Experience pure delight as my winter-chapped, sausage-fingered hands guide you through an exhilarating comparison and review of Escoda’s Watercolor Kolinsky travel brush, the Reserva.
Your previous video reviewing the travel brushes was extremely helpful when I purchased my Escoda travel brushes! I went with the Reservas, and I am completely in LOVE with them! They hold sooo much water/paint and are wonderful for detail. 🖤🎨 P.S. I enjoy laughing during your videos every time you say "squirrel", with the dog barking. It's very apparent in the previous Escoda video.
Hi Barbra! Thanks for watching. I always wonder how many people will pick up on something like the barking. Ha, ha!! I love the Reserva, as well. I think I'm going to add a couple more to my group of travel brushes.
Whilst I don’t currently require or can justify the price of these brushes. Your videos have been very helpful in working out which type I will save to get a travel set of, thank you.
Enjoyed the comparison. There seems to be so many good synthetic brushes these days. I was a little surprised about one thing, toward the end, Brian seemed to cut off Brian. Not sure what was going on there... but there was a quick recovery so guess all is well. 😲🙃😲🙃 Good to hear from you and now we will wait to hear what you have to say, after a painting with them all for a while. Take care and dont be a stranger. 🥴👍🏻
Hi Essie! Yeah, some bad editing in this one, on my part. I've been very impressed with the more recent synthetic brushes. They were awful about 20 years ago, or so.
Thanks for comparing. I have to admit, though, while I've been a natural brush purist for years, willing to dish out ridiculous $$ for a good brush, I've more recently become a much bigger fan of synthetic brushes. They just seem to be able to handle the way I work much better and while I love the drag and slag of natural brushes, the bounce and control with synthetic makes me happy, too! Thanks for this one and always good to hear your thoughts on materials! Cheers! :)
Thanks, Mark! I'm the same way. I used to only buy natural brushes and mainly Kolinsky sable. Lately, though, with Kolinsky prices skyrocketing, I've been looking at synthetic alternatives. I've been mostly been using Escoda Versatils in the studio. Thanks, my friend!
Nice video! I really like the versátiles and for softer washes and price savings I love the Silver Black Velvet line. My most valued brush though is my soft acrylic filbert brush that I snipped the edges off on yep my favorite scrubber on sale at Hobby Lobby. Ha!
Very helpful. I own 2 Escoda Reserva size 6 and 8. Would like a size 4 but was on the fence. I prefer my smaller brushes to be stiffer for details. I think the Versatil may be the one!
FYI the jacksons artica line are in fact Escoda Perla brushes and I have a bunch including a few travel brushes and I like them a lot for details and gouache at a great price. Look for the telltale triple crimping on the ferrule as an Escoda giveaway.
No problem. Not in travel brush size last I checked but they have their own branded reservas too, I forgot what they are called by Jacksons but they are their top of the line house brand. I have both and can verify that they are of the same quality. I used to live in England and ordering from Jacksons became a bit of a problem!
thank you for the comparison. fyi anna bucciarelli did a detailed comparison of the reserva vs versatil. in trying to find the video, i searched sable vs synthetic watercolor brushes & saw several other YT comparisons of various brands which i intend to watch. i enjoy watching the demos to help inform me of what i may like to try. i know that in the end, the choice is personal.
I have all the Escoda synthetics, frankly, not impressed after a few weeks use. The Versatil especially didn’t hold up. Love the Reserva, I use my number 4 and number 6 more than any other brushes. Recently, I have been using the synthetic DaVinci Casaneo line, and the size 0 quill style, which is like a 6 round, is pretty awesome. I’d like to replace all my natural hair brushes, if I can, with synthetics. Thinking about trying the Jackson’s Art Raven brushes. I am wondering, though, if the water you use has any adverse effects on your brushes. I’ve got well water, we have to use softener, and possibly that can be damaging to the hairs?
I think the Versàtil and the Reserva are better if you want to use one brush to do most of the work. For details I prefer the Perla because even a number18 has a very fine and stiffer point, great to draw detail. The kolinsky brushes have a very fine point but too soft, you have to use it without pressing too much on the paper or it will bend. I like to work fast so, it depends on the type of the work and style of the user.
Good points! (no pun intended) It's kind of a toss-up for me. I love the spring of the synthetics and the razor-sharp points. I like that the natural hair holds more paint but the synthetics are no slouches in that dept, either.
I bought the Versatil a couple months ago, and was so blown away I just bought one of each of the other lines to do same the comparison :) And you’ve explained why the Versatil did better than my old Kosinski brushes, thank you!
I’m new and sucking it all in. I was trained and worked in oil. But feel health wise (and cost), I need to switch to something less toxic, expensive and cumbersome. I purchased a W&N blue Travel palette, which came with one small travel brush (a place to start and it had brand recognition going for it) I also have small block of ARCHES. Trying to educate myself on brushes. If you have never done watercolor you don’t know what your looking for in a brush or a paint. I know one thing for sure, the travel brush included in the travel pallete is too small for washes. So this has been very interesting.
Is that a size 8 or 10? I have a 10 but left it somewhere temporarily. I just received a 6, and in the few minutes during which I’ve tried it it feels like it skips and dries out like when you were showing the line demo. I felt the same way with the 10, but I haven’t used it much yet. Any thoughts since you’ve had more of a chance to use it? Thank you.
