A Brush with Purpose: Understanding Paintbrush Shapes and the Marks They Make

Whether you're a beginner building your toolkit or an experienced painter refining your technique, knowing what each paintbrush shape does can dramatically improve your control, texture, and efficiency. Different brush shapes offer different kinds of marks, and understanding their purposes helps you express your ideas more confidently. Here’s a guide to eleven essential paintbrush shapes and how each supports the creative process.

Best for: bold strokes, filling wide areas, straight edges

A flat brush features long, rectangular bristles with a squared-off tip. It holds a generous amount of paint, making it ideal for covering large surfaces or laying down even washes. The chiseled edge allows for sharp lines, and when turned on its side, it can also create finer lines. Flat brushes are versatile workhorses in any painter’s kit and are commonly used in both acrylic and oil painting.

Try it for:

• Blocking in large shapes
  
  

• Painting backgrounds
  
  

• Creating architectural edges and strong horizontal or vertical lines

Best for: soft blending, organic shapes, versatile stroke work

Filberts combine the width of a flat brush with a rounded tip, giving artists the best of both worlds. The curved edges create softer lines and more nuanced blending, making this brush shape a favorite for painting natural forms like leaves, petals, faces, and clouds. It's a great all-purpose brush when you want a more fluid, less angular mark.

Try it for:

• Blending skin tones or gradients
  
  

• Painting rounded objects
  
  

• Creating expressive, varied strokes
  
  

Best for: controlled, short strokes; working thick paint

Often confused with flats, bright brushes are shorter in bristle length, which gives them a stiffer, more controlled feel. This shape is excellent for painters who want to push thick paint into the canvas or need crisp, controlled marks without as much flexibility. Ideal for impasto work and working close to the canvas surface.

Try it for:

• Scrubbing in highlights or textured layers
  
  

• Short, deliberate brushwork
  
  

• Working in small areas with precision
  
  

Best for: corners, curves, sharp edges

With bristles cut at an angle, this brush excels at creating clean lines in tight areas and around edges. The slanted shape allows you to vary the width of your stroke easily, making it a popular choice for dynamic lines, precise curves, and expressive calligraphic marks. It’s also a go-to for painters working on detail in architectural or botanical elements.

Try it for:

• Cutting in around shapes or borders
  
  

• Curved stroke work
  
  

• Stylized lettering or geometric compositions
  
  

Best for: detailed work, line variation, sketch-like marks

Round brushes have a cylindrical body that tapers to a point, offering excellent control. Depending on pressure and angle, a round brush can produce anything from thin lines to thick strokes. It’s especially useful for artists who prefer to "draw" with their brush or who want to work with fine detail, linework, or expressive outlines.

Try it for:

• Line work, details, and fine touches
  
  

• Outlining and drawing techniques
  
  

• Watercolour washes and ink-style work
  
  

Best for: blending, texture effects, special techniques

Fan brushes spread bristles in a flat, fanned-out shape, making them a great tool for creating textures that mimic natural patterns. They're not often used for traditional brush strokes, but they shine when it comes to blending or creating effects like grass, fur, or foliage. In acrylic or oil, they’re great for softening edges and creating movement; in watercolour, they’re more decorative.

Try it for:

• Blending skies or backgrounds
  
  

• Creating natural textures (grass, hair, leaves)
  
  

• Softening brushstrokes or transitions
  
  

Best for: fine lines, detail work, calligraphy

The script brush features extra-long bristles that taper to a fine point, often with a small diameter ferrule. Designed originally for painting ship rigging (hence the name "rigger"), this brush holds a good amount of fluid paint or ink, allowing it to create long, continuous lines without needing to reload frequently. It’s a go-to for artists who need delicate detail and fluid control.

Try it for:

• Line work and fine detailing
  
  

• Lettering or signatures
  
  

• Whiskers, tendrils, tree branches, or other linear accents

Best for: smooth blending, broad washes, soft textures

Mop brushes have thick, soft, rounded bristles, often made from natural hair, and are highly absorbent. They’re excellent for applying large areas of diluted paint, such as in watercolour or ink washes, while their softness makes them ideal for gentle blending and softening hard edges. Despite their size, they can be surprisingly delicate and responsive.

Try it for:

• Watercolour washes
  
  

• Blending sky or background gradients
  
  

• Softening edges or lifting pigment in watercolour

Best for: drybrush techniques, stippling, stencilling

Short, stiff, and often with a flat or rounded tip, stencil brushes are designed for one thing: control when working through stencils. Their dense bristles let you apply paint without bleeding under stencil edges, often using a pouncing or circular scrubbing motion. These brushes aren’t just for craft applications—they’re useful in fine art for adding texture or distressed effects too.

Try it for:

• Stencilling clean shapes or patterns
  
  

• Texture effects using drybrush
  
  

• Controlled layering in mixed media

Best for: covering large areas quickly and evenly

Typically wide and flat with soft bristles, wash brushes (sometimes called hake brushes when referring to the traditional Japanese style) are made for laying down even coats of water-based media. Their ability to hold large amounts of paint and water makes them perfect for background washes, varnishing, or wetting paper before painting. While not typically used for detail, they are indispensable in large-scale or preparatory stages.

Try it for:

• Backgrounds or underpaintings
  
  

• Applying water for wet-on-wet techniques
  
  

• Varnishing or sealing finished works

Best for: expressive strokes, fluid washes, calligraphic movement

Quill brushes are traditionally handcrafted with natural hair bound in a bird quill or synthetic ferrule. They have a large belly and a fine point, similar in shape to a round or mop brush but with more spring and water-carrying capacity. This makes them ideal for watercolourists and ink artists who want dynamic, flowing lines with expressive variation. The brush responds beautifully to changes in pressure, producing thick-to-thin strokes in a single gesture.

Try it for:

• Fluid, expressive line work
  
  

• Loosely painted forms or gestural marks
  
  

• Washes with character and controlled flow
  
  

Every brush shape offers its own unique kind of control, texture, and expression—making your choice of tool just as important as the colours on your palette. From the crisp precision of an angle or bright brush to the soft blending power of a mop or filbert, each shape helps translate your technique into intention. Whether you're crafting atmosphere, detailing delicate botanicals, or laying down bold, graphic strokes, having the right brush in hand can shape the direction of your artwork—literally and creatively.

Tip: Try experimenting with just one shape at a time to see the range of marks it can create. You might discover new techniques and applications just by exploring the limits of a single brush.