Sable Brushes - best brands and care

I’m thinking about getting a set of Kolinsky Sable paintbrushes for use in final detailing of paintings or for effects a standard airbrush cannot deliver. Because of their ancillary use, I’m not going to purchase a whole set of them, just numbers 3/0, 3, 5, and 8, since they tend to be the most commonly used for final detailing in airbrush art. Windsor & Newton Series 7 Kolinsky Sable brushes tend to be the gold standard, but I’m wondering if that might be overkill in this case as those are really designed for serious watercolor artists and command a premium price as well. Are there other recommended lines of Kolinsky sable brushes out there that perform very well but might not be quite to the standard of the Series 7 line?

Also, these brushes would be used primarily with ComArt Airbrush paints. Are there any recommendations associated with care and cleaning of sable brushes when used with airbrush type paints?

Look at what Rosemary and Co. Even their synthetic brushes are very good. Series 7 is very overpriced. Even Escoda and Da Vinci makes better brushes.

AndreZA said:

Look at what Rosemary and Co. Even their synthetic brushes are very good. Series 7 is very overpriced. Even Escoda and Da Vinci makes better brushes.

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I’ll check them out. Thanks!

AndreZA said:

Look at what Rosemary and Co. Even their synthetic brushes are very good. Series 7 is very overpriced. Even Escoda and Da Vinci makes better brushes.

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Unfortunately Rosemary & Co. does not ship Kolinsky brushes to the United States. I’m not sure why. It seems to be due to some sort of trade embargo.

Electric Cat Dude said:

Unfortunately Rosemary & Co. does not ship Kolinsky brushes to the United States. I’m not sure why. It seems to be due to some sort of trade embargo.

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Probably because it is animal products. Most manufacturers are moving to "sable like" products. Everyone wants vegan friendly products.

AndreZA said:

Probably because it is animal products. Most manufacturers are moving to "sable like" products. Everyone wants vegan friendly products.

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Which is odd because, more or less, building a sable brush involves just shaving hair off of a weasel’s ass. The animal lives, and is not harmed during the procedure, save only for a bare bottom afterwards!

I use Winsor & Newton’s kolinsky sable series 7

Electric Cat Dude said:

Which is odd because, more or less, building a sable brush involves just shaving hair off of a weasel’s ass. The animal lives, and is not harmed during the procedure, save only for a bare bottom afterwards!

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I doubt that is how it is done.

I have a set of W&N and love em. Worth the money. Tried a few other brands but they wore out quickly. Something about the glue on the W&N seems to stand up to more abuse or forgetting them in water overnight. Oops.

W&N 7 series are my go to set for painting. I also like DaVinci's maestro series which is the same level as W&N I think. I have tried Escoda's Reserva brushes but found them far too soft for my liking. I like a good bit of spring in my brushes. Raphael's 8404 series suffer from the same problem as the Escoda brushes.

If you really know what you want in a brush, you can contact David Jackson on Facebook. He can make you anything you want. He made me some sable fine detail brushes that no one could match. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002946283913

AndreZA said:

If you really know what you want in a brush, you can contact David Jackson on Facebook. He can make you anything you want. He made me some sable fine detail brushes that no one could match. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002946283913

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That is actually one of the things I like about series 7 Winsor & Newton brushes they are all hand made in the UK by people that have been doing it for years. You are not allowed to work on the Series 7 brushes at W&N till you have like 10 years of under your belt brush making at W&N.

(9) Why are Series 7 Brushes so expensive? | Winsor & Newton - YouTube