Raphael : Kolinsky Red Sable Brush : series 8404, size 3

Brilliant brushes. Really nice and fat belly but with one of the sharpest points you can get. This can easily be used equally as well for applying base coats and painting fine details. I have absolutely hammered this brush for weeks and the point is still as sharp as when it was new. 11/10

A nice brush which helps with consistency in your painting techniques.This brush does not magically make you a better painter!It helps with smooth application of paint in straight pulls and flicks of the brush tip. If you are not painting in a consistent way with a synthetic brush and find yourself stabbing paint onto your model then change the way you paint before buying these much more expensive brushes.These brushes only help with smooth application they don't magically make you do it to start with!

Arrived safely I’ve used it a couple of times, I am a little bit doubtful as to it being genuine sable as the tip is curving over already

Perfect little brush 😍

Dieser Pinsel ist sehr gut verarbeitet und formstabil. Für die meisten Arbeiten an Tabletop-Miniaturen sehr gut zu gebrauchen, da das Echthaar Acrylfarbe gut aufnimmt und punktgenaues Arbeiten ermöglicht. Bei sorgfältiger Reinigung ist der Pinsel über sehr lange Zeit nutzbar.

I'm a watercolor artist and have three of these brushes in sizes 3, 4, and 8. They are very high-quality brushes. The 8 is really good for large washes and holds SO much water. The 3 is my go-to brush for pretty much everything. These are larger than most other round brushes I've used. The size 3 is closer to a size 4 from other brands I've used, and the 8 is more like a 10. I admit, I'm not as gentle with these as I probably should be. After many uses on the highly textured cold press paper I use, the tips have lost their super pointy-ness, but that doesn't bother me too much, and I know I'm partly to blame for the way I man-handle them :) They're still excellent brushes that I get a lot of use from. They don't fray at all like synthetic brushes. Very well-made brushes that will last for years, even with heavy use. Highly recommend for watercolor artists to have in their collection.

I have used other cheaper sable brushes, and tried quite a large number of "sable Synthetics". While some of these were pretty good, it is hard to compare to this one. I use it mainly for inking and it can pull a line as thin as any nib and yet go to a full quarter inch in diameter even when help vertically. It is flexible and can be used for lettering and yet it still retains enough spring to cross hatch, and it holds more ink than any brush of this size I have tried. This is the first one I try, and I have heard that even premium brushes like this one have a variance in hair quality, but this is unquestionably the best inking brush I have ever used.

I'm a big fan of the Raphael brushes as an alternative to Winsor and Newton. They are larger in terms of size, so that a 3 in the 8404 is more like a 4 in W+N (English) sizing. Body is nicely laquered with a very classy ferrule. I have size 3 and 4 only, and they carry a great deal of ink/paint while maintaining a firm tip. They handle differently from a W+N Series 7, but the line quality is good and the brush will last a long time with maintenance. The main problem these days is finding them.