Watercolor
brushes typically have long, absorbent hairs and the best ones are made
of natural fiber. By tradition, a watercolor brush has a short handle,
since the artist executes fine detail and works close to the paper or
medium. High-end watercolor paint brushes, such as Kolinsky sable
pointed rounds and red sable rounds are prized for their ability to keep
a fine point, useful for detail work. The cost and scarcity of
high-quality natural fibers has fostered the development of good
synthetic alternatives. Synthetic watercolor brushes can be used with
other media.
Brushes used in watercolor are usually made of soft hair, although
bristle brushes are occasionally employed by some painters. Pure red
sable watercolor brush are universally considered the best since they
are soft, resilient, and have excellent points. Well-made red sable
brushes are very expensive, but substitutes, such as "camel hair"
brushes, exhibit noticeable differences which make them harder to
control. Fine sable brushes may be purchased in quill mounts without
wooden handles, as well as in metal ferrules, which are attached to
handles. Watercolor paint brush shapes usually found in a
watercolorist's arsenal are rounds, flats, mops and riggers.
