When I first started painting, I didn’t want to spend a lot on brushes, so I kept an eye out for low-priced packets with 5-6 different brushes. Among the first sets I got were the Creative Mark Beste synthetic brushes from Jerry’s Artarama.
These sets seem to have a RRP of about $20-30 but from memory I got each of the three sets I got for about $6 (I have a number of other Rounds but they’re buried in my cupboard and I was too lazy to dig them out for the photo).
The bristles are golden taklon and they quickly become stained. Even though they are soft, they still have a bit of spring in them. The first few times I used them, they held their points reasonably well, but after a short time, they started to splay a bit, which is rather annoying; it can be difficult to paint a smooth, solid line when odd bristles keep sticking out at all angles and getting paint where you don’t want it. The manufacturing quality was also a bit inconsistent; though the brushes look quite nice with their black handles and ferrules, the ferrules on about half of my brushes weren’t attached securely to the handles, meaning they wobbled and moved when I put pressure on them. This isn’t really good enough, even for cheap brushes.
These Beste brushes are probably okay if you’re just using them for one-off projects, but I’d suggest spending the extra money on higher quality synthetic brushes like the Ebony Splendor brushes. It’s worth paying a bit more for brushes that will last longer and keep their point.
artdragon86 