The Budget Brush Set That Ended Up in My Everyday Cup

The TRANSON 8 piece round goat hair set came to my table because I was tired of cheap nylon rounds that curled at the tip after a month. I taught middle school art for 31 years, and I have painted in watercolor for about 22. My studio is the spare bedroom in Frederick, Maryland, with a folding table under a north window. Most mornings I get about two hours there before the day starts. I did not need a set of eight. I wanted one round that would hold water long enough for a sky wash.

The set has sizes #1, #4, #5, #8, #10, #12, #14 and #16. The handles are gourd shaped with a balanced weight, and the bristles are round and pointed. The listing says large bellies for holding pigment and water, and that is the part that matters on paper. A brush can look fine in the cup and still dump its water in the first inch of a wash. These did not. I have had the TRANSON set about 18 months now, and the #10 has done most of the work.

I paint on Arches cold press blocks, 7 x 10, 140 lb, and I go through about one a month. That paper is forgiving but it will show every scrub. Goat hair is softer than the nylon I used before. On a damp wash it releases water at a steady rate, which lets me keep a wet edge moving. With the old nylon set I was always rushing, because the brush went dry and the edge set before I got back to it. The TRANSON #12 gave me enough time to finish a sky and still soften the bottom edge.

The smaller rounds are not just scaled down versions of the big ones. The #4 and #5 have points fine enough for stems and the dark centers of flowers. I use the #1 for the tiny lines around a cat's ear or the edge of a leaf, but I do not ask it to carry much water. That is not a flaw. A small round with a big belly would be a different brush. The set works because the sizes do different jobs.

I also teach a Thursday evening beginner class of about six adults at the library branch. I took the set in one week to show them the difference between a round that holds water and a cheap one that does not. I put a wet wash on a student pad and had them try the #10 and then their own brush. The ones with stiff nylon saw the edge set before they reached the end of the stroke. That is the whole lesson. The brush has to keep up with the hand.

The #10 carried a sky wash across a 7 x 10 sheet without a reload, and the point came back after a rinse and a reshape.

I did not throw out every other brush. I still keep a flat or two for lifting and a scrubby old brush for masking fluid. But the TRANSON rounds live in the everyday cup now, not in the drawer. That cup sits on the table with the Cotman half pans and a water jar. When I finish a session I rinse each brush, reshape the point between my fingers, and lay it flat to dry. After 18 months the #8 has a slightly softer tip than it did new, but it still points. The #16 has kept its shape better than I expected.

The one thing I would tell a beginner is not to treat the biggest brush as a mop. The #14 and #16 hold a lot of water. If you touch them to paper with a heavy hand, you will get a puddle and a backrun before you can stop it. I did that twice on a garden painting and had to lift the excess with a dry brush. Start with the #10 for a wash and keep a paper towel nearby. The brush is doing what a large round should do. The hand has to learn the pressure.

I also used the set with acrylics and gouache a few times, because the listing says it works for those. The goat hair is soft enough that I would not use it on rough canvas or heavy body paint. For thinned acrylic in a sketchbook it was fine. For watercolor, which is most of what I do, it has been the right balance of softness and a point. If you are looking for a stiff brush to scrub and lift, this is not that brush. If you want rounds that carry water and come back to a point, it is.

What I'd Tell You If We Were Sitting at My Kitchen Table

I would tell you to buy the set for the middle sizes and expect the extremes to be specialty tools. The #10 and #12 are the ones I reach for on a wash. The #4 and #5 are the ones I reach for on stems and small shapes. The #1 is for a line, not a wash. The #16 is for a big sky or a wet-in-wet background, and it will teach you quickly about how much water you are holding. I would also tell you that a brush will not make you a painter. It will stop getting in the way. That is enough. The TRANSON set stopped getting in the way for me, and for the money it has been a sensible addition to the cup.