A dagger brush is very adaptable and is ... • excellent for thin fine lines... can replace a rigger brush, • used to create long flowing lines, • the body of the brush for a broader stroke, • when pressure is applied and the brush is 'twisted' through a long stroke you can see oriental grass appear; shorter twists for petals and leaves, • when loaded with paint, they are fun to twist and turn to create texture and organic strokes, • great for side loading and shading, • are flexible enough to give you a really wide vocabulary when it comes to brush calligraphy and mark making.
I love daggers, they do things no other brush does and are great for straight lines. Its just a matter of getting used to a brush that is different from your usual rounds. Maybe they aren't optimal for florals, but you did well, have fun!
OMG I love this brush! 🙂 This is the best brush for leaves, like the best ever! It took me about an hour to figure out how to use it and for me the trick is to be very light handed and work from the shoulder. But I am the opposite - I love soft brushes, even though I am still a beginner. I started with the Heritage series and love them too, but the Neptune is my go to. I think I have all the round ones... And the dagger for leaves and grasses is just perfect.
I commend you for going outside your comfort zone and encouraging us to do the same. Considering how to change your technique and practicing more was a good approach - the later painting came out very nice. In short, different brushes/tools are designed for different purposes (even if they can be used in other ways). None of us should expect to take a very different new tool and use the same methods at the same scales/size and get the results we’re accustomed to. As others have suggested, other subjects or larger scale paintings may be better suited to these particular brushes (another way to push out of one’s comfort zone!).
Thank you for that. After I got the larger size she has, I couldn’t do anything with it. Then I heard it was for “experienced” artists. I then sat it aside. It was pricey for me, so I did consider giving it a haircut.
I have this exact dagger brush, whilst it was cool to try out, I really struggled to actually find a use for it and haven’t really used it since, I agree it worked lovely for leaves 😊
They are really great for long slender leaves :-) Or Bamboo leaves and the such. I never use them for round shapes leaves. Mine is a little smaller though - easier to reign in... Thank you for showing us the bigger dagger brush. - Oh, and I use them sometimes instead of a rigger brush. Just the tip of course. Holds a good amount of water.
I love my dagger brushes, especially for urban sketching. I can get lots of different strokes from just one brush: thin lines, broad strokes, great for leaves is using the belly of the brush. This is important if painting on the go, when I dont take lots of stuff. My favourite is Rosemary & Co 1/2 " and it's sister R12 travel brush. perhaps the Princeton Neptune's are too soft, as they imitate squirrel hair. Mine are a mix of natural and synthetic and are easier to handle. Liz Steel has good videos on using dagger brushes for urban sketching, if you are curious. Thanks for the video
These are FABULOUS brushes. Think loose and watery. NOT for the structured heart or brain. Silver Black Velvet Brush makes a real loose long dagger, too.
Kristy was the first I saw use the dagger. I got the quarter inch and like it. Also watched Ellen Creme Trent use it second. Interesting the see all 3 of you use this brush, Emma. Learned from each of you. Thank you.
@@mary.reynolds6391 I love how Emma's painting turned out the textures she got from the brush. I have other brushes that I have had to take time to use and play with to learn and then you learn to love them.
I have those and I absolutely love them for trees and tree branches. It's possible to paint an entire tree with that one brush. They take so much paint as well. For flowers you probably need a stiffer brush.
It’s not the shape so much as the material that is problematic with the Neptune dagger. Squirrel is extremely soft and much harder to control. You should’ve tried Kristy Rice’s dagger. She absolutely loves this brush shape and does whole paintings just with this one brush. I didn’t like daggers either but when I got her brush set and tried it, I now like it very much 😊
Everything comes with a learning curve! Thank you for not shying away from that. Your flowers came out lovely. I've had a few dagger brushes - one or two that I've loved, and one or two that I've haaaated. They really aren't "one size fits all" .. but I'm glad these worked out well for you!
I have a dagger brush but it is much smaller and not as fluffy, so it's easier to control. Thanks for showing the nice petal and leaf shapes that you can get with it. Also a nice fine line.
