Finding My Favorite Watercolor Brushes

Anyone who knows me or my work knows I’m a huge Escoda brushes fan… since I first saw one in the hands of another sketcher on a boat in Brazil after the 2014 USk Symposium! It became my quest to find one for myself, and I finally did, and I even got to visit the factory a few years ago. I now own quite a collection, and I use them ALL THE TIME in both my studio (architectural illustration work) and when travel sketching.

Handmade by a 3rd generation family-owned business near Barcelona, you can feel the love that goes into making every brush. Beautifully weighted, impeccably crafted using machines their grandfather invented. I often say that my favorite Escoda travel brush should be on display in the Museum of Modern Art!

When selecting a brush, as a general rule, you want to get the largest size you can afford that also keeps a nice point. This is why you see really good watercolorists with massive brushes…if it holds a lot of water/pigment you can paint large areas at the beginning of your painting, and if it has a good point, you can also paint the details at the end. All without constantly going back to your palette to reload your brush.

My favorite brushes at the moment:

Escoda Reserva, round size 10 or set of 3: Remember when you were a kid attempting to paint and the brush bristles were so limp, you were basically painting with a stick? You will not have this problem with Reserva brushes as they are made of Kolinsky Sable, the gold standard for brushes because these natural bristles (yes, they are from an animal and Fun Fact: stored at Escoda in a cooler on a bed of moth balls.) They have body and spring, AND they hold tons of water/pigment. A Reserva size 10 travel brush was my very first Escoda! The price has shot up over recent years, so beware the sticker shock. Tip: don’t ever scrub the paper or dry paint on your palette with this brush, or you will ruin the point.

Escoda Versatil, round, size 12: This brush is the synthetic equivalent of Kolinsky Sable. I remember a few decades back when synthetic watercolor brushes were, ok I’ll say it, HORRIBLE. Thankfully, the technology has evolved and synthetics are excellent, less expensive, take a lot of painting abuse, and are preferred by many animal rights activists. The Versatil bristles are fairly soft and hold a lot of water/pigment. I just started using this travel brush and really like it, I typically use it at the start of my sketch when I am painting big washes, then switch to the following brush…

Escoda Perla, round, size 12: Over time, this has become my go-to brush for just about everything. I do use a size 14 short handle brush in my studio on larger sizes of paper, but the size 12 travel brush is great for sketchbook-sized images. The white bristles are a little stiffer and hold a bit less water compared to the Versatil, but for my way of painting, it does just about everything I need a brush to do. I remember as a stroke of great luck, I got to meet two of the cousins who run the company when they were in NYC. My gosh, I gushed like a giddy school girl meeting her favorite movie star when I met these two. So embarrassing! (See photo below with Ricard and Josep, grandsons of the founders.) They asked me what my favorite brush was (was it a test?) and I proudly said the Perla…they looked at each other and said, “Just like Zbukvic”, who is only about the most famous and influential painter in the world!! It seems I passed the test.

I was recently asked by a workshop participant how to find my favorite Perla Size 12 travel brush as it can be difficult to track down in the USA. Escoda was kind enough to send this list of stores that carry the brush–I hope that you will try it and let me know what you think!

Single Perla size 12 travel brushes in the USA:
The Brush Guys or PlazaArt
3 Brush sets (sizes 2, 6, 10) or 6 brush sets (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12) in beautiful faux leather cases:
Amazon
Spokane Art Supply
Jackson’s

I should add that I am now an ambassador for Escoda Brushes! Proud and a bit shocked to be included given their roster! They sent me a list of what I would need to do in this role, and I replied that I already do all those things 😉

Below is me with my brush in Varanasi India in 2017, and below that, visiting the Escoda factory in 2019 with a few workshop participants and a few USk Barcelona sketchers on a bad hair day, but happy. And yes, that’s an Escoda sketchbook, in fact, the very one that I’ve been filling lately with practice sketches at home.