ARTEGRIA Watercolor Brush Set, 10 Soft Synthetic Squirrel Brushes

UPDATE: 12/2025 These are STILL awesome. They no longer shed. I now have Princeton Velvetouch and a lot of Aqua Elites. For some reason I love these the best! I haven't tried Silver Black Velvet.. but I can imagine these might be similar to those with a bit more spring. They do hold a lot of water, are soft, AND have some spring. I don’t know how they can excell in all but they do. Update 8/2024 I received the Princeton aqua elite size 6, it is thinner than the artegria size 6. It holds about the same amount of water and seems to release the water a tad bit more evenly. That being said, I’ve been using the artegria brushes more now. Before I was using my transon ones as work horses but those have become frustrating now that I’ve advanced my skills a bit. I need brushes that release the water slowly and not all at once, brushes that fan out and come right back to a point. These artegria brushes are becoming my work horse brushes and I love them the more I use them. The size 6 and 3 do not seem to shed any hairs, so that has also improved my impression of them. Perhaps if I use the larger ones more they would stop shedding? Maybe the shedding was from trimming them when they made the points? Idk but these are great quality for the price! I will be getting a set for my daughter who loves borrowing my brushes :) I think the aqua elites are fine but now I wish I had sized up to an 8 to make a comparison. (The 6 will still be useful- they are shorter and can fit in my paint case). All in all- skip the transon brand (and those similar) and opt for these instead. Once you know what size you need you can always upgrade that particular brush to compare. Original Review 8/2024: For the price of these they are pretty good. For comparison: I have owned a number of cheaper brands. My favorite cheap brand has been transon. Compared to transon (I’ve tried most of their watercolor brushes) these have more bounce. They have better points. The thing that bothers me about these is that it does seem to shed hairs often where as the Transon brushes do not. Here’s the thing though, I think it would have been better for me in the long run to purchase nicer synthetic brushes one at a time. There are recommendations out there- I’ve heard a size 6 or 8 is a good place to start. I’m awaiting a Princeton aqua elite size 6 and will update.

A few years ago, I started using Silver Brush Co. Black Velvet watercolor brushes, very good quality brushes that I like better than sable. They are fantastic and I highly recommend them for my students, and most professional artists I know love them and also recommend them. Even though their price point is modest in comparison to sable and higher-end brushes, they are still out of reach for many of my students who have modest incomes. When I was shopping on Amazon for the Black Velvet brushes, this set came up as a similar product, and after reading a few reviews, I took a chance to see if they might be a reachable option for my students. They come in a nice and sturdy cardboard cylinder, with a velvet bag that is nice but not very useful. But the brushes - wow! I continue to be impressed the more I use them. They are not “Black Velvet” level, but they are close, and certainly a quality enough product for artists at all levels. The 10 brushes represent a good range of options, from fine detail rounds, a small and large flat brush, a dagger striper, and the 3/4” oval wash, sometimes referred to as a “cat’s tongue”, a super brush for cutting in around objects when knocking in backgrounds. The value is truly outstanding, and I now have several sets that I keep in my teaching bag, my plein air kit and one in the studio. The belly of the brushes hold a lot of pigment and water, and the release is excellent. They do not quite have the length of the genuine Black Velvet brushes, but the point is nearly on par. For the price of one good brush it is a whole variety. I would love if Artegria made a few specialty brushes in a companion set - a couple of “rigger” script liners, a rake brush, a 2” wash and a fan brush would really round out the collection. The only negative is that they lost a few hairs in the first few uses. This set is an outstanding value and even pro artists will not be disappointed. I am a professional watercolorist, artist and teacher, and Past President of the New England Watercolor Society. I teach watercolor at several facilities for artists at all levels, and I am very glad I found this set and will recommend them to students in all my classes.

I am new to watercolor so I didn't want to spend a ton of money, but I still wanted a relatively nice set of brushes. I really like these, they haven't had any stray hairs, they hold a lot of paint, and they are easy to clean. I keep them in the little cardboard tube that they came in, which works great at keeping them from becoming mishapen. The bristles are really soft and flow nicely instead of being stiff as a board. I like the variety of brush sizes, I've probably used them all at some point but my favorites are the 8 and 10. You can get tiny details even with as large as they are. The bristles hold their shape very well. I don't know much about brushes but they look and feel like a nice quality set to me, and they are great for a beginner such as myself that is looking for a nice set that won't break the bank.

Lovely well made brushes. Not comparable to sable, but very well priced quality for a beginner returning to watercolor after many years.

Fantastic brushes! These are amazing for the price! Soft bristles feel almost natural, hold plenty of paint or water, absolutely clean lines for fine detail and elegant strokes. No shedding. Handles are well shaped and weighted. Highly recommended. Tube is cool.

These brushes punch way above their belt. They afford more control than the typical synthetic squirrel and behave more like synth sabel. Some painters rely on the less-responsiveness of squirrel and synthetic squirrel for what it imparts to the visual style, but these are not really like that and that's why I like them. The variety of shapes and sizes is really useful. I purchased the other round-heavy set as well. That is a huge amount of quality brushes in useful sizes and shapes. With the few duplicates brushes between the sets, I plan to make my own travel set by shortening their handles and finding something to use as caps/extensions.

This is my second set of Artegria brushes. I loved my first set so much that I decided to order this set as well. I wanted the smaller size 0 brush, but now I am in love with the Oval wash brush in this set. I only wish they sold individual brushes. But for the price they can't be beat. I haven't had any shedding with either set, they keep their shape, and they hold a ton of water. I have only used them for watercolor.

I really like the brushes I've used in this set so far. I absolutely love how they retain their shape and how they feel to work with. In my opinion they way out perform their price point. I am pleasantly surprised at how nice they are. I've bought more expensive brushes that haven't performed as well.

These paint so smoothly, and keep their shape super well. I have been painting with these daily for over a week. One brush had slightly misaligned bristles from shipping, but a quick 30-second dip of just the bristles into boiling water fixed it right up! I am very happy with these, especially for the price ☺️

Muy buenos pinceles para nivel intermedio y profesional. Dejan bonitos trazos y están bien cuidados en su empaque. Viene con un instructivo electrónico.

I was very excited to have purchased a set of brushes as I embark on my watercolour journey. I have used the brushes to paint 2 pictures and the tips of the brushes are bending making it difficult to get fine detail where i want it to be. They do hold water and colour well, but disappointed to have lost the lovely fine point to quickly.

Very good quality and came nicely packed in a pouch and paper cylinder. Points were sharp and the bristles flexible.

Son pinceles muy buenos con gran retención de agua y pintura y no tienes que recargar tan seguido los pinceles y son de 9 tipos todos de cerdas suaves pero sintéticas incluso superan a a marcas de estudiantes como la línea cotman de winsor & newton y todo por un cómodo precio.