da Vinci Watercolor Series 1311 Maestro Paint Brush, One Stroke Flat Kolinsky Red Sable, Size 8 (1311-08)

I have moved on from Windsor and Newton Series 7 brushes after they clearly let their standards go. After hearing from some reviews of the DaVinci Maestro 35, I decided to give it a chance. These are expensive brushes for what they are, and though just a bit better than their competitor, I find the brushes came with plenty of frayed hairs and a poorly shaped tip. I'm back on the quest for a quality Sable brush.

I bought two Round 10 Size 2 brushes. One arrived with a protective cap, the other didn't. The uncapped brush fortunately only had one hair that was bent out of shape.I was able to use that brush today to paint some 28mm statues. I also had my current favorite brush to help with two brush blending (the Da Vinci Student Series 373, also Round Size 2). The Maestro lived up to its name, and the student needs a lot more education. The Maestro bulged beautifully, almost precisely in the middle between the ferrule and the needle-sharp tip. To achieve that tip only a slight rolling of the brush was required as I pulled it through a puddle of thinned acrylic.Laying down large swaths of color was, as one would expect from any brush, easy. The brush held so much paint I started to question whether I was blanking on the moments when I reloaded; but no! This brush simply holds a lot of paint.The test came when I needed to paint the statue's eyes, and paint the 1mm wide sash. I could not have asked for better precision. The tip was so pointed I had to make actual brush strokes to lay paint on the eye. I was able to paint in the very narrow crevice between the figure's folded clothing and the belt, without any of the paint brushing onto the clothes.Then came two brush blending. The Student, while a very nice brush and my favorite of the low-cost options, felt like a toothbrush in comparison to the Maestro. The Student's bristles were hard, and pushed back against my hand where the Maestro's bristles are impossibly soft, yield to the pressure and snap back to a point. The Student's tip felt like I was using an old sharpie compared to the fine drafting pen of the Maestro. A new frustration arose when I had to reload the Student at least twice for each time I loaded the Maestro.Currently the Maestro is twice as expensive as the Student, but is definitely more than twice the brush. If this lasts as long as a Student I will be ecstatic.

Absolutely beautiful brush.Thankfully it came packed in it's own box,which enabled it to withstand the "amazon" packing treatment.Those of you who order frequently high end and fragile items know what I mean!It was the only item out of the 3 brushes I ordered in the packing box that was not damaged!The size 16 maestro kolinsky filbert had a broken/shattered handle IN a sealed bag (was certainly shipped in that condition!) and the size 18 maestro kolinsky filbert has completely mis-shapen hair fibers from being packed tightly in a bag with no protection to the brush head(the entire brush head tilts at 30 degrees and hopefully I can get it back)!No packing slip was enclosed.This brush was the happy exception to that order,not only did it come in it's own cardboard box but also contained a piece of lint free wiping cloth and a small bar of da vinci brush soap (about the size of a hotel courtesy bar).That makes it a nice package.The box is not high-end like the winsor newton series 7 larger sizes,it is simple cardboard,but the addition of the lint free cloth and the quality brush soap make it a nice combo,perfect for a special gift for the artist in your life,or yourself!That pleasure notwithstanding, the severe and escalating product damage which has now culminated in receiving a completely destroyed very expensive paintbrush forces me to now shop elsewhere for my artist material needs.It is no longer worth it! And at least other art supply retailers will replace a defective/damaged item no questions asked and without the pain and hassle of returning and receiving the damaged one back first. Also,with other retailers the incidence of damage is far less common,but when it happens,they make it right-right away!You don't even get a human pulse with amazon and the consumer has to do all the leg work.I will continue my prime membership for inexpensive,durable household needs only. Ironically,those items are always well packed and protected and never arrive damaged.Never again for expensive or fragile items,regardless of the lure of the %off deal.Totally unacceptable!

I am very disappointed with this brush. I have purchased daVinci sable watercolor color round brushes before and was very pleased with them, so I decided to buy a set of the flat brushes. After only 3 uses, the #6 brush bristles have already separated. I am thinking of returning this brush! For almost $20.00, it should not be doing this.

j'aime bien il est de qualité

Carries way too much water that you have to dab a lot on your tissue to be able to make precise work (wastes a lot of your paint). It doesn't have a naturally occuring point for line work and so you have to shape it yourself everytime and it ends up shaping differently everytime. I feel really taken for all the hype around this brand and here goes 100$ for nothing special, I'm pretty sad about it.

Great for fine details, but still overpriced.

Using a size 1 to paint some w40k space marines, beauty of a brush, comes to a very nice point once it takes on some paint, and the extra bristle length makes it easier to hold paint on the tip and belly without gunking up the ferrule. It handles great and I find it precise enough to do fine detail work as well as blocking in colors, though I use my big cheap brushes for bulk work.I will ammend this review if I find its durability lacking.

Très bon pinceau