Princeton Neptune Paintbrush, Size 16, Dark Wood

I looked at the Neptune quill mops before looking at this brush, as I wanted a synthetic brush that could hold a lot of water and pigment, allowing for loose, expressive strokes and wet-in-wet techniques in my watercolor illustration work. The diameter of this brush head is 8.7mm and tip length is 33mm. This makes it roughly comparable in size to a size 2 quill mop brush, which is not available in this brush line (Neptune quill brushes are only available in sizes 4-8). I felt that the size 4 quill would be just a bit too large for me, since most of my work is done in small to medium sizes. This brush seemed to be the size that I needed, so I bought it, and I’m really impressed with it. The belly holds a lot of water and pigment, releasing it fairly evenly onto my paper. I can do big, loose, expressive strokes with it very easily. It is now one of my go-to brushes when I want to put a lot of pigment down on the paper or want to drag pigment with a wet brush to watch it flow from one area to another. It isn’t a quill and isn’t as versatile (which I’ll explain momentarily), but for what it does, it’s excellent.I do will point out that this brush is not really comparable to a quill mop in one major aspect, i.e, the shape of the brush head. Quill brushes have a rounder belly and more narrowly tapered tip, while this brush has a fairly balanced diameter from ferrule to tip. So, while both a quill and this large round can hold a lot of paint and disburse it smoothly, they don’t share the same versatility. With a good quality quill mop, you can get broad strokes and fine lines with the same brush. You get get a lot of stroke variety with this brush, but you will not achieve as fine of lines with it as a good quality, comparably sized quill. End of story. So, it really comes down to your needs. If you need a brush with a full belly and really fine point to do a lot of work with a single brush, you’re better off going with a quill brush. But, if you want large, expressive strokes and to wet sizable areas with a single dip of the brush, this one will do quite nicely. And, it’s pretty affordable, too!Side note: I ended up getting this brush for larger, wet areas and the Da Vinci Casaneo size 0 quill mop on Amazon (which I also love) for the versatility in strokes from a single brush. They complement each other quite nicely and give me a lot of options when I’m working more loosely, filling in large areas or working wet-in-wet.I have added a couple of my recent illustrations, where I used this brush in part of my painting process, to show its versatility. In the perfume bottle illustration, I used this brush to paint the perfume inside of the bottle using a wet-in-wet technique, dispersing near the top, then feathering it downward with the brush. In the smoothie bowl illustration, I used this brush to create the large, wet swirls around the outside edges of the bowl, using a wet-on-dry painting technique with a very wet brush. Both of these illustrations were done on a 9x12” block of Stonehenge Aqua cold-press watercolor paper (also available on Amazon). I like the performance that it delivers and would definitely buy it again.

Great quality, holds its shape, has a wonderful flow

This is a great quality brush. I use it with my watercolors. My only complaint was that the package was delivered crushed so the bristles were a little funky at first, but after submerged in water for a little bit, they bounced right back. I have many Princeton brushes in various sizes.

Holds a lot of water. Great if you understand water control. Frustrating if you don’t because it’s just like any other paintbrush. Holds its point.

I absolutely love the brush!

I like this brush but it's no different than other faux squirrel brushes I own. I'm specifically thinking of Creative Mark Mimik, the grey handled ones. For value for money you're better off getting one of the Mimik sets that offer several shapes and sizes. I lost my size 8 round Mimik so this Neptune brush rounds out my set and was much needed.This brush holds tons of water and pigment and if your brush isn't fully loaded you can get a sharp point. That said, if you're a noob or don't have a good handle on water control I would give this line a pass until you have a better grasp on water control as this brush is quite soft with very little snap or bounce. If you smoosh it to one side it will stay smooshed, it won't bounce back to the original shape. It also isn't the best for detail because of that reason, so it won't make a good "all-rounder" brush. I would think it would be hard to paint an entire piece with this one brush.That said, this is a really nice brush and I'm glad I bought it. The build quality is excellent and it will last forever if you take good care of it.If I didn't already own a set of the Mimik Squirrel (grey handled) I would definitely buy more round Neptunes. I do think I'll purchase a couple of their Aquarelle flats in 3/4 inch and 1 inch to complete my set of synthetic squirrel brushes.This brush looks pretty and feels good in the hand, better than my Mimiks. It's well balanced and easy to hold no matter if you're close to the ferrule or back on the handle. This is a great little brush!

Doesn’t get much better than the Princeton brushes, they are priced right, the more expensive Princeton series are worth every penny. Generally they have fine tips, are resilient and hold water well. This series is great for beginners which I purchased as a gift.

This brush holds an incredible amount of water. I did a test on it to see how long of a line I could get out of it and for 1/4” wide line, I painted for 36”! The only thing about it is that it is not quite as stiff as I really like. I have another Princeton (velvet touch) that I prefer, but this one definitely comes in handy for certain paintings. The photo shows some practice strokes where I used both of my Princeton brushes.Great brush for the price!