The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

Borrowing the title from Sergio Leone’s film, I’m going to share my impressions on 3 brushes I have in my studio. On the bottom of the picture below we have Winsor & Newton 13mm/ 1/2″  Artist’s Water Colour Sable ‘ One Stroke.

In the middle we have a very cheap Chinese brush that I bought 6 for $0.99 with shipping included (!) to Brazil. I can barely read the gold lettering on red handle but where I can read it says “820 / Cheng Zhen. The third is a Keramik 6 – 916 brush sold by Keramik Imports in Brazil, that I suspect it comes from China as well.

So, the Good is obviously the Winsor & Newton’s brush that while is not expensive, is made of selected Kolinsky sable hair. The handle is well balanced and ferrule is well constructed.

The Bad, is the second brush. While the Hair is fairly decent synthetic fibers, the handle leaves much to be desired. Ferrule is poorly constructed and the handle is very light weight. It is clear when you hold it that no attention given to the balance of the brush.

The Ugly is this Keramik brush. The hair fibers appears to be made from the poorest bristle available on Earth, it is extremely hard and pointed to various directions. The ferrule is as poor as the Chinese in the middle and on top of that, no balance to the handle as well. I have this brush in my studio to remind me to not buy any brush from this brand ever again.