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The brush is really expensive compared to the others I've seen in store. Is it actually a very good brush? I'd like some opinions, because while I don't mind paying more for quality, I don't want to buy it and be disappointed.

GW's elite brush? Just get good kolinsky brush. GW brush while might be good is still riddled with GW tax. They don't make best brush in the world. At best they rebrand identical brush and charge you more for it.

tneva82 wrote:
GW's elite brush? Just get good kolinsky brush. GW brush while might be good is still riddled with GW tax. They don't make best brush in the world. At best they rebrand identical brush and charge you more for it.

Kolinsky, you say? Tell me more please

 SevenSeasOfRhye wrote:

The brush is really expensive compared to the others I've seen in store. Is it actually a very good brush? I'd like some opinions, because while I don't mind paying more for quality, I don't want to buy it and be disappointed.

It is quite nice. There probably are equivalent brushes available for less, but nonetheless it is nice.

I find it much better than Army Painter's Kolinksy Masterclass, as an example.

Waste of money. Look at Kolinsky Sable from something like Rosemary and Co.

 Elbows wrote:
Waste of money. Look at Kolinsky Sable from something like Rosemary and Co.

I second Rosemary & Co, most reasonably priced quality brushes I've found(at least from the ones you can find easily in the EU).

I second Rosemary & Co, most reasonably priced quality brushes I've found(at least from the ones you can find easily in the EU).

Are they an online store?

I absolutely love Winsor Newton 7 series brushes, no complaints, not a bad price either (even if one has to order from eBay, like I do).

I've purchased two artificer brushes as they are available at a local games store (and other good brushes aren't). I'm rather disappointed; the brushes stopped holding a fine point quite quickly for me. Not as bad as the regular Citadel brushes but I expected the brushes to remain tip top for longer than a month. And I do keep good care of my brushes!

 SevenSeasOfRhye wrote:

I second Rosemary & Co, most reasonably priced quality brushes I've found(at least from the ones you can find easily in the EU).

Are they an online store?

They are indeed. You'll want Designers, Riggers, Half Riggers, or Spotters depending on your preference for how much paint the brush holds at once and what style of painting you prefer, Size 0 will be roughly equivalent to GW "detail" I think? Been a while since I bought GW brushes. I get a lot of use out of a Size 1 Half Rigger. But, whisper it; I'm actually finding their Red Sable Blend brushes as good as the pure Kolinsky ones for a lot of jobs, and they're half the price.

EDIT: Oh, and get some brush soap like "The Master's Brush Cleaner & Preserver", it'll keep them in like-new condition for years if you're careful.

You'll want Designers, Riggers, Half Riggers, or Spotters depending on your preference for how much paint the brush holds at once and what style of painting you prefer, Size 0 will be roughly equivalent to GW "detail" I think? Been a while since I bought GW brushes. I get a lot of use out of a Size 1 Half Rigger. But, whisper it; I'm actually finding their Red Sable Blend brushes as good as the pure Kolinsky ones for a lot of jobs, and they're half the price.

EDIT: Oh, and get some brush soap like "The Master's Brush Cleaner & Preserver", it'll keep them in like-new condition for years if you're careful.

What I want is a good detail brush I can use for fine highlights that doesn't fray easily and will last me a good couple of years at the least. Right now I've been using an old GW brush (which, oddly enough, despite being 12+ years old is still better than anything they have now) and a small detail brush I bought at a local store- which, despite being better than GW, has a tendency to bend and fray a little. If you could link me to a brush that could do that, I would be very grateful. I tried browsing Rosemary & Co's website, but there were a lot of brushes and I sort of got lost.

Also, the idea of brush soap intrigues me.

Look at their Series 33

I'm from the school of

buy multiple cheap cheap brushes.

I'd argue against that personally, outside of painting terrain, as a decent brush really is a massive step over a $5-for-20 craftstore brush. However, I don't think most peoples skill warrants a $20+ brush (myself included). I have found, surprisingly that the IMEX brushes sold at Hobby Lobby stateside are quite decent as well.

I'd say I'm a solid "good, but reasonably priced" fan. I paint quite a bit though and abuse the hell out of my brushes. I don't mind throwing away a $5-8 after five months of heavy use. I feel that's a worthwhile investment.

 Elbows wrote:
I'd argue against that personally, outside of painting terrain, as a decent brush really is a massive step over a $5-for-20 craftstore brush. However, I don't think most peoples skill warrants a $20+ brush (myself included). I have found, surprisingly that the IMEX brushes sold at Hobby Lobby stateside are quite decent as well.

I'd say I'm a solid "good, but reasonably priced" fan. I paint quite a bit though and abuse the hell out of my brushes. I don't mind throwing away a $5-8 after five months of heavy use. I feel that's a worthwhile investment.

I'm really just tired of brushes wearing out. I need something solid to achieve fine highlights, everything else is manageable even if the brush is a bit frayed.

Then I'd definitely look at Rosemary and Co., probably these two lines are the ones I've seen recommended most:

Series 33 (Pure Kolinksy Sable)
https://www.rosemaryandco.com/watercolour-brushes/pure-kolinsky-sable/pure-kolinsky-pointed

And

Series 22 (Pure Kolinsky Sable)
https://www.rosemaryandco.com/watercolour-brushes/pure-kolinsky-sable/pure-kolinsky-designer

The gentleman above recommended Red Sable Blend (artificial, of sorts), and they're very cost effective - though I haven't seen many people talk about this line:
https://www.rosemaryandco.com/acrylic-brushes/red-sable-blend-acrylic/series-402-pointed-sable-mixture

They're also more attractive to us in the United States because we exclude VAT and they have pretty reasonable shipping. European countries with your VAT and other delivery/import charges may make them more expensive.

