Paintbrushes are used for applying ink or paint. These brushes are usually made by clamping the bristles to a handle with a ferrule.
Short handled brushes are for watercolor or ink painting while the long handled brushes are for oil or acrylic paint. The styles of brush tip seen most commonly are:
- Round: Long closely arranged bristles for detail
- Flat: For spreading paint quickly and evenly over a surface. They will have longer hairs than their Bright counterpart.
- Bright: Flat brushes with short stiff bristles, good for driving paint into the weave of a canvas in thinner paint applications, as well as thicker painting styles like impasto work.
- Filbert: Flat brushes with domed ends. They allow good coverage and the ability to perform some detail work.
- Fan: For blending broad areas of paint.
- Angle: Like the Filbert, these are versatile and can be applied in both general painting application as well as some detail work.
- Mop: A larger format brush with a rounded edge for broad soft paint application as well as for getting thinner glazes over existing drying layers of paint without damaging lower layers.
- Rigger: Round brushes with longish hairs, traditionally used for painting the rigging in pictures of ships. They are useful for fine lines and are versatile for both oils and watercolors.
