DUGATO Artist Filbert Paint Brushes Set 13pcs, Soft Anti-Shedding Nylon Hair Wood Long Handle for Acrylic Oil Watercolor Gouache Paint by Numbers (13pcs)

They came with a light coating of something like Master's brush preserver which dries to a light powder. That was thoughtful and as such, the bristles are all in perfect shape. I washed them vigorously in warm water aggressively and looked into the water. No fibers in the water. They all stayed on the brush. After drying, I would call the feel of these "perfect for glazing oil paint" and, very good for transparent paints in all conditions which require soft bristles. They're not "very soft" but they are thin fibers and soft synthetics. I don't do impasto or out of the tube paint and if I did, I wouldn't choose "soft". I would say, "soft with reasonable control for liquid paint".The paint job on the birch is sexy. It's transparent and oak stain color with a laquer. The ferrell is double clamped. Truly, I have $1500 in professional brushes and these challenge my decision in purchasing them. They've not "full" heads like Robert Simmons Sapphire. I would say, more like 25% less head than Princeton Heritage and 30% less than Sceptre Gold II by winsor. I didn't want a brush that "holds a lot of paint" because I don't paint that way. If these brushes are NOT for you, look for something like Monarch by Winsor or Grumbacher. They put way too much fiber in their brushes for my taste and would be "bushy" if that's what you want. I'm going to use these for realism, like blades of accurate but brushless strokes.

I giggled a bit because I DID want long handle brushes, but totally didn’t envision them this big and didn’t bother to look at details because I really wanted long handle brushes. So I was like WHOA they deliver on the long handles, alright! The draw was the nice plump looking brush head so I jumped right on them since I struggled to find an affordable set that actually looked like a good brush head. They often look thin, too long (a floppy brush head is a no no for me), they have shedding issues or fray.Well, let me just tell you, I was right! These brushes are wonderfully THIRSTY. I’ve purchased and tried quite a few brush sets from amazon and local stores, and these brushes have the best quality, thickness and length I personally want in a brush. In mixed media, I use my brushes for every type of paint, and most say they are for every kind of paint, but it’s not true, and in some cases, not possible. These are absolutely a brush that will be great for any paint, and I use them happily with watercolors and water soluble media in general, acrylic (I do not use oil so can’t comment), and for watercolors especially, these brushes are always what I go to because they are amazing at picking up and holding water, nice and juicy, and the brush also stays in perfect shape, it’s just always in excellent shape, no stray hairs, no shedding, the handles are nice and solid and well made, and you can feel the quality in your hand.Any issue you might have with low cost brands that are black label, you won’t have here. They are great! And I have no trouble at all using these brushes even for very small artwork.Very. Beautiful and a joy to use. Terrific value. I’m very impressed. I will also say that I have ended up with Dugato products in my searches for supplies and of all the endless choices, this brand stands out as one with a really great product. In fact, when I needed to get additional brushes in a different type of shape, I searched them first. That’s how pleased I am.One thing I’d love if I had a wish is that they would offer these exact brushes in a set with round, flat, filbert, angled each in a couple/few sizes each so that painters can have a nice set of everything needed in one. That would be fantastic and make a great gift. Because I need to pull brushes when I paint, and I’d love to be able to just pull a set of these long handled beauties and get to work.Perhaps in the future?! 😉Even though I will buy any set of shape these come in at a great price, it’s still not economical for me, in a very tight budget, to buy a pack of each brush type in 13 sizes! I do NOT use all of those sizes and the brushes are all even sizes. Personally, I’m fine with that and I think I get why—it makes perfect sense, but there are few occasions when I go to look for a size that isn’t there because it’s an odd number. But they are so close that it is actually smart to go evens because there is more useful variety this way. But, again, 13 of one brush is great, but it would be much better if a set of variety of types in a few sizes was also available. Especially for new painters, beginners, who are most often lost when picking out what brushes to but to start. I think these would be a super choice for them, the quality for the money, but I would always suggest for a beginner, to buy a low cost set that has round, flat, filbert, angle and maybe a fan. I did look for one and didn’t see any kind of variety set in this particular brush style. It would be a cool addition! It’s sensible and far more economical, they can make a complete work of art with that kind of set, and they can see which kind of brush they enjoy working with the most. Then they might even be more apt to return to buy a pack of that particular type in a range of sizes. But the size selection is really great. I don’t think I saw any flats, just filberts. It is really satisfying to paint with the largest of the bunch. It’s very thirsty, holds a ton of water! It lets me put down a nice wash of color on a larger space and use some techniques to create beautiful backgrounds. The heads are so nice that the small ones allow for great detail, which makes me happy because I can’t stand it when a brush is all frayed or has random hairs sticking out that cause tiny stray marks where you don’t want them. These never give me that problem, and I’m grateful for it. They are terrific with acrylics, too. While I think I like a longer handle I think I’d like them just a bit shorter, but out of all the brushes I’ve bought in this price point from amazon, these are by far the best brushes of all of them.

For the most part I am happy with this set. I did have one brush that lost hair.

I was looking for a decent filbert brush set and I had ordered a few and wasn't really happy with them. I was trying to stay around $10, but the ones I ordered in that range weren't that well made. 80% of the ferrules were all loose. I returned those and bought these. They were about $5 more, but the quality of the brush overall was much better. The fibers were all in tact and not misshapen. I didn't realize that they were a longer handle than I wanted, but that wasn't much of a deal breaker. I decided to keep them because I really liked the overall quality of them. I definitely recommend them. Keep in mind these aren't the best monewy can buy, but for needing a bunch of brushes on the cheap, they're worth it. I haven't used them to paint, but if I have any other issues like the hairs falling out or anything, I'll come back here and update.