Hi Emma, I have that exact dagger brush and I love it for painting super thin lines like hair. I challenged myself to get to know it better too. I ended up painting a horse using only my dagger and paynes grey with a smidge of sepia. It turned out better than expected. Plug on and get to know it. It is worth it
Thanks for sharing your frustrations using a new, unfamiliar tools. Your petals and leaves look beautiful. The frustration comes from lack of control in that you didn’t see what you expected. It kinda takes you back to your beginnings. I loved painting with your January subscription box and look forward to receiving my February box ❤️
I generally see people using it for long thin strokes, grasses, branches, wisps of things. Maybe stems. Actually at 12 minutes in those nice thin leaves, looks like your getting the hang of it! These are pretty big size dagger brushes I can see how that might add to frustration.
I have a dagger but I use a shorter brush to mix the paints. Then I put my dagger in. The paint. But it does beautiful leaves and swirls I do put it in hot water for a few minutes it’s puts it make in shape and works better and I have watch kristy rice she uses them all the time. Good luck love watching your videos. I just got your brushes. Love them
I have one of those! Regretted buying it until I followed a tree demo by Pamela Harnois. She was using a different type of brush but this was the closest to hers that I had so I gave it a go. Worked great! For evergreen-type trees.
Thank you for demonstrating the dagger brush. I have had my eye on purchasing one. After watching your demo I may give it a go. I feel it may help me with not laying down too much paint on the first layer with my flowers. I think it will challenge me to also use my wrist more in the painting process. Thanks for all the great information that you share.
Yes, these brushes frustrating a lot of artists. They working sucessfully with long S-shapes like leaves, lianes, dragons in the air, maybe snakes and long grasses. By accident I had two of these soft, long, out of controll brushes and I cut one. This is not a good idea, now it is ruined for ever. The cutted one I use now for removing the rests from the eraser, the other one stand in the brushjar and collect the dust. Greetings from Germany
I have a Terry Harrison Sword brush which looks just like this. It's soft as well. There is a video of how he loaded up the paint painted long grasses with it, and it's honestly amazing.:)
I'm so pleased the boxes sold out, congratulations! 🎉 I must admit I like a dagger brush. The first time I bought one (Daler-Rowney) I didn't realise it was for acrylic, but it works perfectly well with watercolour, so no harm done. The D-R dagger brush feels to me like a nice balance of soft and snappy. 😊 I can't get to grips with angle brushes. I also have a fan brush that I thought I 'should' have when I was starting my brush collection in the beginning and I like the marks it makes bit I don't find myself using it too often. I think I might go back and revisit them having watched this video. 😊
Cheap Joe's sells brushes that are similar. Soft, long, but not quite as full. They're call Scroggy's loose goose. I've played around with them and haven't yet got the hang of them. They were recommended by another youtube artist who has a looser semi-abstract style. I'll have to drag them out and play some more. Thanks for sharing!
I love this brush. It is so good for long lines like palm leaves or touch down florals. It also depends which side you are using. Thanks for sharing 😊❤
Hey Emma, this was really great! Wonder if working on hot-pressed w/c paper might come easier? I was truly amazed with some of the beautiful flowers and leaves you managed to achieve with the daggers and ... to quote someone near and dear to our hearts, practice, practice, practice. Loved this video, girl! Appreciate your daring to try ... good lessons learned in the end. .👍 Thanks for always inspiring us!!! 💕🥰🌸
Go to Kristy Rice she loves her dagger brush she even designed her own, however the long length and more natural types she says is a huge learning curve hers a stiffer and not as long and synthetic try her one out would love to see the difference
I have Kristy's as well, and one from Black Velvet, which is long and soft like this one Emma has. They're actually quite different. Kristy's aren't soft and floppy, so you can still have some control. The other one is good for loose and abstract type work. Angela Fehr is a good example of a watercolour artist who uses the long soft dagger a lot. 🙂
When I got this brush and put it in water, it moved around like hair swishing under the water, not good. I'm a beginner and this brush was so frustrating. I'm so grateful that you did this video so I wasn't alone in it not working for me at all. Now I'm sad that i spent what little money I had-bummer.