Brian have you done a comparison on Escoda Reversa and Escoda Otimo Sable Travel Sets. There is a £100 difference in the price. It would be interesting to see the difference.
Both your reviews were interesting and informative, thank you for sharing. Do you have any plans for reviewing da Vinci Red Sable Brushes? I was gifted some Escobar Reserva brushes last Christmas and although expensive the quality is almost unequaled. Another company of course is Silver Brush I use them in oil painting but Rafael Brushes are reasonably priced and high quality for watercolor artists.’
Hi, I love my Escoda brushes, too. I don't have any plans currently to review the Da Vinci Red Sables but I will definitely keep them in mind as I look into new things to try. 👍
I use pretty cold water on my Escoda Kolinsky - after giving it a “shampoo” (with that brush cleaner stuff when I feel it’s time). Using cold water lays the cuticles of the hairs down more and I feel it might help the brush last longer. Use a cold water rinse in your hair and you’ll see what I mean. Of course I’m pretty well sans hair atm and actually like it lol! But when I Had hair I learned this;) So much easier bald tho! Cheers.
That's a great idea. I always use cold water to keep from loosening the glue in the ferrule but I had never thought about it's effect on the nature hairs. I'm sans hair, as well, so I'll have to take your word for it. Ha, ha! It is so much easier!! 👍
Once you load up an Ultimo brush it's damn near impossible to get all of the pigment out of it. Not saying that's a bad thing, but the brush is almost too good at what it does... dope review
Que suerte que tu escoda reserva te llegó puntiagudo mi escoda reserva se me abre no me queda puntiagudo y lo compre a escoda recientemente más bien el perla si está puntiagudo. Saludos
Hey there, before I ask, I wanted to say that I really liked your comparison video, you just gained a new subscriber 💜 I am going for the reserva brush since I do a lot of details, I mainly draw furry-animal and detail-building-sketch, since it requires a lot of detailed fine lines and I can only afford one at the moment ;-; I really am a broke college student lol-- What do you think about the "all rounder" size, sorry for my bad English, thankyou so much
Sorry for the late reply!! If you use a brush with a nice sharp point (like these Escodas), you can definitely get by with an "all round" brush. I'd suggest something like a #6 or #8. Big enough for medium sized areas but also sharp enough for small details.
Been watching this again... I have size 10 &2 Versatils, & an 8 Perla. While they are great brushes, hardly 1 month into using them the tips curved. None of the cures prescribed online worked on them, so I'm still using them as is. Did that happen to you?
Interesting. I have not had that problem with mine. My Perla hasn't kept its point as well as my Versatile, at this point, but nothing too bad. I've had tips curl when I've left them to dry while (accidentally) bent up against another object. Sorry that's happening. I wish I knew what to suggest. I wonder what Escoda would say if you contacted them?
idk if someone's pointed out the pronounciation, but it's spelt as "tai-myr" (stress on the second syllable). It's a peninsula, the northernmost part of Eurasia. I'm from this place ^^ Nice dad joke btw. I myself wouldn't mind to be kept in refrigerator during summer.
The high price has to do with a Geneva Convention CITES agreement. It ensures international trade doesn’t endanger a species. So shipping sable hair products outside of Europe comes with a higher export cost and certain types are illegal to ship. Nice review.
Buenas...me regalé para navidad el set de Charles Reid que son 3 pinceles reserva números 6, 8 y 10. Lo conseguí a un súper precio de 152€. Su precio en Arte Miranda es de 267€ con rebaja, sin rebaja más de 300€. Por consiguiente un chollo de precio, supongo que la tienda en la que compré no subió el precio en años. Estos pinceles al ser naturales, se inflan de agua al igual que sucede con los petit gris de ardilla. Por eso, aparentemente pierden la forma puntiaguda. Hay que escurrirlos un poco para que no se empapen tanto, y de nuevo toman su forma puntiaguda. Tienen una enorme capacidad de retención de agua, únicamente comparable con los petit gris. El punto o nervio es muy bueno. En fin, un buen pincel pero carísimo. Si no tienes otros vicios como beber o fumar, viajar y etc. te puedes dar un capricho de vez en cuando. Muchas gracias por el vídeo. Saludos.
@@brianashmorestudio that's okay .... And thanks for sharing your insights of Reserva brushes... I have 3 regular of them...from 1 to 4....and they are so great ...
I saw the #6 reserva at a good price (€36) and was tempted to buy but then I saw the animal abuse that goes into kolinsky now I'm leaning much more towards the versatil.
Not happy with this test. You underloaded the Reserva at the beginning, dipping it in drier paint then a drier mixing pan. You filled the Versatil with lots of water and had twice the paint in the palette. The ability to cover a larger area with a wash, showed the ability of the Reserva to hold more paint and allow it to flow off the brush. Dipping a dry brush into paint has less flow than a wet brush. Swishing a brush in water or paint loads more paint than just dipping, and dipping and bending the hair open allows them to draw in more paint. I am not suggesting any deliberate deception, just a lack of care and perhaps understanding of brush use. Regular brushes have larger diameter bellies that hold more paint. Travel brushes are narrower limiting their capacity to hold paint and the spread out. Travel brushes are really designed for very small paintings. To my mind from post card to A3 is their main use unless one carries a few larger brushes as well.
