There are few artist tools as important as the paint brush, and even fewer that we as artists develop such a close, intimate relationship with, so finding the best paint brush, especially for oil painting, is extremely important! Let’s have a look at which brushes for oil painting you should get!
Overview: Best Oil Paint Brushes in 2026
Best Natural Fiber Paint Brushes for Oil and Acrylic Paints
Chungking Hog Bristle Flats & Rounds, Size (Flat) 2, 8, 14 (Round) 2, 6, 12
Best Synthetic Fiber Paint Brushes for Oil and Acrylic Paints
Paint Brush Set Mimik Hog Professional Synthetic Hog Bristle Brushes for Acrylics, Oils, Inks, Dyes, Gouaches, Watercolors, Easein & Egg Tempera - [Deluxe 20 Piece Set w/Leather Case]
Best Brush Set for Oil Painting
Proprietary Blend of Natural and Synthetic Hair Handmade in Germany
Value Set of 15 Long Handle Bristle Brushes Finest Quality Pure White ChungKing Hog Bristle Hair - Set of 15 Assorted Long Handle Brushes
Oil and Acrylic Handle Set of 12 Paint Brush Set, Assorted, Black, Gold, Silver
14pc Professional Set of Chungking Hog & Badger/Japanese Synthetic Bristles incl Filbert, Flat, Rigger, Palette Knife + Travel Pouch, Long Birchwood Handles
11pcs Professional 100% Natural Chungking Hog Bristle Artist Paint Brushes for Acrylic and Oils Painting with a Free Carrying Box
Includes a roll case with magnetic closure :: Suitable for watercolour, acrylic and oil painting :: 15 different brushes: liner #3/0, round #1, round #3, round #6, filbert #2, filbert #4, filbert #9, filbert #8, flat #6, flat #8, flat #10, angled #10, wash #11, fan #4, wide 5/4”
Best Paint Brush Sets for Oil Painting
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Best Paint Brushes for Oil Paints and Painting – Natural
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Check Latest Price Latest Price UK 🇬🇧Best Natural Fiber Paint Brushes for Oil and Acrylic Paints
Chungking Hog Bristle Flats & Rounds, Size (Flat) 2, 8, 14 (Round) 2, 6, 12
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Check Latest Price
Oil & Acrylic Brush Set in Wood Box, Chungking Hog Bristle Brights, Size 0, 2, 6, 10, 14, 18
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Made from top-grade Chunking hog bristle, they hold paint beautifully and deliver it with smooth, consistent flow. The balance of firmness and surprising softness sets them apart from typical bristle brushes..
Best Paint Brushes for Oil Paints and Painting – Synthetic
Best Synthetic Fiber Paint Brushes for Oil and Acrylic Paints
Paint Brush Set Mimik Hog Professional Synthetic Hog Bristle Brushes for Acrylics, Oils, Inks, Dyes, Gouaches, Watercolors, Easein & Egg Tempera - [Deluxe 20 Piece Set w/Leather Case]
For a more versatile and oil-friendly option, the Creative Mark Synthetic Hog Bristle 20-piece set is a standout. It’s slightly less expensive, includes more brushes, and matches high-end sets in quality, consistency, and performance.
These brushes mimic natural hog bristle beautifully, with the right balance of firmness, spring, and softness, making them ideal for a wide range of oil painting styles.
Best Paint Brushes for Oil Paints and Painting – Natural and Synthetic
Best Brush Set for Oil Painting
Proprietary Blend of Natural and Synthetic Hair Handmade in Germany
Made from a custom blend of natural and synthetic bristles designed to emulate mongoose hair, they offer the perfect balance of softness and control, with excellent shape retention, paint flow, and durability. They handle every oil painting technique with ease and consistency.
The 21-brush set comes with a well-designed case/stand and includes a versatile range of shapes and sizes.
Best Affordable Oil Paint Brush Set – Natural
Value Set of 15 Long Handle Bristle Brushes Finest Quality Pure White ChungKing Hog Bristle Hair - Set of 15 Assorted Long Handle Brushes
Though more affordable than their premium lines, these brushes still deliver excellent fit, finish, and consistent performance, easily outperforming other sets at this price, even from top-tier brands.
They’re softer than many hog bristle brushes, but still offer the firmness, control, and paint-holding you’d expect from high-quality hog hair. With a well-rounded 15-piece selection of flats, rounds, filberts, and brights, this set is a fantastic deal and a strong choice for oil painters at any level.
