Which are best? Student vs. artist watercolour brushes

I put them to the test: which is better – student or artist (professional) quality watercolour brushes? Specifically, I’m comparing the Winsor & Newton Cotman and Professional watercolour brushes. When I shot the video below, I had one of each – a Cotman size 8 round and a professional size 8 pointed round. The pointed round allows you to paint more precise lines while the belly of the brush hold quite a bit of paint and can be used on it’s side to fill in larger spaces.

Watch me compare Winsor & Newton watercolour brushes on my YouTube channel. 

So what do I really think of Cotman student watercolour brushes

• The brush handles are shorter, which I don’t like.
• It doesn’t hold a ton of paint and water. When applying a wash, I kept having to go back to the palette for more paint.
• When I painted using this brush, the paint always seemed a bit faded compared to the artist brush. It just doesn’t pick up pigment in the same way.
• They’re much more affordable. This means you can try out more than one size and shape and decide what works for you.

My thoughts on the artist grade brushes

• The brush handles are longer and have a nice gently curved spot where it’s very comfortable to hold back from the bristles. Holding a brush further back allows me to paint more freely. When painting fine detail, where I want to hold the handle closer to the bristles, it’s still very comfortable to do so. 
• It holds a lot of paint. So much more than the student brush. 
• The paint I applied with the artist brush looks much richer. It holds and applies pigment much more nicely. 
• These brushes are incredibly pricey. They range from expensive to very expensive. I wouldn’t buy these unless I had already tried out some less pricey brands and brushes and found the shapes and sizes I prefer. 

Bad handles on both brushes

Over time, I’ve also discovered another issue for both brushes. I take fairly good care of my brushes, but both the Cotman and artist Winsor & Newton brushes have had the paint on the handle crack off and the ferrule (the metal part between the brushes and handles) become loose. 

Generally, this means that they’ve been used and stored improperly, and the wooden handle has gotten wet and swelled. This can be from leaving your paintbrush sitting in the water jar or storing them wet with the bristles up. I do neither of those, so I’m not sure why these brushes have had this issue. I have many other brands that I treat the same and haven’t had any issues at all. I know I’m not perfect with the brushes. I don’t store them vertically with the bristles down, which I know is the best storage method, but I’m very disappointed that these aren’t as well-made as other brushes. 

The artist quality brushes seem particularly bad for this. I’ve purchased a couple more and one arrived and the ferrule began wiggling really quickly. For the price, this is so disappointing. 

So which would I recommend?

To be honest? Neither. There are far better brands that are similar in price point to the Cotman line. And the artist grade brushes are so expensive, yet I’ve found far better brushes for much, much less money. Some people swear by the artist grade brushes since they’re a natural hair, but technology has advanced enough that some synthetics are on par with natural hair brushes for far less money.

Buy your own

If you’re interested in purchasing your own, perhaps you know the tricks to keeping them in good condition and swear by natural bristles, you can purchase these at many local art shops or on Amazon.

US

• Winsor & Newton Sable brushes
• Winsor & Newton Cotman brushes

Canada

• Winsor & Newton Sable brushes
• Winsor & Newton Cotman brushes