Experiencing Joy Through Art

   Hello again! I hope you had a terrific weekend… Today I’d like to do a product review on a relatively new watercolor brush that is available from Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff. Please note that I am not being paid to officially endorse this product nor do I have any affiliation with Cheap Joe’s other than being a customer. These are my personal opinions only.

   I’ll admit that whenever new products come out that claim big things, I am always a little skeptical—particularly when it comes to art supplies. There have been synthetic brushes before that claim to “perfectly mimic” the qualities of genuine Kolinsky sable that were big disappointments when I tested them. But not this time…

My Pseudo Sable brushes from Cheap Joe’s

   When I first heard about the Pseudo Sable brush from Cheap Joe’s I was just as skeptical, and perhaps a bit reluctant at first to try them since they are more expensive than most other synthetic brushes. However, I have always liked Cheap Joe’s and have always been happy with their products so I decided to take the plunge and order a couple of Pseudo Sable brushes from them to see for myself.

   Well, I must say I was very happy and very excited when I first tested my new Pseudo Sable brush! It actually does live up to the claims to mimic real Kolinsky sable. Although made from nylon, the hairs are designed with varying thicknesses just like real hair and apparently have some other manufacturing qualities that give them the same spring and water-holding capabilities that real sable has. Genuine Kolinsky sable is getting harder to find and is also quite expensive. If ever its use does become outlawed due to conservation regulations, these Pseudo Sables can definitely take up the slack. They are softer than regular nylon brushes, so could also be a replacement brush for oil painters who use sable as well.

   They point wonderfully and hold tons of color. The photo below shows a comparison test I did with a genuine Kolinsky sable brush and a Pseudo Sable brush of the same size. This test was done on 11" x 14" sheets of watercolor paper. I did the horizontal lines and the flat wash to test for paint-holding and some varying line work to compare the points. As you can see they match up in performance almost perfectly. While the round Pseudo Sable did run out of water a bit faster then the real Kolinsky, the difference was small. I also noticed the flats in the Pseudo Sable line perform far, far better than their golden nylon counterparts when compared to real sable.

   The Pseudo Sable brushes hold more paint and release it more slowly than standard synthetic brushes making them a real boon for artists who want the feel of real sable but don’t want to pay the high price, or object to it being an animal product. I love these brushes and highly recommend them!! They do cost more then regular nylon brushes, but nowhere near the price of Kolinsky sable. 

   For now, they are Cheap Joe’s proprietary brand and I don’t know if the technology that produces them is available to other manufacturers. It probably will be at some point, but as far as I know the only source (for now) is to buy them from Cheap Joe’s. You can take a look at the product page on their website by clicking here. If you have more information about it or have tried these brushes yourself, please leave a comment and share your experience with us!