Hi, friends! I bought a few things from the Amazon Prime day sale this week and this set is one of them. The regular price isn’t expensive, a bit less than CAD$16, but it’s even cheaper on Prime day! Read on for a review of Oat Art Studio watercolour brush set.
Oat Art Studio Watercolour Brush Set of 5
Oat Art Studio is a Canadian company, and they sell their products on Amazon at very affordable prices. This set costs just CAD$12.87 on prime day and you get 5 synthetic Kolinsky sable brushes.
Initially, I bought the set because I needed a couple of flat, square one-stroke type brushes to paint buildings. I didn’t want to splurge on one brush that would have cost more than the whole set.
Sizes and Appearance
What you get in the set:
- three round brushes in 3, 8 and 10
- a size 12 angled brush
- a size 18 flat brush
The handles are glossy and lacquered in pink. Moreover, the feel reminds me of Craftamo brushes. However, these are much cheaper than Craftamo.
Like other budget brands such as Artegria and Adaxi, the sizes are not the same as the more professional brushes. For comparison purposes, I put the Oat Art Studio brushes against Princeton and Craftamo for this review.
The Oat Art Studio brushes are a little smaller than the Princeton and Craftamo brushes in the same sizes.
Performance Review
I painted City Morning on 8×10″ Strathmore cotton paper, using all 5 brushes in the set. Since this brush set claims to be synthetic Kolinsky sable, I will compare it to my Princeton Aqua Elite brushes, which are synthetic Kolinsky sable.
While the Princeton Aqua Elite brushes feel softer and have the perfect balance of snap and water holding capacity, the Oat Art Studio brushes are firmer and have a stronger snap. Moreover, the size 18 flat brush is fairly rigid. Even though I used it to lay down the pink wash, it was too stiff for that purpose. However, as a one stroke brush, the flat brush performed well.
On the other hand, the round brushes offer a good snap and hold more water than I thought. In addition, they perform better than Select, the budget line from Princeton, at a fraction of the price. While the Princeton brushes lose their pointy tips fairly quickly, the Adaxi and Oat Art Studio brushes keep their point very well.
Summary
Overall, I am impressed that the Oat Art Studio brushes perform well at such a budget price. The bristles are a bit firmer than I prefer, but they work well. Most of all, the brushes didn’t feel cheap. In fact, I really like their aesthetics. If you are looking for brushes that are a bit more snappy, these are pretty good brushes.
