Types of Watercolor Brushes and How to Use Them

Naranjalidad shows us the types of paintbrushes we should be using to paint in watercolor, how to use them for each type of stroke, and how to make sure they last longer

Types of watercolor brushes

Before starting to paint with watercolor, it’s important to prepare your basic palette of brushes. This will be your main work tool, so it’s important to know what types of brushes we can use for each case. For Naranjalidad, (@naranjalidad) illustrator and Domestika teacher, there are three types of brushes crucial to any artist:

Round tip
The top the list because they are indispensable. They are the most versatile brushes that are good to fill in large surfaces, but also to add details and fine lines. They come in different sizes but a medium-sized one will cover all your needs.

Flat tip and squared brush
These are usually softer and can be used for more geometric strokes to define borders. These brushes are good for straight and sharp lines as they minimize curved errors.

Natural bristle brush
Fine and wide at the same time, the secret lies in the large amount of water they can carry. Their teardrop shape allows them to create a fine and stylized look while holding plenty of liquid in the center. This means you can create strokes that change in size: starting fine and ending with a thick stroke without leaving the page. These can often be more expensive due to the materials they are made of but there are calligraphy brushes that often offer similar high-quality results for cheaper.

Tips for caring for and keeping your brushes

Just as important as knowing how to use watercolor brushes correctly is cleaning them and storing them well so that they will stay with you for a long time. Taking these tips into account, you will also avoid having to make a new investment. With these five simple tricks, it will be difficult for you to ruin a brush.

1. Don't ever leave it in water.
This is the biggest mistake when taking care of your brush because, with the added weight, the brush tip gets damaged and deformed, and the wooden handle can also absorb moisture and splinter. It is therefore important to always place them horizontally, on a damp cloth so that the cloth absorbs the moisture.

2. Use soap with the dirtiest ones.
Some older brushes do not clean well with water alone, so it is necessary to use soap. How? Very simple: put soap in the palm of your hand, moisten the brush a little and rub it gently against the soap in your hand. Then rinse it well and dry it.

3. Shape them with your fingers.
When they are completely clean but still a little wet, use your fingers to give them back the natural shape of the brush so that when they dry, they retain their shape.

4. Always dry them horizontally.
Ideally, the weight of the brush should be evenly distributed throughout its structure, so drying it horizontally is the most organic way to dry it. If due to lack of space you can't do that, you can always put them vertically but never with the hair down because they'll deform and you won't be able to use them again.

5. Dry them in the open air.
If you have time it's always best to leave them out to dry, but if you're in a hurry or can't, a cloth or canvas brush holder where you can store them is a good idea, as the cloth will absorb moisture so they can dry out easily while maintaining their shape.

Learn this and more tricks from Naranjalidad in the course Portrait with Pencil, Color Techniques and Photoshop.

You may also be interested in:

- Botanic Animal House: Watercolour, Ink and Graphite, a course by Violeta Hernández
- Botanical Illustration with Watercolors, a course by Paulina Maciel
- Techniques applied to watercolour illustration, a course by Ana Victoria Calderon
- Illustrated Portrait in Watercolor, a course by Ana Santos
- Reasons to Repeat, a course by Mónica Muñoz Hernández