Choosing Watercolour Brushes for Watercolour Pencils

Watercolour pencils let you draw with the control of a pencil, then “unlock” the colour with water and a brush—turning dry marks into paint-like washes.

Because watercolour pencils start out dry, brush choice matters: you need control over how much water you introduce, and enough spring in the bristles to help move pigment without overworking the paper.

As a pet portrait and wildlife artist, I recommend working with a moist (not soaking wet) brush to improve control and reduce unwanted bleeding or muddiness.

A simple beginner brush kit (what to buy first)

If you want a small starter set that covers most common tasks, these are my recommended basics for water-based media — and they translate well to watercolour pencil work:

Round size 4 (details, eyes/whiskers/fine edges)
Round size 8 (your main blending/activating brush)
Round size 12 (washes, big blends, backgrounds)
Optional: Add a flat brush (fast, even backgrounds; sharp edges)
Optional: waterbrush (portable sketching, no water pot needed)

A practical watercolour-pencil-specific starting point many artists use is a medium synthetic round (often around size 6–8), then expand from there as you discover what you paint most.

Landscape painting of Coventry Canal by Peter Weatherill, created with watercolour pencils showing blended water reflections and foliage textures achieved with brushwork.

Example: In Peter Weatherill’s Coventry Canal landscape, activated pencil layers create soft water reflections and blended foliage textures.

Why brushes matter more than you think with watercolour pencils

Watercolour pencils behave differently than tube paint:

You often need a bit more friction to dissolve and move dry pencil pigment.
It’s easy to over-wet and lose your linework or buckle/pill the paper.
Dried areas can be reactivated when you reintroduce water.

So your brush choice affects not just “how it looks,” but how controlled (or chaotic) your process feels.

Synthetic vs sable for watercolour pencil artists

When you shop for brushes, you’ll usually choose between natural hair (often sable/Kolinsky) and synthetic filaments.

Comparison of damaged sable watercolour brushes vs pointed synthetic brushes suitable for watercolour pencils.

See the damage to the two sables brushes on the right?

Natural hair (sable/Kolinsky)

Sable brushes are prized for water-holding and they hold a beautiful point, but are expensive and many artists prefer to avoid animal hair.

For watercolour pencils specifically, it’s often overkill unless you already have sable and paint gently.

Synthetic brushes (recommended for most watercolour pencil users)

I recommend modern synthetic watercolour brushes as a practical choice, especially for techniques that involve a bit of lifting or gentle “scrubbing” to get dry pigment moving.

They’re also lower cost, which makes it easier to practice freely without worrying about wearing out a premium brush.

A helpful rule of thumb: if you find you need to “scrub” to dissolve pigment (which can happen with some pencils/papers), it’s often better to use an affordable synthetic brush and reserve delicate natural-hair brushes for gentler handling.

I damaged two sable brushes early on by using them to activate pencil pigment.

Brush shapes and what they’re good for

Round (the workhorse)

Close-up of two synthetic round watercolour brushes in different sizes, showing their pointed tips and round ferrules

Pointed rounds are the go-to for watercolour pencils. One small + one medium round covers detail and blending.

Rounds are usually the most versatile: use the tip for careful activation along edges and small details, and the belly/side for smoothing blends and soft gradients. I suggest starting with rounds first.

Flat (washes + clean edges)

Three flat synthetic watercolour brushes of varying widths, shown alongside two smooth swatches of colour (one beige, one pink) demonstrating their use for even washes and clean edges.

A selection of different sized flat brushes

Flats are a classic choice for washes and sharp edges, making them handy for backgrounds, skies, or straight-edged shapes such as architectural edges or horizon lines.

Filbert (soft organic edges)

2 filbert brushes of different sizes and shapes along with the marks they make

The oval tip of a filbert creates naturally soft, shaped strokes—great for blending larger areas while keeping organic edges.

A filbert has an oval/rounded tip, and is effective for blending and softer, shaped strokes such as petals, leaves or soft fur.

Liner/Rigger (long fine lines)

Riggers are designed for continuous fine lines (branches, grasses, whiskers).

They were historically associated with painting ship rigging, and the long, thin hair length supports long strokes.

Tip: they work best when you load the brush with a small puddle of already-activated colour.

Fan (texture tool)

Two fan brushes with different bristle colours, shown next to a textured green swatch created with watercolour pencils, demonstrating their use for foliage or grass effects

The splayed bristles of a fan brush make multiple marks at once. With activated watercolour pencil, use light dabs or flicks for foliage and grass textures.

A fan brush’s splayed bristles can create repeated marks for textured effects (like foliage/grass), usually with light dabbing or flicking rather than heavy pressure.

The waterbrush for portable painting

Hand holding a waterbrush, activating green and blue watercolour pencil strokes on paper, showing the pigment dissolving and blending into a wet wash

A fan brush makes multiple marks in one stroke—dab or flick to suggest foliage and grass with activated pencil.

A waterbrush is a brush tip attached to a water-filled barrel. You squeeze to release water, so you can activate pencil pigment without carrying a separate water cup.

This makes it especially convenient for:

Travel sketching / outdoors
Quick value studies
Minimal kit: pencils + waterbrush + tissue

Field note: In my sketchbook I’ll lay two pencil colours lightly, then use the waterbrush to test how they blend before committing to a larger area (great for skies and distant foliage).

One caution: waterbrushes can encourage you to work a little wetter than you intended, so it’s worth practicing on scrap paper to learn how to control the flow.

Activating watercolour pencils cleanly (without muddying)

A reliable, beginner-friendly approach is:

Lay colour lightly first (you can always deepen later).
Activate with a moist (not wet) brush, pulling pigment from the darkest area into the light.
Rinse and blot often to avoid dragging dark pigment into light areas.

This is the core technique most beginners use: draw on dry paper, then activate with brush and water.

Also note: with many watercolour pencils, you may be able to re-wet and move/lift some colour even after it dries, depending on brand and how heavily pigment was applied, so testing on scrap paper is a smart habit.

Practice drills that improve fast

Here are simple exercises to train the skills watercolour pencils demand:

Gradient strip: dark-to-light in one colour (learn water control)
Two-colour blend: overlap two pencil colours, then activate to find “sweet spot”
Edge control: activate up to a line without crossing it (great for pet portraits)

Quick care so your brushes keep a point

Good brush habits extend brush life and help them keep a point:

Rinse thoroughly (pigment can dry near the ferrule)
Don't leave your brushes in water as this can bend the hairs and damage the ferrule/handle over time.
Let your brushes dry flat after cleaning; store bristle-up only once the brush is dry

Ready to improve your watercolour pencil art?

Experiment: Take a synthetic round brush and practice activating and blending colours on scrap paper today! You can try this out with our simple pears tutorial.
Learn More: Explore our comprehensive guide to Watercolour Pencil Techniques like layering and creating washes covering everything from layering and creating washes to more advanced creative methods.
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Your progress with watercolour pencils begins with picking up the brush. Happy painting!