brushes 

Stippling brushes are used by artists to create a textured effect on artwork by dabbing paint. They use short, stiff bristles that allow them to have precise control over the placement and size of dots. Their main use is to create texture and add dimension to artwork.

Their effect makes stippling brushes common with painting foliage and fur, but also different and more abstract textures. They are popular brushes as their effect can easily be changed depending on how hard you press down, the angle of the brush and the motion of your dabbing.

 

It is important to note that each brush shape can be used in a multitude of ways, so have a play around and find what works best for you!

Johnny Thompson

Johnny Thompson

As marketing lead, Johnny oversees blog editing, social media content and artist collaborations. His background includes paintbrush manufacturing and a degree in Business Management Practice from Leeds Beckett University

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