My aunt gave me these two brushes as gifts and I finally got a chance to try them out! She got them from Blick Art supplies L.a.
Top: Winsor and Newton Cotman round number 8
Bottom: White Sable Robert Simmons round number 10
I tried various brush strokes and I now understand why they call the Robert Simmons brush as White Sable–the hair is synthetic but it behaves just like real sable, but springier, which I like in a brush. If you look at the photo above, the tip of the Robert Simmons brush is more pointed when wet. The flex is also easier to control. The W&N cotman is also soft and flexible but compared to the white sable brush, I find it harder to control, as you can see in the sample strokes below. I had to stop in the middle of a stroke because the bristles kept going in every direction. This might be effective for larger pieces but I still prefer the robert simmons brush. The tip of the robert simmons brush is more pointy even if it’s number 10, as opposed to the w&n number 8.
At the bottom of page I tried using the brush as horizontally as I can to the page and didn’t see/feel much of a difference. The left is the robert simmons brush and the right one is the winsor and newton.
I enjoyed the robert simmons brush so much I made a quick watercolor painting with it:
