They come in several sizes and brush tips (round / flat).
Because I didn't use them to sketch much, I thought it would be a great idea to fill it with water that had veridian green hue in it, to sorta use like a ink brush. That worked for a few months, but one day I realised I was scrubbing my brush, not getting any fluid out and possibly damaging the bristles with the dry scrubbing. After looking online, it turns out that these brushes are great as WATER brushes only. With anything else, ink, watercolor, paint, they seem to clog up. I took the brush apart and rinsed off the filter and tried not to lose any small bits down the sink. Voila, it worked again! As a waterbrush should. I tried it a few times and liked the graduation of colour effect I was getting.
Then I packed it up and went on a 10 day trip to Myanmar.
The customs officer asked me suspiciously what it was used for. I was surprised he didn't mention the little oil mixers, but maybe those just looked like oversized contact lens cases.
It was very convenient to use the waterbrush. Holding colour was fine, mixing was fine, the point was fine.
There are a few tricks to remember with this brush:
-keep a tissue or towel nearby to mop excess paint off before you rinse.
-make the gradual diluting of pigment work for you -I try and remember to paint the darkest or more intense areas first.
I do prefer a normal brush to swish around a cup. But this waterbrush is certainly useful and ingenious. There are many different brands available. The popular ones appear to be Sakura Koi ones and Pentel Aquash.
There are different water-release mechanisms: generally squeeze reservoir, but some push-button like a mechanical pencil.
I saw recently they had waterbrushes that dismantle into two pieces for even greater portability, but have not yet desired that enough to buy yet.
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