Alex from Alex Paints has, by his own admission, bought “an embarrassing number” of paintbrushes – Winsor & Newton, Raphael, Da Vinci, Artis Opus, Rosemary & Co, Broken Toad, Tintoretto and a couple of dozen more. In Do expensive paintbrushes actually matter? (What's The Best Brush For Miniatures?) he stops asking which brush to buy and asks a better question: what actually makes a paintbrush good?
If the video doesn’t load above, watch it on YouTube.
Why he starts with Hawk
When Alex works through the brushes on his desk, Hawk Miniatures is the first one he picks up. His reasoning is simple: our Kolinsky sable rounds are one of the easiest recommendations he can make to somebody who has just started and wants to move on from the synthetic brushes that come in a starter set. Not because they are the most expensive brush he owns, but because they are one of the most affordable ways he has found to feel what a proper natural hair brush is like – more paint in the belly, a sharper point, and a point that comes back after a rinse.
He also makes a point that gets missed in most brush reviews: the barrier to trying natural hair is usually the price, with a single premium size 1 costing £15–£20 and up. In his words, Hawk Miniatures “massively lowers that barrier” – you can find out whether Kolinsky sable suits you without taking out a small loan.
Handles, and why there are two Essentials sets
Alex likes the brushes enough that he worked with Jon at Hawk on his own set, the Alex Paints Essentials. Something he noticed while putting it together is that painters simply do not agree on handles. Some want a light, slim handle; others prefer something with more girth. So there are two versions: the standard set and the Deluxe set with thicker walnut handles. Neither is “better” – it is preference, and the video is a good place to see both side by side.
What actually makes a brush good
The rest of the video is the useful bit for anyone shopping: does it form and keep a point, does it carry enough paint to avoid constant trips to the palette, does it behave predictably, and do you trust it? Alex’s conclusion is that price and quality correlate but do not move together, and that your best brush is the one that ends up sitting next to your water pot every evening.
Get the brushes
The brushes Alex talks about in this video:
- Alex Paints Essentials – set of 4 Kolinsky sable rounds (sizes 0, 1, 2 and 3)
- Alex Paints Essentials Deluxe – the same four brushes with thicker walnut handles
- Round Kolinsky sable brushes – buy individual sizes
Alex’s channel, Alex Paints, is worth a subscribe if you paint Warhammer or any other small things – it’s one of the more honest voices in the hobby, and he only recommends what he actually uses.
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