What is the difference between the Round Brush and Long Round Brush, and why is the Long Round my favorite? That is an excellent question, and I’m glad you’ve asked! In this paintbrush comparison we’ll find out why I love the Long Round so much I provide this brush for my ink painting students.
Round Brush vs Long Round Brush
The Round paintbrush style is generally used for watercolor, ink and other water based pigments. I find it to be great for general use. But then why does the Long Round exist? You’ll find the short answer in a 4 minute video on my YouTube channel, with more in depth commentary in this post.
Advantages of the Round Paintbrush
As seen in the video demo, the shape of the Round brush really lends itself to the classic watercolor wash. The rounded tip holds water and pigment together for optimum coverage on the page. You can build up layers of color, and get to an opaque tone with transparent media relatively quickly. I love the Round for blocking in general shapes and for large-scale coverage of pigment over the paper. Because it holds so much liquid, it is easy to use wet brush techniques and really play with water effects in your painting.
Advantages of the Long Round Paintbrush
The Long Round can also do washes and wet brush effects like a champ. However the tip of the brush is considerably more tapered, ending in a pointy tip. It does not hold as much water in the brush, and it will take more layers to build up atmosphere on the page. However this pointy tip has a, ahem, point to its existence! [cue laugh track] With the drier tip of the Long Round Brush, fine lines and details are more easily achieved. You can make a thin stroke just as nicely with a size 14 Long Round as with the more diminutive size 3. (Size 8 was used in the video)
Summary and Conclusion
In my video’s conclusion, I find that the incredible variety and range of the Long Round paintbrush make it the One Brush I will carry with me, if I can only have one. If I can have a full kit, I will take both and use them each to their advantage! Have you used these brushes? What do you like to work with?