da Vinci Watercolor Series 5598 Casaneo Paint Brush, Round New Wave Synthetics, Size 4

Great mop brush. Keeps a nice tip and loss of water for washes. Could be used as a single brush. This one is much better than my Raphael #2 softaqua. Buy it you’ll love it!

I purchased early in learning to watercolor, and while it wasn’t what I had hoped, I wasn’t sure if this was “normal” for this brush, so I didn’t return. I assumed this was my poor technique. After learning a little more, and trying some other brushes (including the fabulous “Raven” quill brush from Jackson’s Art, which cost 1/4 the price of this Casaneo), I realize this is not how a quill faux squirrel brush should behave. They should come to a point that is at least semi-sharp when wet. Dry, many great quill brushes do not point at all, but this can be normal.I included a photo of several other watercolor rounds and quill brushes (dry, I didn’t have wet photo when doing the review), and you can see that, even dry, all these brushes have a nicer point than my Casaneo. Wet, all the others come to beautiful points, and the Raven holds an equal amount of water as the Casaneo does. The Princeton Neptune has a similar water capacity, and a slightly better point (although it is still less “sharp” than other faux squirrel brushes in the comparison photo). The sharpest pointed, snappiest brushes hold less than after than the Casaneo, Raven, or Princeton Neptune. I believe this is fairly typical. The Princeton Neptune in the photo looks scraggly, but this is just the dry brush fibers catching on the paper towel. The brush works beautifully, and is in perfect condition.I contacted Da Vinci to see if this was a typical, normal condition for their brushes, and was asked to send photos, both wet and dry. Those are the same photos in my review. They replied that they could not determine if the brush was defective or if this was the normal/expected performance, and I would need to ship the brush to them to determine. The least expensive shipping to Germany from the U.S.A was nearly the price of the brush, so I decided not to send it in. The customer service rep was very pleasant, and while I don’t believe that the company should be obligated to replace or fix a problem without being sure that the fault is theirs, this is still not what I consider fantastic customer service. I have mixed feelings about this, because I realize that there are a lot of people that abuse return and warranty policies, but at the same time, watercolor brushes can be fairly expensive, and the result for someone like me (who most likely purchased a defective brush) is that I will be MUCH less likely to purchase from the company in the future. The CSR did say that the Casaneo quills should keep their tip, but I probably won’t put my hobby budget on a DaVinci brush in the future.. If it is a quality control issue, I would expect most companies to replace a barely used brush that is relatively expensive. If I had not found the Jackson’s Raven, I might consider purchasing a Da Vinci quill from Blick, which has really great customer service (I would be confident that I could exchange or return if there was an issue). If the Princeton Neptune made a tiny quill, I would definitely get one of those, also.…as an aside, when I contacted Princeton with a question about one of their budget brushes, I received a response from “Howard”, who I believe is the owner, within less than 24 hours. My question was not a concern/complaint, and would have theoretically only resulted in a <$10 purchase, so the response speaks highly to their overall approach to customer service. It also affected my future purchases: I have since spent $150-$250 dollars on Princeton Aqua Elite brushes, which is their best quality synthetic watercolor brush line. I try to support companies that I have a good experience with, and I felt comfortable making the investment that if there was an issue, Princeton would be there to support their products. Thankfully, all the brushes from Princeton have been just what I was expecting. I’m planning to purchase more Neptunes as well, as I learn better water control.I suspect that my Casaneo quill was defective (based on photos of others), but I don’t like to return items if I think it’s my user error or poor choice, so I will be reluctant to try Da Vinci brushes in the future, in spite of hearing relatively positive things about their brushes.Hopefully my experience will help anyone with their decision.

Love these brushes!

It is a beautiful and super soft brush, great for watercolor. Got sent the size 8 at first but returned it without problems for the correct size I ordered.Fits in the hand comfortably.Value for money is fairly comparable.Holds a wonderful amount of water and paint.I've used it now a few times. Really wanted a larger round brush for various work and took a chance on this brush. My only complaint is the tip. When dry, really fluffs out as expected, most round brushes don't always keep their pointed shape when dry. However, it spreads out just a tad too much when using it wet on the paper (with just the slightest bit of pressure too). I suppose I could just have a heavy hand... or I could have ordered the wrong series brush too for my needs, which is quite possible. But oh well. It's a nice, synthetic brush, so I'll keep it and find a use for it.I didn't want a quill, have enough of those, just wanted a nicely tipped larger round that'll keep a point when wet.I gave it 4 stars as it's still a beautiful brush and I'll just keep trying to paint with it to get used to it.

I painted with this today and was very disappointed with the performance of this brush. I am considering returning it but since returns are no longer free from UPS on Amazon unless you go to a UPS store and I already paid to return a gift that was thoughtful but not something I would ever use in painting portraits, I hesitate to do it again. Just thought I would warn other da Vinci brush users that they may not get what they are expecting.Update: although there is absolutely no point to this brush, it does do an excellent job for wet on wet applications and, because of its softness, it makes an excellent tool for lifting out color as long as it is not to fine an area. You need a point for that!

This has become the brush I am reaching for the most. Love that it holds so much paint and retains that tip! Wonderful tool and so well worth the price. I'll be purchasing more over time. Thank you!

Nice soft brush. It holds a lot of paint and water. Very expressive!

Great brush. Holds a ton of paint and water. It blends the paint perfectly on paper. Has a nice sharp point. This is my first quill brush and I’m still learning exactly how it’s used but so far I’m really enjoying it.UPDATE: so it’s been awhile since I’ve bought this brush. I’ve learned a lot and this brush is my #1 favorite!! The number #2 quill is perfect for my fondness of painting on a smaller scale. I also have the size 0 and these two brushes are my go to’s. The paint has chipped from below the ferrule but in my opinion it gives the brush character. The bristles of the brush still perform perfectly well. I’ve certainly gotten my money from these brushes and wouldn’t hesitate to buy them again if ever needed.

PIncel fantástico; traços finos com a ponta e variações de espessura quando deitado. Recomendo!

O pincel é bem macio, puxa muita água e pigmento. Pinceladas bem consistentes e é de fácil controle.O vendedor é muito cuidadoso c o envio. Recomendo.

Ein Traum von einem Pinsel, sehr empfehlenswert

Me parecía que era más fino en su pelo, porqué era para delinear trazos muy finos, no deja de ser bueno, en la foto me parecía con menos pelo.

ダヴィンチ筆の大きなのが大変良かったのでもっと小さいのが欲しくで注文した。手元に届くまで何ヶ月もかかった。それはまだ良いとして、肝心な筆が二つに割れて使い物にならない。どうしてこんな筆ができてしまったのか、残念。追記　しばらく使っていると大丈夫になりました！