I bought four different sizes last year. I totally regret it. I too felt your frustration and so gave up. with them They are limited to what you can use them for, so are now redundant in my brush collection
My first dagger was the Black Velvet one & I loved it so much my poor rigger has gone unused. However, it should be classified as a “sword” due to the length & I still haven’t discovered it’s full potential. I latter got the Rosemary & Co travel dagger (which is synthetic sable vs squirrel) and while I only just started using it it definitely feels more versatile due to the shorter & snappier bristles. While I do love my Black Velvet “sword” I agree that the softness of the squirrel/synthetic squirrel is not good for control. I so far have dominantly used it as a super capacity rigger.
I started learning how to paint with watercolors and I have a variety of brushes, but I keep going back to the dagger brushes. For leaves especially. And long grasses. They are perfect. I really like them. I'm going to get some more in different sizes. What you painted with them is beautiful!
I tried this exact brush for the first time yesterday and I was just as frustrated as you Emma. 😂I didn't know what to do with it. I only managed long leaves. Thank you for your video. Now I will try again. I live in Germany and I hope that I can somehow order your brushes (when they are available again).
I recently bought the same brush in a smaller size and have been struggling with it. Thank you for this video showing some different ways to use it. I can't wait to let go of the frustration and just play!
Ha! I had purchased 17 various Princeton Neptune brushes over 7 years ago and have never used them! Quills, pointed rounds, two daggers, cat tongues, liners and even a 2” mottler were purchased during a clearance sale from Michael’s. I tried some of them on a zen board and hated them too. I have so many other quality brushes I have purchased over the last 30 years I had never given those Princeton brushes a second thought. Lol, I wash, rinse out the dust and use a brush preserver to protect all my brushes in storage. I have moth traps set up around all of my fine brushes so moths do not laying eggs within the bristles. This happened only once to a couple of natural sables many decades ago. I guess I need to play around and reevaluate all of my brushes. Thank you for sharing!
Sadly, I got a Craftamo size two brush that was not manufactured properly...hooked and no point. Disappointed that it was not replaced. Thought you should know since you support them. Love your content.
Oy my gosh! I saw some artists painting with those, so I asked for them for Christmas. I had the exact same experience and put them aside out of complete frustration. After watching this, I will try again!
Emma, it just depends on your style of painting, which brush works. For your very lovely more controlled work, the soft dagger would pretty much be frustrating. Canadian watercolour artist Angela Fehr does sensational loose abstract work with a dagger. Very different styles. Major respect for going out of your comfort zone, and for encouraging us to do the same. 🙂
I loved the look of both petals and stems. Seems like it helps with a looser look. I don’t have enough experience but going to order some anyway. Thanks Emma!
An artist I watch calls hers the “ flippy floppy” brush. I got the brush you’re using and I too felt like I couldn’t make anything look the way I wanted.
I have the Princeton dagger and Lindsay Weirich's custom dagger brush. I really didn't get on with the Princeton one but the other is shorter and stiffer and I really like it!
I have a Derwent dagger brush…the only one I could find. The bristles on mine are soft and even longer than yours! I’m still not really proficient with it but I have gotten some good results, especially for leaves.
I found a nice dagger brush at hobby lobby…much shorter bristles and easier to control. I was going to order the ones you have there and decided not to because …yeah how are you gonna control the floppies! I love to paint braided ropes with my dagger brush
New brushes are exciting and I did love the way leaves were turning out. I’m still learning about supplies and don’t want to over buy, I will try that brush, thanks for always being upright about supplies! Karen Dirmish
Here's what I found and yes I'm still struggling with this brush. You have to mix the paint up beforehand. I use a slightly damp brush and lay it on its side to soak up paint. The lightest touch you can use is the best. Hot pressed paper works far better. I do like it for thin lines far better than a rigger.
I think you need to get a stiffer dagger. I have a soft one and I had problems with it but the stiffer one is so much better. If you watch videos on the dagger brush you can see them double-loaded and make beautiful flowers. Your dagger looks like a better dagger than that soft one.
It’s so different seeing you struggle with a paint brush 😂 you still created such a beautiful end project. Awesome job! You are so talented! Thanks for sharing!
look at clarices flowers. she does it beautifully with her mops. very loose florals. it is different, but it can have a lovely effect, do not cut them, with your talent you will figure it out.
I just got a much shorter /narrower dagger (1/4 Taklon Dagger) and it is totally excellent. I would love to see you try again with a smaller brush. They really do live up to the hype.
