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I rarely buy new watercolor brushes. I already have way too many and take good care of them, so they last a very long time. But sometimes a new watercolor brush comes along that piques my interest. Casaneo from Da Vinci is such a brush. Several of my students have one, and they are very happy with it. The Internet is full of flattering reviews of Casaneo. I simply had to test the brush myself to find out if it is as good as everyone says.

The brush is available in several different designs, there are round ones that are extra long, round with French binding, round with English binding, Sword-shaped regular brushes as well as real sword stripers. There are several different flat watercolor brushes and also oval ones. There are riggers and travel brushes of the French and English type as well as sword-shaped. There are Mottlers and liner brushes. All these brush types are available in a lot of different sizes. The range of different brushes is gigantic, it is clear that Casaneo is a watercolor brush that the manufacturer invests a lot in, it is a brush that they really believe in.

I bought four brushes, all round because those are the brushes I use the most. Two with English binding (series 5598), sizes 4 and 16. I also bought two with French binding (series 498), one in size 0 and one in size 2. So a pretty reasonable set, one small, two medium and one large brush. Smaller than size 4 of English type and larger than 16 is, in my opinion, unnecessary.

The brush is marketed as synthetic squirrel, a description which really only means that the bristles are black, if they had been orange-brown, with the same characteristics otherwise, the description would probably have been synthetic Kolinsky (sable). With this description it follows that the brush should hold a lot of liquid, and it really does. Casaneo has a great ability to hold a lot of color and to deliver it to the paper with a reasonably even flow. I tested this ability by comparing four different brushes of roughly the same size:

• Casaneo series 498 size 0
• Soft Aqua by Raphael size 0 (also describe as synthetic squirrel)
• da Vinci Maestro size 8. (genuine sable of the highest quality)
• da Vinci Petit Gris Pur size 0 (a real squirrel of the highest quality)

Although three of the brushes are listed as the same size, they are not the same size. The largest are Maestro and Soft Aqua, Casaneo is slightly smaller and the smallest is Petit Gris. Therefore, the test is a bit misleading, but it still gives an indication of the quality of the brushes. The test is carried out with only one dip of the brush in paint, then it is washed flat (on tilted paper) on a defined surface until the paint in the brush has run out.

Casaneo and Maestro deliver the most even color surface, these two hold approximately the same amount of liquid, but Maestro is significantly larger than Casaneo. Soft Aqua holds the most liquid of all but gives an uneven delivery of color, especially at the end when the color starts to run out. Petit Gris delivers the worst results, but it is also the smallest of all the brushes.

In summary, it can be stated that Casaneo holds a lot of liquid, in a class with the best, while it delivers the color evenly and nicely over the paper.

One way to test how well a brush delivers the color is with a long line with different pressures. By varying the pressure of the brush, you get an indication of how evenly a brush gives off the color at different brush pressures. The ideal is the same amount of color regardless of pressure, i.e. the same color across the entire line.

Da Vinci Maestro is the best at this, it gives approximately the same color along the entire surface. The Da Vinci Petit Gris Pur is next as good as the Maestro, so the two natural hair brushes win this challenge easily. Petit Gris is a little more generous with color at the beginning of the brush stroke.

The two synthetic brushes are significantly worse, both give a lot of color at the beginning and less at the end. Both brushes leave a lot of color at maximum pressure and only a little at light pressure.

But testing brushes with different challenges gives only a superficial description of a brush. The real test is how well they work when you paint with them. Just like with watercolor paints and watercolor paper, I think you have to challenge the material in paintings to form an idea of its qualities and shortcomings. I have painted several paintings in different styles and sizes with Casaneo brushes. Here follows my assessment of the brushes.

The ability to hold a lot of liquid, and its tip and reasonable elasticity, make the Casaneo a very good brush. They are slightly softer than Raphael Soft Aqua and Escoda Ultimo, two other brushes that claim the synthetic squirrel description. These two are stiffer and have slightly coarser hair which gives them a certain straggly. Casaneo is more flexible and gives a smoother brush stroke.

A surprising feature I discovered while painting with them is that they are easy to rinse out. So it is easy to get rid of color when you rinse it in water. The brush holds and delivers color very well, and it’s easy to rinse off in water.

The brushes have a very fine tip. It is easy to paint details even with fairly large brushes. Maybe I would like the tip to be a bit more of the traditional type, like a smooth arc instead of the violently tapered one. I find it easier to handle that type of tip.

All Casaneo brushes are a little small in size. If you are sensitive to this, keep in mind that a certain size in Casaneo is probably smaller than the same size of your favorite brush. The brushes are also heavily glued on delivery. It takes a long time and a lot of persuasion to get rid of all the glue in the brush hairs. Be careful not to break any hairs, that’s easy to happen with so much glue.

Casaneo brushes are perhaps the best synthetic brushes I’ve tried. I can warmly recommend them to all watercolor painters. The price of the brushes is in the middle price range, there are cheaper synthetic brushes, but also more expensive ones. Compared to natural hair brushes, they are significantly cheaper, and if you were to buy a natural hair brush with a similar price, they are not good. I am particularly impressed by the smaller Casaneo brushes, it is easy to paint fluently with them and it is also easy to form a nice tip.