A Beginner’s Guide to Oil Painting Brushes

Choosing brushes can be confusing.

I’ll make it simple, covering everything from, shape ,size, bristles and brands.

• Shapes

Flat, Filbert, and Round — these 3 brush shapes cover most of what you’ll ever need.

Flats

Flat brushes have sharp edges and are great for painting architecture, buildings, and geometric objects.

Depending on how you hold the brush, you can get wide variety brush marking.

broad strokes, chiseled ones using tip of the brush, thin lines and sharp edges when blocking in areas.

Since I paint a lot of architectural landscapes, flat brushes are perfect choice to paint structure with clarity.

Almost 70-80% of my painting is rendered with flat brushes.

Long, straight strokes are much easier to pull off with a flat brush.

You can also use just the tip of the brush to render smaller, controlled strokes with precision.

There is a shorter version of flat, also known as brights, they stiffer and provide more controlled strokes.

Fliberts

Filberts have a rounded tip, and are great for painting, organic and natural forms — like portraits, wildlife and clouds. The curved edge gives you softer, blended strokes without any harsh lines.

You can get a variety of marks — gentle curves, tapered strokes, and smooth transitions, just by adjusting the angle and pressure.

They're perfect for blending colors and shaping rounded forms with a more natural and fluid feel.

Rounds

Last but not the least, Round brushes - they have a pointed tip and are mainly used for line work and small details.

These brushes can create thin to medium lines depending on the pressure you apply. They're great for detailing, adding accents and highlights, Lettering and signing your artwork.

However, they don’t hold as much paint as flats or filberts, and their shape can also be limiting when coverage is concerned, so I use them sparingly, mostly at the end stage of painting where I add the finishing details.

There are specialized form of round brushes called liner and rigger, they have thin, long bristles which carry more paint and provide uninterrupted strokes, something a standard round brushes cant do easily.

You’ll also come across other brush types—like fans, daggers, and more—but you don’t need them all.

I stick to flats for most of my work, and bring in filberts or rounds when needed.

• Handle Length

There are long handles which are approx 11 inches

and short ones, around 7 inches

Long-handles are great for the early blockin stages, they encourage you to stand back and see the painting as a whole. Short-ones, on the other hand, offer better control, making them ideal for fine details.

• Bristle Types

Brush hair come in two main types: natural and synthetic.

Natural bristles like hog hair hold more paint and give beautiful textures, ideally suited for thicker applications.

They wear down over time but retain their shape well.

Synthetic brushes are more springy and durable, but they tend to lose their shape faster and also hold a bit less amount of paint. I use a mix of both to keep a variety of textures in my work.

• Brush Size

  

Brush size numbering can be a bit weird, different brands use different measurements.

I’ve noticed that more expensive brushes are actually smaller for the same number.

The photo above is an example where two black handle brushes have quite similar width for the same number 4,

while the Escoda in beige handle,

Now what size of brushes you need will depend on the size of your paintings. I usually paint on medium-sized canvas, which is around 16x20 inches. So for me, sizes 2,4,6 work well most of the time but I do have a couple of size 8s for some specific scenarios. For larger pieces go for bigger brushes, it will speed things for you.

• Brands

When it comes to brands, here are a few I recommend:

1. Daler Rowney

Starting with Daler Rowney,it offer two solid options - Graduate and Georgian

It has some really affordable but reliable brushes. graduate being their student line and georgian is more for the professionals.

2. Rosemary & Co

Next is Rosemary & Co, their ivory line are my go to brushes for each painting and a personal favourite.

The craftsmanship on these is top class, with the right amount of spring and bristle density. I have been using these for a couple of years now, and despite some wear in shape from regular use, they’ve held up remarkably well and still maintain their bounce.

I have restocked the brushes, just received the shipment this month, so I am good for next couple of years now.

The only downside is that Rosemary brushes are only available in UK, so shipping and customs can bump up the total cost a bit.

You can checkout the Rosemary and co brushes. You can use my affiliate code SHREYASFA

3. Princeton Aspen

Next is Princeton's - Aspen, is another high-quality line, which comes quite close to the rosemary brushes.

They have a very well defined shape and provides crisp edges while painting.

Princeton also offers a Velvet Touch line and they are great soft synthetics for detailed works.

• How many brushes you need?

If you are a beginner, I would suggest start with less, probably just 4 or 5 and rest assured you can do plenty with them. Here’s a great starter set:

Shape	Size	Count
Flats	2 & 4	1 each
Filbert	4	1
Round or Liner or Rigger	2	1

If you are already into oil painting, and want to invest more in brush inventory.I would recommend, a pair of same size brushes, separate for darks and lights.

Personally, my set of brushes during a painting session includes:

Shape	Size	Count
Flats - Long Handle	2 & 4	2 each
Flats - Short Handle (soft synthetic)	4	1
Filbert	4	1
Round and Rigger	2	1 each
Flats	6 or 8	1

To wrap it up, you don’t need a massive brush collection to start oil painting. A few well-chosen brushes will go a long way. As your older brushes wear out, that’s the perfect time to try new sizes or brands and slowly build your collection.

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