Best Affordable Oil Paint Brush Set – Synthetic
Oil and Acrylic Handle Set of 12 Paint Brush Set, Assorted, Black, Gold, Silver
They’re soft yet springy, designed for all media, from watercolor to oils, and they handle oil techniques surprisingly well, even those that usually call for stiffer bristles. Despite their flexibility, they offer great control and precision.
With 12 well-chosen brushes in a range of shapes and sizes, this is a versatile, professional-quality set at an affordable price. A great option for oil painters looking for softer synthetic brushes that still perform beautifully.
Best Affordable Oil Paint Brush Set – Natural and Synthetic
14pc Professional Set of Chungking Hog & Badger/Japanese Synthetic Bristles incl Filbert, Flat, Rigger, Palette Knife + Travel Pouch, Long Birchwood Handles
With a smart mix of natural hog bristle in the larger brushes and a badger/synthetic blend in the smaller ones, this set handles a wide range of oil techniques beautifully. The brush selection is spot-on, including filberts, rounds, flats, a bright, angle, rigger, and fan, each thoughtfully matched in shape, size, and firmness.
Whether you’re a beginner wanting a high-quality, ready-to-go set or a professional looking for a solid second or travel set, ZenART delivers outstanding performance at a great price.
A well-rounded, pro-level set that’s also a fantastic value.
Best Cheap Set of Brushes for Oil Painting – Natural
11pcs Professional 100% Natural Chungking Hog Bristle Artist Paint Brushes for Acrylic and Oils Painting with a Free Carrying Box
While they don’t match the finesse or consistency of premium sets (some of which cost ten times more), these brushes offer good control, smooth paint flow, and a solid feel in hand. Even more impressive, they hold their shape, spring, and bristles over time, rare at this price point.
With a useful mix of rounds, filberts, flats, and fans, it’s a great starter set that you’ll actually want to keep using.
Best Cheap Set of Brushes for Oil Painting – Synthetic
If you’re an oil painter or student on a tight budget and prefer synthetics, the Arteza 12-piece premium set is a solid choice.
It includes a well-rounded mix of rounds, angulars, filberts, flats, a cat’s tongue, rigger, and fan, making it versatile for oils and other mediums. While not as firm as higher-end synthetics or hog bristle, these brushes still offer good spring, smooth flow, and surprising finesse.
Best Cheap Set of Brushes for Oil Painting – Natural and Synthetic
Includes a roll case with magnetic closure :: Suitable for watercolour, acrylic and oil painting :: 15 different brushes: liner #3/0, round #1, round #3, round #6, filbert #2, filbert #4, filbert #9, filbert #8, flat #6, flat #8, flat #10, angled #10, wash #11, fan #4, wide 5/4”
Unlike many budget sets that only claim to be “premium,” these brushes look, feel, and perform at a professional level. Both the natural hog bristle and synthetic taklon brushes hold and deliver paint beautifully, with great spring, shape retention, and overall feel.
The set includes a smart mix of flats, rounds, filberts, angles, washes, and a wide brush, making it useful for all kinds of work, especially oils.
Best Individual Paint Brushes for Oils
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Best Individual Oil Paint Brushes – Natural
Professional Level Natural Bristle
Round, Size 4
Best Individual Oil Paint Brushes – Synthetic
Professional Level Synthetic Bristle
Size 6, Round
Perfect shapes and optimal body, incredible flow and paint delivery, an amazingly natural and satisfying feeling in the hand, and built for a lifetime of use.
Best Affordable Individual Oil Paint Brushes – Natural
A superb student level paint brush for oil paints, the Winton series natural hog hair brushes are probably the ones I recommend most often to students, friends and associates, and are just wonderful to work with – controllable, consistent, with beautiful flow and a great feeling in the hand.
Best Affordable Individual Oil Paint Brushes – Synthetic
Catalyst Polytip Brush Set for Acrylic and Oil Paint, 5 Piece Set
Princeton Catalyst paint brushes seem well on their way to becoming the most popular synthetic brushes on the market, and if you try them you will understand why.
How to Choose the Best Oil Painting Brushes
The right brush should match your paint thickness, surface, and stroke style. Start with a few shapes that cover 80% of your work, then expand deliberately.
Hair Type & Feel (Stiff vs. Soft)
Match bristle to paint viscosity and the mark you want.
- Hog/bristle (stiff): moves heavy paint, holds a chisel edge, leaves lively texture; great for impasto and scumbling.