Dagger brushes were originally designed for pin striping. Making long thin lines usually with enamel. They hold a lot of paint. I'm not sure what a dagger brush like the one you used is good for in watercolor. I have seen dagger brushes that are shaped better for watercolor. Not as long and more like just an angled brush.
It's like you're trying to paint a big wash with a rigor brush. The dagger is great because it's not controllable. It's for natural random marks. Tree branches and grasses. It's not for the same thing as a round!
Thank you for that video! I was In search of a dagger and all I could find were the Neptune ones as well. I got them and immediately felt I got ripped off. But yes, not my fave but did find that they did make some pretty cool long ribbon-y tendrils and leaves ❤
I took a skillshare course with Robert Joyner and he recommended these exact brushes. If you google his work you will see how very loosely he paints. I think the style of floral you are known for requires more control. But that's ok. That's why they make so many different brushes. By the way though, the flowers you made with them I thought were terrific. Glad you ended up liking them in the end though.
I got one last year in a Sketchbox and it frustrated me too. It was kinda nice for leaves but still frustrating. I like the idea of cutting the bristles and making it a stippling brush LOL!
I´m thinking if you use them more often you will like them a lot because with these spezial brushes is so much more possible in the easiest way if you know how to use them in the right way ... I have a simular sword brush - not so long and fluffy - but also very interesting ... I like to practice with this angled sword brush and I like the effects that I can create with this thing in the easiest way. finest lines or washes with more then one color are also possible with the brush that I have.
I had the same experience. Ugh! So frustrating! I love your brushes, but I bought Karen Rice's brush set for the dagger and love it! It's firm and bounces back.
Try a taklon dagger or sword, they are less floppy. Also, the really long swords are mostly used for stripes or lines. I think it would be really hard to do florals. Landscapes, especially loose abstract landscapes are fun with this brush type.
Thank you for showing us that you have reservations too. My dagger is more like the one you said was the craftsmo and even though there was a learning curve….really big one for this beginner, I feel like it is easier to use than the soft, floppy one. But, I did not realize there were different styles so I’m excited to give it a try. Which one will yours be like and which monthly kit will it be in? Can’t wait!
This video is very timely for me. Today I received my 3/8 Princeton Dagger brush. (Actually I received a dozen brushes because of Amazon's mistake!) Anyway, I haven't tried it yet, so your video was very helpful. Thanks!
A comment: my first dagger was one of those - very soft and floppy and bushy. I'd heard about the dagger from Liz Steel who L uses it as an every day. I hate the floppiness. Like you, I didn't practice with it. Also, in really new to painting. Ironically my dad, who was a professional watercolorist, didn't have one in his large brush collection. I prefer a former brush. One thing might be to reach out to Princeton, and to Liz. They might be able to offer some tips. Also, Google some questions.
Lol - happy to hear how you feel about the daggers - I bought 2 Princeton Neptune daggers & I DO NOT LIKE THEM (Sam I am). I have several of the Neptune rounds that I do love & use a lot. Daggers? WHY?? Haven’t tried any other daggers & don’t think I will - gonna stay stuck & leave well enough alone. Enjoyed watching you use them tho - thank you for sharing 💁
I have never seen a dagger brush like this before, mine is long and thin and makes amazing stems and edge details as in shadow effects x Thank you for the tutorial though Emma xx
Which one do you have? I have a quarter inch Princeton Neptune dagger, and it's not long, loose and floppy like these. I'm thinking of a casaneo dagger next.
HAHAHAHA! Me too, it was the only dagger I could find! 😂 I have been watching Kristy Rice’s video and was like « oh that half inch dagger seems so marvelous! » little did I know not all half inch daggers are made equal 😅 What a shock how it is so floppity-flop… but I gotta admit, even though it’s unwieldy, it makes wonderful strokes once you get the hang of it! And inspired me to try out the Snap! Angle shader 1/4". I’ve figured out how to make loose ears of wheat with it for my loose floral bouquets.
You do well with anything you use Emma. Maybe you just need a smaller dagger brush. Kristy Rice has a small dagger brush that works well. I'm sure you would love it. Regardless, your work is beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
Craftamo makes an excellent dagger brush with one of the box sets. The lady’s last name is Weirich I think. I bought hers as well as your brushes. It’s great!
