I’m always looking for inexpensive ways to get the watercolor job done. Big washes require big brushes and the best which are all natural bristle can be extremely expensive….$50 to $75. The big all synthetic brushes just don’t do the trick….they run out of paint on one sweep across the paper. Frustrating. And they aren’t cheap either. Japanese hake brushes work well, though sometimes they aren’t dense enough, or the hairs separate, or the hairs fall out frequently.

So, I’ve been experimenting with cheap 50 cent foam brushes from hardware stores. They come in widths up to 5″. I’ve been using the 1″ and 2″ and they work very well. Really. They work as well as my expensive watercolor brush.

Happy Painting!