I just bought another Holbein waterbrush to replace my earlier one, whose bristles are wearing off. I figured I better review this new one before the tip wears off.

Holbein is a Japanese company based in Osaka, Japan. They also make other art products like paint besides the waterbrush.

From the top is the Lamy Safari Vista Pen, Pentel waterbrush, and the Holbein waterbrushes.

The waterbrush is slim and long. The cap can be conveniently clipped onto the back. The tip is made of some filament, probably nylon. It's white to begin with, and after the few uses, it will look dirty but that doesn't affect future usage.

The Holbein waterbrush comes in two sizes, medium and large. The only difference is the length of the bristles. The large one can be used for washes over larger areas more effectively. There's no difference between the thickness of the strokes between the two, so I'll recommend getting the larger tip anytime.

The nylon bristles wear off quite quickly. That's one of the bad points about this waterbrush.

From left to right, the medium tip, large tip (worn), and the large tip (new).

Even though the tip looks pretty sharp, the thickness of the strokes isn't so. I think the Pentel waterbrush is capable of thinner lines when required.

Water is always moving out as you paint — that's just how water flows — so washes will tend gradate. You need a good control of the waterbrush to get even washes, just like any other waterbrush.

Here's a recent 10by10 inch piece I created with the Holbein waterbrush. Note that the wash for the tree leaves in the front are rather even. For that, sometimes, I squeezed out water in advance on the paper before quickly brushing over the whole area.

The waterbrush is also used for this piece. Note that the roads at the bottom aren't a perfect flat wash. It's difficult to create an even wash when water is flowing all the time.

For larger areas, where a darker wash is required, I would just just a normal brush because it's much easier to achieve an even tone, such as the flat foreground.

It's a good waterbrush. Highly recommended. I bought this for around US$5.5 equivalent at a local art store.

The difference between this and the Pentel one is small, except for the form factor.

4 out of 5 stars.

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