The Red Sable Blend are good "general purpose" brushes, useful for basecoating, application of washes, edge highlights and so on. I'd still want a pure Kolinsky for detail highlighting, glazing and other more "delicate" techniques though.

 Elbows wrote:
Then I'd definitely look at Rosemary and Co., probably these two lines are the ones I've seen recommended most:

Series 33 (Pure Kolinksy Sable)
https://www.rosemaryandco.com/watercolour-brushes/pure-kolinsky-sable/pure-kolinsky-pointed

And

Series 22 (Pure Kolinsky Sable)
https://www.rosemaryandco.com/watercolour-brushes/pure-kolinsky-sable/pure-kolinsky-designer

The gentleman above recommended Red Sable Blend (artificial, of sorts), and they're very cost effective - though I haven't seen many people talk about this line:
https://www.rosemaryandco.com/acrylic-brushes/red-sable-blend-acrylic/series-402-pointed-sable-mixture

They're also more attractive to us in the United States because we exclude VAT and they have pretty reasonable shipping. European countries with your VAT and other delivery/import charges may make them more expensive.

Thanks! The links show me a whole lot of brushes, though. Do I just pick the smallest one?

I paid the 14 quid for it. It disintegrated quickly, and almost all of my painting is now done using three £4 brushes from hobby craft.

I recommend Winsor & Newton Series 7 all the way over other brushes (except perhaps Raphael). If you look after them they hold their point and shape well for years.

They are a worthwhile investment even if only for detail.

For really fine detail (000) an artificial brush is also good to have as it can be like inking with a pen.

 Colour Of War wrote:
I recommend Winsor & Newton Series 7 all the way over other brushes (except perhaps Raphael). If you look after them they hold their point and shape well for years.

They are a worthwhile investment even if only for detail.

For really fine detail (000) an artificial brush is also good to have as it can be like inking with a pen.

Isn't there a rumor that Windsor Newton makes the GW artificer brushes? The comparison is that the handles and brushes are the same, it's just that one has metal bindings and the other has plastic bindings.

lliu wrote:

Isn't there a rumor that Windsor Newton makes the GW artificer brushes? The comparison is that the handles and brushes are the same, it's just that one has metal bindings and the other has plastic bindings.

That's true, there is a quote from Rick Priestley on facebook "Games Workshop don’t make brushes – they buy them in from Winsor & Newton who supply rebranded brushes based on their standard range. Just once – when I was there – we persuaded W&N to do a limited edition of a range based on their premium Series 7 brushes – which are made to a higher standard and are generally held to be the best brushes available. If that’s still the case, I would guess this is the same deal again – W&N Series 7 brushes sized to GW’s ‘inbetween’ brush sizes. If so I’m sure they’re very good. I generally go for Series 7’s myself – as you can buy the sizes you want and many good art suppliers offer them at a discount."

If so I cant fault the artificer beyond costing more than W&N.

This thread reminded me I have three of the old red-barrel GW brushes from the late 90's I have yet to open...hmmm...I will say I liked the red barrels more than the subsequent blue barrels that I later used - don't know if there was a real big change, but the red barrels lasted/worked far better for me.

W&N are a lot more hit & miss these days than they used to be, and at their prices I don't consider that acceptable.

I just bought an artificer medium layer.

Cost me around £15 in store here.

First time using it this evening, honestly one of the worst brushes I have ever used. It doesnt hold a point at all, bristles are splitting, its terrible. The Humbrol brush that came free in my sons £5 airfix kit is better.

I would take it back but I threw the recipt away as I didnt want the misses to find out how much I had spent on a paint brush.

Avoid.

Mate, as you're in the UK get yourself a Rosemary & co 33 series size 1 brush. Excellent and about a 3rd of what you've (over)paid GW.

What I use in place of an artificer brush is a small layer brush that has had the hell beaten out of it and only has a few hairs on it left. It holds the paint surprisingly well, and is great for all those fine line details.

Windsor and newton series 7 all the way for me. The GW base brushes are great mind you.

 Garrlor wrote:
Windsor and newton series 7 all the way for me. The GW base brushes are great mind you.

I second this one having picked up two myself, however you can't get them anymore for some reason and i'm still waiting for some to arrive.

If you can find any, they are fantastic for detail work, highlighting etc but for drybrushing and large areas, go for a cheaper brush.

Weirdly i'm finding one of my best workhorse brushes size 0 and above are the white bristle brushes, can't remember if they were nylon or horse hair?

Either way, very smooth and the paint flowed off them really well, got them cheap off ebay as a set.

Having heard good things about Rosemary & Co I'm going to try some myself soon, but I'll mention another that hasn't come up yet and that's Broken Toad. Lovely Kolinsky brushes. I've been abusing a size 0 as my go-to detail brush for about 18 months now and it's still great.

If you want to invest in a good brush, go the full hog and buy a Winsor Newton Series 7. I went 8 years with GW brushes, the longest any ever lasted me was 2 years and I replaced it with the Series 7. Not only is it better than pretty much every other brush, the price makes you want to take care of them. £4 for a brush? You'll abuse and discard. Pay 20+ and you'll treat her right.

I use a size 1 but I prefer a large belly brush myself. I'm picking up a Size 00 soon for detail. If you want to go GW, just get their standard brushes, the Premium ones are pathetic compared to actual premium brushes