Review: Etchr Lab Synthetic Watercolour Brush Set

Review sample provided by Etchr

That's the Etchr Lab brush set I received probably last year. This is one of many art supplies Etchr Lab has started selling recently, among the bags, sketchbooks, paint and paper that they also sell.

This brush set has 10 synthetic watercolour brushes and comes with a brush wrap. The price is USD 49.99 including shipping.

There are 6 round brushes (size 1 to 12), two flat brushes (1/2 and 1/4), and angled brush (3/8) and one fan brush.

There's no mention on Etchr's website on the material used to make the hair fiber.

The canvas brush wrap is pretty nice.

These are the lines and strokes from the round brushes. The brushes are able to return to their shape after each stroke. The brushes have sharp points and hence are great for painting details.

The flat brushes are good for covering larger areas.

The fan brush is good for painting greenery, foliage or grass.

Here's a comparison of the water holding capacity of the Etchr size 12 round brush vs Escoda size 10 sable brush. Companies may use different sizing systems for their brushes but in this case the two brushes have the same length, but the sable hair has more belly and hence can hold more water.

Synthetic brushes don't hold as much water compared to sable or natural hair brushes so that's to be expected. That means you will have to reload the brushes more often.

One limitation to this brush set is the lack of a much bigger brush, e.g. a squirrel or mop brush, for covering larger areas. For the sketch above, I had to use the largest flat brush to cover the paper with water and the brush would run out of water before it could cover the width of the paper. I had to reload the water and paint many times which is why you see so many short strokes.

The round brushes have sharp points and can retain their shapes well.

The sharp point is essential for painting details.

I don't really have much negative things to say about this brush set. The brushes work well.

To get these brushes, you can find them on Etchr Lab online store and Jackson's Art (UK).