The best acrylic paintbrushes are the perfect choice for painting with acrylics paints. Acrylics are generally more affordable than oil paints, dry quickly allowing for faster work and layers, and offer vibrant colours that maintain their intensity when dry. But you can’t just use any old brush to work with this type of paint. Instead, you’ll want sturdy, versatile brushes that are easy to maintain.
I’ve gathered together the very best acrylic paintbrushes available today below, based on my rigorous testing. I’ve got hands-on with a wide range of brushes and paints, and employed them in a variety of painting techniques, to evaluate each brush’s performance, durability and versatility. This has helped me curate a list that includes the top choices for both pros and beginners.
The best acrylic paintbrushes
Quality: professional
Firmness: very firm
I find these excellent synthetic substitutes for hog hair to be very springy and much firmer than others while not as scratchy as hog. They feel smoother laying down paint. These are likely to leave brushstrokes, making them the best acrylic brushes for a textured approach, and they’re robust enough to handle heavy paint and mediums and expressive brushwork.
02. Winsor & Newton Monarch
Quality: professional
Firmness: quite soft
These synthetic brushes do a good job of emulating mongoose hair. They have a little extra firmness, which helps push thicker paint around, but they’re still quite soft. The bristles are tightly packed, holding their shape well, which results in a nice, crisp edge. I find these to be the best acrylic paintbrushes for responsive blending and detail work.
Quality: intermediate
Firmness: medium
This solid, mid-range brush is a little firmer than most but soft enough to blend well. They have a smooth feel, rather than springy and don’t leave much of a stroke. The tip comes to a fine point and holds its shape. They’re also surprisingly good at holding paint, which combined with the long handles, helps to pull longer strokes with precision.
04. Royal and Langnickel Majestic Brushes
Quality: intermediate-professional
Firmness: medium
Though aimed at watercolourists, these are robust enough as paintbrushes for acrylic paint. They’re a little firmer than most synthetic brushes, but still flexible and come to a fine point – excellent for adding fine details. For their price, this range runs a little on the small side, but they’re quite hardwearing, and the large sizes hold their shape especially well.
Quality: student
Firmness: quite soft
These have a more professional feel than most student acrylic brushes. They have a long handle – useful for more expressive mark-making and the bristles are quite soft for a smooth application of paint. This makes them less suitable for use for textural work with very thick paint or mediums. Over time they can start to lose shape.
06. Royal Langnickel soft grip brushes
Quality: student
Firmness: quite soft
These brushes are a great cheap-and-cheerful option for anyone starting. A decent choice for clean strokes, the bristles are quite soft, and the soft grip is comfortable to hold. Whilst they don’t hold as much paint as other brands, they typically come back to a decent point after cleaning, and they’re flexible enough to feel quite responsive.