- Synthetic (medium–soft): smoother laydown, cleaner edges, resilient to solvents; ideal for blending, glazing, and fine detail.
- Blend/synthetic “mongoose” types: balanced spring with a satin finish—good all-rounders.
- Tip: if you fight your paint, it’s the brush: stiffer for thick paint, softer for thin mixes.
Shape & What It’s For
Choose shapes for the strokes you actually use.
- Flat: sharp edges, block-ins, planes.
- Bright (short flat): punchy, controlled strokes; great for thick paint.
- Filbert: rounded corners for natural forms; your “do-everything” brush.
- Round/liner: detail, drawing, signatures.
- Fan: soft blending, foliage textures (use lightly).
- Dagger/egbert/mop: specialty edges, long tapers, super-soft blends.
Size & Coverage
Use the biggest brush that still hits your detail—your painting will look cleaner.
- Rule of thumb: 2–3 sizes per shape (e.g., filbert 2/6/10, flat 4/8/12).
- Signs it’s too small: noodly, overworked passages; visible “chatter” you didn’t intend.
Build Quality & Durability
Good construction saves money long-term.
- Look for: seamless nickel or brass ferrule, firm double crimp, straight alignment, no wobble.
- Handle: long, solvent-resistant finish; balanced weight.
- Bristle ends: hog should show flagging (split tips) for paint-holding; synthetics should taper cleanly.
- Watch out for: shed hairs out of the wrapper, splayed tips, loose ferrules.
Spring, Snap & Edge
How the brush returns to shape affects control.
- Spring: press-and-release; should rebound without splaying.
- Snap: flick the tip—should come back to a point/edge.
- Edge: flats and brights should cut clean lines; filberts should keep a clean oval.
Solvent & Medium Compatibility
Protect hair and your lungs.
- Synthetics tolerate OMS and alkyds best; hog can dry out if you over-solvent—recondition with a bit of oil/soap.
- If working solvent-free, favor synthetics and soft blends for glazing and knife for heavy moves.
Surface & Ground Match
Toothy grounds chew soft hair; slick grounds need sharper edges.
- Rough linen / heavy impasto: hog, brights, larger sizes.
- Smooth panels / glazing: softer synthetics, filberts/rounds.
Cleaning & Care Practicalities
Brush care is part of the purchase decision.
- Look for: easy cleanup with safflower/linseed soap or OMS, hairs that realign after washing.
- Habits: wipe in rag, swirl (don’t mash) in cleaner, reshape, dry horizontally; store hair-up when fully dry.
- Safety: oily rags go in a sealed metal container (fire risk).
Value: Sets vs. Open Stock
Buy what you’ll actually use.
- Open stock: pick exact shapes/sizes; replace workhorses (filberts, flats) without rebuying a whole set.
- Sets: fine for starters—skip assortments full of tiny rounds you’ll never touch.
2-Minute Store (or At-Home) Brush Test
- Edge check: load a flat with thick paint; draw a long line—look for a clean, consistent edge.
- Spring test: press, twist, and release in paint—does it rebound and keep shape?
- Shedding: paint a 4–5″ stroke on primed card—no hairs left behind.
- Blend pass: with thinner paint, see if a filbert can soften a hard edge in 2–3 strokes (not 10).
Starter Core (efficient, versatile)
- Plus: a palette knife for mixing and impasto—saves your brushes.
- Filberts: sizes 2, 6, 10
- Flats or Brights: sizes 4, 8, 12 (choose brights if you work thick)
- Round: size 2
- Fan or Mop (optional): small/medium for soft blends
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Other articles in this series on oil painting:
- Essential Oil Painting Supplies for Artists
- Artist’s Guide to Oil Painting for Beginners
- Best Oil Paints and Oil Paint Set
- Choosing the Best Oil Paint Palette
- Choosing the Best Canvas for Oil Painting
- Best Palette Knives and Palette Knife Set
- Choosing the Best Painting Easel
- Best Oil Pastels for Artists
Hi, I am Iva (rhymes with “viva”). I am a full-time self-taught artist behind Art Side of Life® and a Top Teacher on Skillshare. I have 15 years of experience in the creative field as a concept designer, illustrator, art director, and now freelance artist, content creator, and art instructor. My goal is to help you get your creative groove on with Procreate and make awesome art through practical classes, tutorials, Procreate brushes, and guides on art tools, supplies and resources. About me »
