Basic Round Brush Strokes Techniques To Learn

Last Updated on June 7, 2024 by Masha Eretnova

Round brushes are a must-have in your arsenal and they will come in handy in painting anything thin like eyelashes, grass, leaves, and flowers.

They are easier to use to make washes and to use with watercolors.

Common strokes you can do with a round brush: lines (and hatching), comma-shaped strokes, U-shaped strokes, straight and curved Leaf-shaped strokes (also called Comma strokes), and many variations of leaves – wiggling the brush, extending the wide part, combining a few techniques, etc.

You need:

• any paint color (I used Pebeo)
• Round brush (sizes 4, 6, or 8 will be best for practice)
• Water
• Paper (can be even simple print paper)

More: 9 Flat Brush Strokes Techniques

How to Use a Round Brush

All these brushstrokes are easy for beginners and will work for any round brush, no matter brand or size.

As always, we can use the tip and the belly of the brush, as well as light or hard pressure to get different strokes.

Mastering your brushwork is fundamental to moving on to more complex painting techniques.

Brush strokes to practice with a round brush:

1. Lines

With the tip or belly of the brush, you can make lines. Individual lines or patterns, like in the hatching technique.

Learning to paint thin lines will help you paint grass, stems, eyelashes and things like that.

2. Leaves (comma)

Tip of the brush with no pressure – pressure on the belly of the brush – lift with no pressure.

You can make any sorts of leaves, playing around with the basic setup.

3. C-stroke

Tip of the brush – applying pressure to make a C shape – return to the tip.

Do not swirl the brush, it stays in the same position in your hand – only moving in a semi-circle.

4. U-shape stroke

Easy stroke to paint semicircles, petals, or full cylinders.

If you have any questions about using a round brush, please leave a comment and I will be happy to share what I know.