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Finest Synthetic Kolinsky Sable!
Creating Brushes that Inspire
Princeton Artist Brush Co. is one of the largest brush-makers in North America. Since they started in 1992, artist brushes have been their sole focus. While other companies offer an assortment of art supplies, Princeton focuses on making one thing: the best quality, most fairly priced artist brushes available today.
About Our Brushes
Aqua Elite
"Aqua Elite brushes are designed to bring out the watercolorist in you. They allow you to create your most beautiful artwork through the easy, consistent and smooth flow of paint.
Our innovative synthetic Kolinsky brushes hold an abundance of water and release it evenly, delivering oceans of color with each stroke"
- Designed with innovative synthetic hair
- Animal-friendly
- Offered in a variety of shapes to foster infinite creativity
Why You'll Love Aqua Elite Brushes
Delivers Oceans of Color
Brushes are designed to hold an abundance of water and retain their shape, delivering oceans of color in your artwork.
Remarkable Synthetic Kolinsky Bristles
Aqua Elite's performance is comparable to that of natural Kolinsky hair, yet is significantly more affordable.
Designed for Precision Painting
Our brushes feature the finest points and tapered edges for precision color placement.
Jerome Chua
August 8, 2025
Here's a review for the Princeton Elite brush:As an intermediate watercolor artist, finding the right brush has been a game-changer, and the Princeton Elite brush is exactly what I needed. This brush feels incredibly comfortable to hold and provides the perfect balance between control and flexibility. The bristles are soft yet resilient, making it easy to create both fine details and broader strokes with precision.What I love most about this brush is how smoothly it glides across the paper, holding just the right amount of water and pigment. Whether I'm working on delicate washes or more detailed sections, the Princeton Elite consistently delivers excellent results. It has quickly become my go-to brush, making my painting process not only easier but also more enjoyable. the Princeton Elite brush is perfect for someone at an intermediate level in watercolor. It's reliable, easy to use, and truly enhances the painting experience. Highly recommended!
-A.
July 27, 2025
These are a bit stiffer than the Neptune brushes, which are meant to emulate squirrel hair. I do like these in appplictions where a bit stiffer control is called for. Princeton brushes are good quality. I have no complaints about these. If you want a softer brush with more water capacity, I'd say to go for the Princeton Neptune's.Left to Right:Rosemary sable blend- best water retention and softness.Princeton aqua elite set. Note the Rosemary number 8 sable blend- round is a teeny bit longer, and a bit fluffier and softer. It has a better flexibility without being too stiff overall. But that one brush was like 14$... And worth it. The Princeton AE #8 round is quite good too though. This set gives a nice mix of brushes.Next are the Neptune brushes. I LOVE USING THE 1/4" dagger. It holds water like a champ, soft and flexible yet allows for great control- and gives a wide stroke AND a sharp point. They are softer than the Aqua Elites, but they have a better point than other brushes I have with genuine squirrel. Those are the two silver barreled travel brushes shown, Rosemary travel mop and filbert, both pure squirrel.Last to the right are velevet touch Princeton brushes. Those are soft but a more synthetic uniform feel than these aqua elites. I like all of these brushes.My favorite of these four included in the set is the oval (cat tongue) wash. Woo! Use the side for narrow line. Use the tip for sharp detail. Use broad side for a wash or larger area. I like using this to fill in an area that has a corner on one end and then broadens out, or for fitting a wash in amongst other details, like a sky against other architectural elements. You can point the tip into a small area and then press down into and turn the brush to get the bigger open area adjacent to the detail with one brushload of paint instead of using a small then leave before and then blending them together to match up the two sections to make them flow together.Compare sizes.Richeson grey matters travel 12 round,Aqua elite travel round 10 (not in this set)Rosemary blend travel 8Rosemary blend travel 1/4" dagger,Princeton AQ elite size 8 round.This set incudes good sizes for detail and wash, and the cat tongue and round are the ones you'll go to for everything else.
LuluC
July 7, 2025
I'm new to watercolor and chose the Aqua Elite 4850 series brushes after reading blogs and watching YouTube reviews. I love them. It's so important to have really good tools when you're learning a new skill. You need to know whether it's your technique or not so great equipment. I have another, more expensive artist grade brush that doesn't perform at all as well. I never even reach for it now that I have a range of the Princeton brushes. Someday I'll try a few other brands that I've heard a lot about, but I'm very happy with results I get with these brushes. They hold their point, snap back into shape, don't shed and hold enough water.
tugce yanarkol
June 21, 2025
I am in love with this brush set! The softest brushes ever! Easy to clean and quickly dry with air. It doesn`t leave a mark on the paper and holds the watercolor perfectly. I tried this on a store, then researched from Amazon and immediately bought it! I will keep buying from this brand and the store is also awesome!
Tina Marie Senicola
June 17, 2025
Just great for price...great painting strokes with these babies..can't go wrong buy themThank you..happy artist here
TauraBird
June 5, 2025
I first bought Princeton Neptune brushes as a new watercolor artist after reading lots of reviews saying they were the best followed closely by these, the Aqua Elite line. I ended up buying a set of the Neptune's first bit I wasn't happy with them so next I bought a set of these Princeton Aqua Elite brushes. After some experience with both I found the artificial squirrel hair of the Neptune's to be much too soft and floppy for my style.I much prefered these, the Princeton Aqua Elite brushes. They are artificial Kolinsky sable and hold a point better, have better flicking capabilities, in other words they are much more springy that the Neptune brushes which works out great for me. I will eventually try real Kolinsky sable brushes but for now I don't see a reason to spend the extra $ since the Aqua Elites are great. I have been using them everyday for awhile now and they still look brand new.
Megan G.
May 31, 2025
I really like the feeling of these brushes! They are springy, but the hair is soft. I bought these along with three silver brushes,and a Nova synthetic by da Vinci, and so far these are probably a tie with the Nova brush. They hold a lot of pigment and water. However, the size in comparison is small. Before this set of brushes, I was using Lowe-Cornell Soft Comfort brushes, and they are honestly really similar in feel. These hold more though. They also hold their shape nicely when dry. Totally recommend if you can by it for sale price like I did. Just wish this set came with another round: the 8 is just slightly bigger than the 5 Nova synthetic.Edit: I found that the liner brush size 2 arrived a little bent, and slowly got worse.
Nik the Booksmith
May 25, 2025
Excellent for holding enough water to saturate the paper. Bristles are soft and the handle design is easy to grip even with arthritic hands
Pablo 120 set
April 30, 2025
Amaaazing set, hightlightly recommend. Brush point is beautiful, versatile! i really like it.
Cliente
April 27, 2025
Ok
endersaka
April 22, 2025
L'unica nota negativa è che il Wash e l'Angular Shader erano confezionati senza cappuccio e sappiamo tutti quanto importante sia evitare che le setole si rovinino.
Mrs. M.
March 23, 2025
Don’t hesitate. These are great for the money.
Donna
February 19, 2025
I haven’t actually received this brush however I do love the Princeton elite brushes the rounds hold their point the brushes themselves hold a nice amount of wet bit paint or water and I keep buying more.
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