Angular — Are you looking for the perfect brush for tight shading and highlighting? The angular brush is especially coveted by artists who love to paint roses and flowers because they can get into all those little nooks and crannies. So, if you’re painting a realistic rose, consider trying this brush.

Dagger — These artist’s paintbrushes require a little bit of practice to use at first … think Filbert, but with half the bristles missing! They are terrific once you get the hang of them — truly a multi-purpose gem. Load the brush with multiple colors, create great ribbons and petals, and do lines all in the same stroke.

Fan — A fan brush is a brush with a thin layer of bristles spread out by the ferrule, commonly used to blend colors, but also perfect for painting hair, grasses, or thin branches.

Flat — A flat brush is, as the name would suggest, one where the bristles are arranged so the brush is quite wide but not very thick. The length of the bristles can vary, with some flat brushes having long bristles, and some very short bristles (also called a square brush). When buying a flat brush, artists generally look for one where the bristles have a spring to them, or snap back when you bend them gently. Not only does a flat brush create a broad brushstroke, but if you turn it so you’re leading with the narrow edge, it produces thin brushstrokes. A short flat brush is ideal for small, precise brush marks.

Flat Wash — This brush is square and flat in shape, and resembles brushes used for house painting. These brushes are made for applying washes over large areas and can also be used to modify existing washes.

Oval Wash — This brush is ideal for putting down very broad areas of watery wash very quickly (skies, for example). Such a brush does not require hairs that return to a fine, sharp point. The oval wash brush has rounded hairs, a flat ferrule, and produces a soft edge, useful for laying in large areas of water or color, for wetting the surface, and for absorbing excess media.

Rigger — A rigger or liner brush is a thin brush with extremely long bristles. These may come to a sharp point, have a flat or square tip, or be angled. Rigger brushes are great for producing fine lines with a consistent width, making them ideal for painting thin branches on trees, boat masts, or cat’s whiskers. They’re also good for signing your name on a painting.

Round — A round paint brush is the most traditional brush shape, and what most people imagine when they think "art paintbrush". A decent round brush will come to a lovely sharp point, enabling you to paint fine lines and detail. Artists generally look for one that’s got a good spring in the bristles, where they snap straight when you take the pressure off the brush.