Princeton Aqua Elite, Series 4850, Synthetic Kolinsky Watercolor Paint Brush,Round, Size 10

I can’t come up with a single negative thing to say about these brushes. I am always on the lookout for quality synthetic brushes that perform comparably with genuine sable hair, and this is without a doubt one of them. They hold plenty of water and paint and they release it evenly, which can be an issue with other synthetics.The characteristic that puts these brushes a cut above the rest is the coating on the handles! Like the Velvetouch, the handles are coated with a very comfortable material that is wonderful for artists with hand pain. The material is also grippy, so you can hold the brush with a feather light touch. If I could afford it, I would buy every shape of the Aqua Elite brushes in every size that I use!

I bought this brush in the hopes of incorporating larger, more expressive strokes into my watercolor illustrations, but my expectations of this brush really fell flat. While I have two Princeton Elite brushes in sizes 1 and 3 that I like, this brush just didn’t have the same feel to it and the performance was really lacking. Firstly, it dumped pigment very quickly, leaving my brush dry far too soon for what I needed. Secondly, it felt more rigid and I noticed more resistance from it against both hot and cold press watercolor paper that I don’t get from the smaller Elite brushes. So, from the get-go, the brush wasn’t really giving me the performance that I expected or needed.After only a couple of paintings, the tip of this brush began to hook over to one side pretty significantly. Now, while a little bit of curling is fairly common in most synthetic brushes, it usually has no impact on performance. That was not the case with this brush. The curl of the tip actually made it impossible to create clean, smooth edges when painting, because the tip would hook onto the paper surface. When it would then snap loose, it sent bits of pigment where I didn’t want it! That made it pretty much unusable for my needs.I returned this brush for a refund and picked up a size 14 Princeton Neptune brush in its place. That brush, I really love. This one? Not so much. I’ll keep using the smaller sizes for details in my watercolor and gouache work, but the larger brushes just aren’t for me.

Beautiful brush! It can hold an awesome amount of water, and I compared it side by side to my silver black velvet and the juicyness was the same between the two. This is a great brush for washes and for details as well. The point has good snap and is very easy to use because the brush holds it shape well. I prefer this one to my SBV because of that reason, I can use a sopping brush or a dry brush with ease. It doesn't have as long of a point as the SBV, but I don't mind that at all. Very happy with the Elite line.

It is a great watercolor brush, soft but hold a lot of pigment and water. Great for loose style of painting.

Holds water well, retains shape.

This is a beautiful brush. Holds water nicely and has a fine point. The handle feels nice too.

Wanted a decent brush that didn't need to be babied. It delivers

Really great Brush, holds water just enough, very fine tip. Will buy more