This is a review of Artegria Watercolor brushes, which retail at CAD$14.95 on Amazon and sold in a set of 4. I have seen Artegria brushes before, but when I first started out I preferred firmer, snappy bristles. At this price, I thought it was a good deal, though I was skeptical. How good can these brushes be when they are less than $4 a pop?
What They Are
Artegria Intuition Series Watercolor Art brushes in this review are made with faux squirrel hair, which has great liquid holding capacity. This set of 4 comes in the most used sizes, 2, 4, 6, and 8.
Sizes
I did some comparison with my other brushes to show whether they are the same sizes as the standard sizes:
Notably, Artegria round 4 brush is a little smaller than Princeton Aqua Elite round 3. However, Artegria round 4 brush holds more water than Princeton Aqua Elite round 3, which is made with synthetic Kolinsky. Synthetic squirrel hair is meant to hold more water than synthetic Kolinsky, so it wasn’t a big surprise, though.
The other 3 Artegria watercolor brushes measure up well with my other brushes in terms of size. I am impressed and surprised that the Artegria round 2 actually holds more water than the Silver Black Velvet round 2 that I have.
The Look of Artegria Intuition Series Watercolor Brushes
These brushes have lightweight black handles and firm, double crimped ferrules, so no looseness there. I have been using these brushes non stop for 3 weeks since they arrived, and none of them had shed. Moreover, the ferrules did not feel loose like my Craftamo brushes do. I find the brushes vey attractive, you would not think they are so affordable just by looking at them, and they feel good in my hands.
Performance
This was my very first painting I did with the Artegria watercolor brushes. I was impressed right away by how much water they hold, and the bristles do not flop like my Princeton Neptune brushes tend to do. The Artegria watercolor art brushes hold their fine point.
I painted the koala with these brushes too.
Next, I painted the ink & wash/urban sketching piece with the brushes. I find the water holding capacity of the brushes very convenient when I needed to spread paint or water in a large area. In addition, the brushes retain enough snap so I didn’t lose any precision even in smaller areas.
Last, but not least, I did a new ink & wash painting with a cat on the window sill in the following piece. These Artegria brushes are so easy to use, I am in love with them!
I used Meiliang watercolor in all of these paintings, by the way. These brushes can lift and blend with ease. I even did some dry brushing on the brick wall to give it texture, and the brushes still returned to a fine point quickly.
Reference photo by Serge S on unsplash.com.
Overall Artegria Watercolor Brushes Review
These are great brushes! They are soft but have a great balance of snap and water holding capacity, and come back to a fine point quickly. The sleek design gives them a great, expensive look even though they are so affordable. In fact, they work just as well as my professional brushes. I wish I tried them sooner and I would have saved myself a lot of money.
What Are They Good For?
Because they hold a good amount of water and still have enough snap, they are good for any skill level and style. I would say they are perfect for loose florals and landscapes. You can still do precision work with these but I usually use something a bit firmer to do details. At this price you can’t go wrong. I am purchasing a set of backup as I am writing this. 🙂
Where To Buy*:
*Disclaimer: These are non affiliate links and are listed for your convenience only. I do not make any commission off the sale of this product and this post is not sponsored.
