I try to take any workshops that interest me. The most recent had me under heavy scrutiny for the quality of my brushes. The bristles are broken and splayed. The instructor was appalled.

Each tormented brush is the ultimate tool for something. Each is shaped like a favorite pair of jeans. I have one just for medium length, straight fur. My instructor felt the only thing it’s good for is a funeral. It took me years to shape it. An artist is only as good as their tools.

I have no aversion to new brushes. I love them. They hold so much potential. Kidding. Not everything should look whispy or furry. Sometimes you need smooth. It doesn’t get much better than the Aqua-Flo Brush.

Watch the video! Just click on the image!

There are plenty of brush pens on the market. The Aqua-Flo is a bare bones brush pen. The handle is a well that you can fill with water. You squeeze to wet the bristles. Here’s the advantage to say a Micron brush pen, or Copic Marker. You can squeeze as much or as little as you like, changing the flow rate as you need.

I love being able to customize my ink. Usually that means using a standard brush. As you can see, I’ve filled mine with an ink solution. I’m quickly and cleanly filling in my shadows. It helps limit overlapping dry edges. Your ink isn’t drying while you dip your brush. You can run a constant stream of ink, and fill a large area without having seams running through it.

The plastic used to make the well handle is resistant to staining. It’s soft enough to squeeze at the end of a long day. It’s also easy to use without squeezing for a dry-brush effect.

The bristles are on a twist cap, which you remove to fill the well. Their made of a high quality synthetic called Taklon. I’ve been a huge fan of Taklon since I first tried it a few years ago. It’s resistant to splaying. Unlike natural fibers, it doesn’t get brittle when rinsing inks with alcohol. It washes clean… well, as clean as I’ve seen. They never quite look new again!  I’ve had no trouble using the same brush back and forth between ink and paints. The ink doesn’t lurk deep in the bristles waiting to muddy your colour.