Choosing Your Opus Watercolour Brushes: An Opus Guide

Opus Resource Library

Choosing Your Opus Watercolour Brushes

Opus Watercolour Brushes are designed for all artists, from avid watercolourists to water media newbies. We've created this guide to help you choose your next Opus Watercolour Brushes.

Our Product Philosophy - Opus Watercolour Brushes

Here at Opus, we have sourced an array of products that we have produced under our name. Our goal is to provide artist-grade paints, tools, surfaces, frames, and more, with an excellent balance of performance and value.

We want your Opus Watercolour Brushes to be the ones you reach for first, the brushes you choose to work on important pieces.

Choosing Opus Watercolour Brushes

Our Opus Watercolour Brushes consist of the Allegro and Galiano brush lines. Both lines are available in Round and Flat brush shapes. The Galiano line includes a Quill brush option as well.

Both of our watercolour brush lines are made with synthetic, animal-free fibres. The Allegro is designed to match a sable bristle, whereas the Galiano is designed to match squirrel.

Read on for our friendly starting suggestions. Adapt your tool selection as you gain experience and expand your art practice. Before you know it, you'll have built your very own specialized custom brush set!

Opus Allegro Watercolour Brushes

Opus Allegro is one of our oldest brush lines, a staple since its introduction.

These synthetic sable brushes have a gentle stiffness, resulting in a reliably snappy brush that holds a nice point. You'll appreciate these characteristics for precise, consistent mark-making. Allegro Brushes hold plenty of water and paint for beautiful strokes.

If you're unsure what you're looking for in a watercolour brush, this is a great place to start.

Painting with an Opus Allegro Brush

Opus Galiano Watercolour Brushes

The younger sibling of our watercolour family! Our Opus Galiano Brushes have recognizably bright turquoise handles.

The Galiano Brushes are designed to match characteristics of squirrel brushes. This means that they are very soft brushes that hold A LOT of water and paint. By applying gentle pressure, you can spread the brush and get wider coverage.

You'll enjoy Galiano brushes if you like a more pliable brush or if you want to deliver plenty of fluid colour.

Opus Bravura Mixed Media Brushes

Bravura are short handled soft brushes, designed for mixed media applications. While Bravura are technically not Opus Watercolour Brushes, they are popular amongst watercolourists regardless!

These soft brushes come in more shape options than Allegro and Galiano: Flat, Round, Angle, Oval Wash, and Script.

Bravura brushes are great if you want to work in watercolours and paints like gouache, fluid acrylics, or inks.

How to assemble a set of brushes

How do you assemble a set of Opus watercolour brushes?

We asked our staff for some guidance, and they brought us what they would choose for a set. Starting out, anywhere between 2-5 brushes would give you a great foundation for the majority of watercolour painting.

Also, consider what format of painting you're going to be doing. You'll probably have a better time working in a watercolour sketchbook with smaller brushes.

If you have some brushes already, try filling in the gaps for what you don't have yet. For example, if it takes you too long to get the coverage you need, try a larger flat brush.

Cat's Watercolour Brush Set

Opus Staff Watercolour Brush Picks from Cat

Opus Allegro Round 18
Opus Galiano Flat 1"
Opus Galiano Quill 4
Opus Allegro Round 6

Opus Staff Cat chose 4 Opus Watercolour Brushes, two each of Allegro & Galiano.

These brushes are great for some slightly larger paintings, but still retain some precision.

The Allegro Round 18 is a great option for working a bit bigger. It still holds a fine tip, so it can be used for some detail.

The Galiano Flat 1" is a nice, wide brush which can hold plenty of water for juicy wash layers.

The Galiano Quill 4 is such a pretty brush!! The soft bristles can create some great soft textures, and the quill shape holds a lot of water for maximum paint capacity.

Lastly, the Allegro Round 6 brush is great for some finer work, with its precise tip and nice shape retention.

Kris' Watercolour Brush Set

Opus Staff Watercolour Brush Picks from Kris

Opus Bravura Script 2/0
Opus Bravura Angle 1/2"
Opus Galiano Flat 1/4"
Opus Allegro Round 6
Opus Galiano Quill 2

Opus Staff Kris chose 5 brushes from our Bravura, Galiano, and Allegro lines.

Kris likes to work a little smaller, so this selection would be a great starting point for smaller-scale work with intricate and fine detail.

First, the Bravura Script 2/0 - a long brush great for fine lines and effects. You won't find the script shape in our other brush lines, so pick up a Bravura if you're looking for Script Brushes.

The second brush is another Bravura, this time a Bravura Angle 1/2" brush. It's a useful wider brush for washes, and offers some extra versatility with the angle in terms of creating fine marks by turning it on it's edge.

The Galiano Flat 1/4" is Kris' favourite of the lot. It's a small, precise brush with short bristles. You'll get a lot of control out of this brush for nice line work.

The Allegro Round 6 brush shows up again. This is the workhorse, all-rounder of the set. Allegro Brushes are sturdy brushes that will last you a while, and are pleasantly snappy.

The Galiano Quill 2 brush adds some nice water carrying capacity to this set. It's a juicy brush that compliments the smaller, fine brushes in this set.

Get painting with Opus Watercolour Brushes!

We hope our guide has helped you in choosing your next Opus Watercolour Brushes. If you haven't already considered it, try mixing and matching! Pick brushes from the two lines to create your own customized watercolour brush set.