Let's Talk Water Brushes! | Pros and Cons, How to Fix Blockages, and Doodlewash Feature

Let's talk about water brushes! This video is NOT a review, comparison, or detailed tutorial on how to use water brushes but rather an intro to watercolor brushes, why you might want to use them (or not!), and how to fix your water brush if it stops working.

If you'd like to see a specific technique video on painting with water brushes, let me know in the comments below. For videos on brush comparisons, I recommend checking out The Mind of Watercolor or The Frugal Crafter's videos on water brushes!

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[gorway]

A great little tip I picked up for working with a water-brush outdoors is - in place of an old rag or tissue paper - Cut the toe out of an old cotton sports sock, fold it over and wear it as a band on the wrist of your other hand. It makes it super easy to clean off your brush tip, especially if you are working off your lap or standing. I suppose you could just buy one of those sport sweat bands but the old sock works for me.

[jsthbreethe]

I bought the Pentel Aquash brushes in a pack of 4 at Michael's. It has small, medium, large, and flat brushes. With a coupon I paid maybe $13.

[legoduckie]

I love water brushes. They make watercolor slightly more adhd friendly!

[MDCampbell]

The Sakura brushes are nice because they come with a travel plug so you can separate the chamber from the tip while traveling, yet keep the chamber filled with water. The plug fits the Pentel brushes, too, so I swapped mine to theirs (don't tell!). Good intro video and worth it just for the DYI fix-it. Nice! Cheers! :)

[blueroomcrafts]

I have been using water brushes for at least 10 years and that is the first time I have ever seen one taken apart. Who Know. Good Job Denise. lol.

[deejcarter]

Thanks for this video. All you picture done with these brushes are lovely. I totally understand the good brush, good paper pressure that you talked about. I like to take these brushes with me in my travel kit. I'm glad you showed how to take the brush apart because for me I like less water and now I know how to adjust my brush to do that.

[jekalambert]

Aquash brushes are very "juicy". They were the first brand I used. I find them extremely difficult to control because the water flow is constant. They dilute the paint and always leave puddles. I hated waterbrushes until I discovered Kuretake Zig waterbrushes. The Zig waterbrushes have an even flow without dripping - a whole different experience than working with an Aquash brush. I highly recommend the Kuretake Zig waterbrushes.

[kaylaanderson]

I love using reusable cellulose/cotton Swedish dishcloths while I'm painting rather than disposable paper towel. I like them better than a traditional "woven" fabric towel as I feel they are more gentle on brushes. They are super slim and dry quickly making them convenient for travel! I get the Skoy brand and cut the regular dishcloth size into smaller sizes for travel.

[fangchick]

My favourite waterbrush pens are the pushbutton ones by Derwent. Great control, but it also releases small amounts of water which is great for softening paint edges and blending

[hihey]

Denise, you are a lifesaver. I watched this video a while back and found it incredibly informative. Today I woke up to the unpleasant surprise of a clogged waterbrush. I immediately rushed to this video, and now it flows like a dream.

[azzuparis]

Hi Denise, thank you for the video. I have some water brushes and I enjoy using them whenever I go out painting. They are really useful. Congrats on the Doodlewash article. I'll go read it right now 😊

[DrawingWithFire]

Great video Denise! 😁 I'm glad you added fixing the water brush part at the end. Very helpful. 😃

[bretking]

I am very new to watercolor and recently purchased the Sakura Koi 48 watercolor set along with 4 different sized Pentel water brushes... Your videos are great and i think you deserve wayyyy more subscribers!!!

[MeowMeowKapow]

I use water brushes a lot because I do a lot of painting doodles while I'm "oot and aboot, " but I also use them at home when I'm doing "real" paintings.  I've especially found them great for using with my Dr. Ph. Martin's ink and I've got a couple that I've filled with different colors so I can use them as brush liners without having to take out my whole ink setup!  You're right about the small one; it does seem to let out a little bit more liquid than the large one... which I usually get around by just occasionally dabbing off some of the excess liquid with a towel, which really only matters for my ink brushes.  Buying the three pack from amazon is relatively inexpensive and they're so versatile you might as well stock up!

[michaelpeters]

Great video, very professional demo. Thank you for sharing.😊😅

[barbhayes]

I watched this on the Doodlewash page and really enjoyed it. I loved hearing about your experiences with various water brushes. I, too, purchased some really inexpensive brushes at first and was unhappy with them. I look forward to trying a better quality water brush. Thanks!

[fangchick]

I love the Derwent pushbutton waterbrush pens. The medium is my go to and I have great control with it. Before that I had the cromatek ones and they were not good, drippy and the bristles shed so badly. I also have the fine and flat brush of the Derwent pushbuttons, but I don't use them that much because I rarely need a wash brush when I'm doing more relaxed sketchbook painting, and the medium has a really good point, though I do use my rigger brush when I need fine details, since I don't need much water for it.

[shekathearl]

Want to give you my tip, sometimes water isn't available (sink/fountain) so I carry a small empty acrylic bottle with water to refill. Brush, bottle, paper towels, and test paper all fit in a plastic pencil case from the dollar store. You can actually fit 3 brushes. Great video!

[danakolpin]

I am just starting to get into watercolor. The water brushes would be a good thing to learn. Dana

[DeluxeGroupie]

Right now I'm pretty much exclusively using water brushes, because I'm somehow super bad in controlling the water flow with normal brushes. They work really well for me...as long as I'm not trying to do super large wet in wet washes.
Your back story is very interesting with quite a few parallels to my own. I'm also trying to build my life around my health. It's challenging.