IKEA måla – Brush set
På SvenskaIKEA has a series of brushes included in a product line for children’s creative activities called “Måla.” The brushes are sold in a set of six—three flat and three round brushes. They are made with white synthetic bristles and have short, lacquered wooden handles in a natural wood color.
The brushes are not marked with sizes, but an estimate suggests the flat brushes correspond roughly to sizes 8, 14, and 20, while the round brushes are approximately sizes 6, 10, and 16. The flat brushes have slightly longer bristles than standard watercolor brushes, whereas the round ones are slightly shorter than typical brushes.
The price for these six brushes is $3.9, which translates to about 70 cents per brush—a remarkably low price for brushes that are actually functional. I have tried them for some paintings and found them to be quite pleasant to use. The handles are a bit short, which makes sense since they are intended for children with small hands. I particularly appreciate the short bristles of the round brushes, which allow for a certain level of precision, making it possible to paint relatively accurately with them.
Of course, an inexpensive synthetic brush with extra-short bristles cannot hold much liquid, so the round brushes should not be used for large washes. However, with frequent dips into paint, they work surprisingly well.
Even the largest round brush can be shaped into a reasonably fine point, allowing for small details to be painted, though precision is not their strongest suit.
Scumbling (dry brush) works exceptionally well with the round brushes. So well, in fact, that it might be worth buying the set just for this purpose. The fact that they hold only a small amount of liquid is good for this technique. While you need to reload paint frequently, the brushes deliver a manageable amount of color to the paper, yielding excellent results.
The painting shown here was created using the largest and smallest round brushes. I found these affordable IKEA brushes surprisingly effective. A fluidly painted sky with beautiful granulation, fine details in tree trunks and branches, and even the narrow telephone wire were manageable. The scumbling on the road and fields also worked very well.
One participant in my watercolor courses has used these brushes far longer than I have. He mentioned that they wear out relatively quickly and gradually lose their effectiveness. I can’t confirm this, as I have only tested them for a short period. If true, this could be considered a drawback when evaluating the brushes.
The flat brushes are reasonably precise but hold only a small amount of paint. The video below demonstrates how they perform on an area about a decimeter wide. The largest flat brush can almost deliver paint across the entire length of a stroke, but not more. It works very well for the scumbling shown below. The smallest flat brush, despite being loaded with paint, couldn’t cover a full decimeter. It was also poor for dry brush. Both brushes deliver paint unevenly.
Summary
The brushes from IKEA are fun to use and actually work well. They are incredibly affordable. The round brushes are particularly useful, even for experienced watercolorists (or perhaps especially for those with experience). While they may not be ideal for large washes, they work well for smaller, fluidly painted areas and are pleasant for details, even though they lack true precision.
I don’t like the flat brushes as much. The smallest one is mostly useless, while the two larger ones are too thick to be effective watercolor brushes. However, they might be useful for creating grass-like textures, as they work well for that.
Next time you’re at IKEA, why not pick up a set? They’re inexpensive and enjoyable. If you manage to create something impressive with them, you can always brag about painting with cheap brushes designed for kids from IKEA.
