Tips to care for your watercolor brushes

Tips to increase the ROI on the money you spend on brushes.
Few simple care tips can help you use your natural hair or synthetic watercolor brushes for many years:
  • Prewet your pigments with a dropper or spritzer before you start painting.  
  • Never leave your brushes in the water after you are done painting.
  • Clean your brushes with water after each use. Washing it with running water will help you remove all the pigment.
  • Reshape the tip of the brush after each cleaning.
  • Always dry your brushes flat. Use a soft cloth or a paper towel, keep brush head slightly off to let the air circulate through it.
  • A brush rest or a holder could be used for brush storage in between use.
  • Periodically give your brushes more care and remove all paint build up from brush head and the ferrule.
  • Every few weeks or so give your brushes a deep cleaning treatment with mild soap or professional brush cleaning solution you can buy through your art supplies retailer.
  • Try not to repurpose your brushes – watercolor brushes are to be used with watercolor paint.

Golden Autumn Landscape by Shaung Li

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Painting the winning watercolor by Vlad Yeliseyev

Street view demo by Andy Evansen

​Yupo is a unique alternative to traditional watercolor paper. What makes it different?

Key features of Yupo paper:
  • It’s pulp-free synthetic, USA machine made of 100% polypropylene. It’s 100% recyclable.
  • It’s very strong, durable, flexible and super smooth.
  • It’s erasable. Colors can be wiped out with wet brush, sponge or your finger.
  • The front and back of the paper are identical.
  • It comes in bright white or translucent grades. On bright white the colors really stand out.
  • It’s waterproof. Its non-absorbent surface resists buckling and remains perfectly flat so you don’t need to tape it while painting. You can wash the color off under the tab. Taping is not recommended because the paper is made in three layers and taping can remove some of it. If needed, tape under the corners.
Image by Legion Paper
  • It’s stain-resistant. However it’s recommended to clean it with soap before use to remove spots and fingerprints. Some artists use cotton gloves to handle paper before use.
  • Originally the paper was invented for printing industry. However artists started using it to paint on. Now apart from watercolor Yupo can be used for acrylic painting, inks, drawing, colored pencils, silkscreen, etc.
If you want to try it out Yupo is available on Amazon in different sizes or at your local art supplies retailer. 

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