Review: Winsor & Newton Series 7 Kolinsky Sable Brush

All Kolinsky brushes can potentially have such problems as they are made from a very specific kind of soft natural hair. That is the reason why you have to test their point and their snap before you buy them.

You can do the test as follow: You have to soak them into water in order to remove the protective film from the bristles ( that is usually Gum Arabic) and when they are completely clean and soaked in the water, you either shake them on the air, like a thermometer or knock them lightly on the edge of the water container. If the brush is manufactured properly with high quality ( and not curly, or bent ) hair, then it will come to a straight and very sharp point.

The opposite will happen if the brush has any kind of manufacturing problem.

Keep in mind that all natural hair brushes don't look pointy when they are dried. They get pointy only when they are wet and only if they are made with the right kind of natural hair. As they are all hand made from hair that come from different animals the quality might not be consistent.

That is the reason why you should always test them and buy your Kolinskys at a store and not online.

As for W&N: I have read the recent years various complaints about the quality of its products and I have noticed my self that the quality of their watercolours is not as good as it used to be. They have probably changed the way they manufacture them and they are less pigmented and tend to shrink and dry rock hard
something that didn't happen previously.

If you interested to get some seriously pointy and high quality brushes check the Loew Cornell Ultra Rounds. These are synthetics of course but I'm not either way a fan of natural hair brushes ( for reasons that I will not discuss here). I'll review these brushes in my blog as they are currently my favourite brushes. Check them out and lets see if our opinions match!

The winsor and newton brushes had such problem even before. It is therefore, not related to quality control issues, but much more on how they form the tuft of the hair and bundle them together. My guess is they are crimpled way too near the edge of the hairs, beyond the 2/3 so they exhibit the "spraying" of hairs, this is like if you bind a bundle of fibers, the strands will try to burst apart because of too much tension: and most of the brushes that i bought that exhibit such kind of behavior either have too much hairs on the bundle and they are short as well so the hairs wont taper. Kolinsky brights (which are flats that have shorter hairs out of the ferrule) exhibit the same thing. The review from jacksons' own blog by professional artist Juliet Losq has the same finding: Difficult to wick to a point:

https://www.jacksonsart.com/blog/2018/06/15/comparing-two-top-sable-wat….

Even the most visited website for watercolor reviews which are several years old have the same finding, which is from Bruce McEvoy and I quote:

"The tuft is also somewhat smaller for the size than other brands (33mm long and 26mm around at the ferrule, with a 9mm belly when wet), and the point has an unhappy tendency to split."

and here is the link:http://handprint.com/HP/WCL/brush3n.html

I don't think the amazon reviews for winsor and newton series 7 could be more accurate because of the number of reviews that gave it positive ratings. Sometimes the quality and property of a brush can vary from small to bigger sizes because the kolinsky hairs will be only as effective to a degree where the shape and the flexibility of the hairs can still be adequate for its size and sometimes it takes a great skill of an artist to fully discern tools that are on par with his/her skills as an artist.

such a bummer, given their long standing reputation

Yea, i've been using series 7 size 2 for more than a decade, i always buy them in bulk, like 5 one short. My last batch was horrible, since I use 1 brush bout 6 months, it's only after i realise the others are faulty and not sharp when wet. I tried asking for exchange but it was too long since I purchased them. I even sent a complain to Winsor and they refuse to believe that there is anything wrong with their brushes and said it was my fauly for using ink with them, which they are made specifically for watercolor. I've to agree. So i've been hunting for the next best thing ever since. If guys know any, do recommend. Thanks in advance.

yea, i just ordered a size 4 Series 10 Da Vinci from Jackson. Will try Series 35 size 3 later. And then wait for stock of Raphael 8404 size 2, Isabey Series 6228 size 2, and Escoda Reserva Series 1212 size 4. Going full fledge to try these and dump W&n 7 for good.

Ugh I bought my first ever series 7 number 2 and was so excited... until it got home and hated using it. Early 2020 so this seems not to be a new issue.

Even one of the artists working in the big box art shop (where I got it) said they don't use WN series 7. They couldn't suggest anything... but could answer what brushes they used when I asked ;)

I bought a bunch of Rosemary and Co for what I was going to spend on bigger Series 7 and haven't looked back.

The Rosemary website lists full brush specs but you may find their series 33 suits. That's what I thought I was getting with the gutless WN series 7. I got a series 441 number 3 which works really well and seems closer to the WN I totally hated.

(That said... Both my kolinsky sable travel mops cracked in two places in the only wood on the brush within barely 3 months of ownership which REALLY annoyed. Oh and they did nothing about... but the regular black short handled brushes are problem free and totally great. Loved the travel mop in pure kolinsky yes really gorgeous brush just taped up to use grrr).

Good luck deciding- the Rosemary website and pdf catalogue is hell on earth for the cash strapped artist!

Thanks so much for this review! I almost bought this brush. I think i will look into Da Vinci brushes.

I was SO excited to receive the 4 W&N Kolinsky sable brushes and had all the problems described by many above. I was SO disappointed. I wrote down all the other recommendations here and hope to get some brushes that actually perform well. I'm currently communicating with both W&N as well as Jerry's ArtArama which was an online vendor that was recommended. I hope I get them returned and I get reimbursed w/ no problems. I don't have a lot of money and can't deal with spending the precious coin I do have on shitty brushes!! THANKS FOR YOUR REVIEW!!! It was validating and super helpful!!!

Thank you for your review of Windsor Newton brushes.
What watercolor paints do you fine to be the best?

Thank you for this review of W&N Series 7 brushes.

I am a beginner and 'found' these brushes among my daughter's art stuff she left behind when she moved out. Having heard of W&N Series 7 brushes (insanely expensive in Australia) I thought all my Christmases had come at once...

I stumbled upon this blog for the reasons described: I can't get a point no matter what I try, and it is terribly frustrating. Being a beginner, of course I thought it was I who had the problem, now realize it may be the brushes. I also wondered whether the problem of no points may be due to the brushes not having been used in ages.

@Marialena Sarris:
I think I understand what you are hinting at but didn't quite know how to go about selecting good synthetic brushes.

Thank you for all your comments. I was just as about to order some W&N Series 7 Miniature brushes in sizes 000, 00, 0 and 3. I already have Nos 1 and 2 and absolutely love them for fine botanical illustration (love their short spotter-like heads for good control). Their points are great and there are no wayward hairs. However, I do also own a Series 7, Size 4 Kolinsky (not Miniature) , which I've had for around 10 years, and have always had a problem with it not coming to a point. It was very expensive at the time so I was disappointed that cheaper brushes could hold a point better. I like Billy Showell's synthetic brushes and wish she made some with shorter hair, like spotters. Rosemary & Co brushes are great too.