The Da Vinci Micro Colineo Brushes are made for paintings where precision really matters. They are designed for the tiniest details: a wing feather, the veins of a leaf, or the white of an eye. I was keen to put this set of four miniature brushes to the test, exploring how they perform across watercolour, gouache, and acrylic. From trying out some looser mark-making to using them for what they were intended for: fine lines and extremely detailed work.
After testing, I wanted to use them to capture all the intricate details involved in a fully-formed painting on a gesso panel. I was interested to see how much control they offered, how they behaved with different paints and surfaces, and just how fine a line you could get from such a tiny brush. Could they really make a difference when working at such a small scale? How ‘micro’ could they really go once loaded with paint, and were there any limitations or points to consider when choosing these brushes? I put them through a series of tests to find out.
First Impressions of Da Vinci And The Colineo Micro Brushes
Da Vinci is a German company known for its handmade fine art brushes, combining traditional brushmaking with modern techniques and materials. The company has been making brushes since 1890, although it wasn’t until 1952 that the brand name ‘Leonardo da Vinci’ was registered as a trademark. Today, da Vinci makes a wide range of brushes for different types of painting, and after trying the Colineo Micro Synthetic Sable Brushes, I can understand why they have such a respected reputation.
When I first encountered the four brushes in the set, I was in disbelief at just how ‘micro’ they really are. It’s challenging for a photograph to do their scale justice; only when they are in your hand can you appreciate the level of fine detail these brushes are able to offer. As someone who has been painting botanical and natural history illustrations for over a decade, I think these may be some of the smallest, finest brushes I have ever had the pleasure of using. In my hand, they felt light, with a solid grip, making them easy to control and keep steady. Their high quality was instantly recognisable.
Understanding The Sizes of The Colineo Micro Range
The Colineo Micro are available in four different-sized brushes. It uses a sizing system where the higher the number, the finer the brush. In this set, the 5/0 is the largest, followed by the 10/0, 15/0, and finally, the incredibly fine 20/0. Each size offers a slightly different level of precision, with the 5/0 holding a little more paint for fine lines and small details, while the 20/0 is designed for the tiniest marks and most delicate work.
The difference between the sizes is very subtle and not immediately noticeable with the naked eye. However, once you have been using the brushes for a while, you do start to feel a difference and gain intuition regarding which to pick up for what purpose. I personally found that the control when making longer lines and continuous strokes was actually easier with the larger brushes. They held more of the paint, and their slightly longer length allowed for fluid yet controlled movements. I found the smaller of the set were better for finishing touches, the most minuscule of lines, and stippling.
Putting The Da Vinci Colineo Micro Synthetic Sable Brushes To The Test
These brushes are evidently designed very much for detail rather than broad coverage. With the intention of using them to produce a finished painting, I first wanted to see just how much variation I could get from such small brushes. Therefore, I approached the testing as a series of mark-making exercises, looking at fine lines, dots, changes in pressure, fluidity, and precision across different paper surfaces.
For the paper tests, I used Jackson’s Acrylic Block and Jackson’s Watercolour Block in both Cold Pressed and Rough. For all of the blocks, I chose a size of 4 x 5 inches, which ended up feeling quite spacious considering the size of the brushes. The variants of paper allowed me to see how the brushes behaved not only with different mediums, but also on different surfaces.
Testing The Da Vinci Colineo Micro Synthetic Sable Brushes With Acrylic on Paper
I tested the brushes with Jackson’s Professional Acrylic Paints on the acrylic paper. I tried using them to blend larger areas of paint, which is not necessarily what these brushes are meant to be used for, but I was curious to see how they would perform. While they were less suited to this, they worked surprisingly well for building up fine texture. Creating fine lines with acrylic proved a little trickier than with watercolour, but I found the brushes particularly useful for layering over textured areas of acrylic, where their fine points allowed me to add small details over the top of the paint underneath.
Overall, they performed well with acrylic, but when working on paper, I found myself adding more water to the paint than I usually would to increase the fluidity. This led me to believe that the addition of fluid mediums, or working with acrylic inks, is what allows their delicacy and precision to be truly celebrated.
Testing The Da Vinci Colineo Micro Synthetic Sable Brushes With Watercolour on Paper
When working on paper, watercolour is where these brushes really came into their own. I tested them with varying amounts of water, from a relatively dry brush to a much wetter one. As well as using the side of the brush to create broader, more expressive strokes – not quite what they were designed for, but an interesting experiment nonetheless.
For me, I found they worked particularly well with more water on the brush, allowing the paint to flow smoothly while still maintaining a remarkable amount of control. They were excellent for creating fine, controlled lines and small details, making them especially well suited to small-scale watercolour illustrations. I also tested them on both rough and smooth watercolour paper and didn’t find a huge difference between the two. On both surfaces, the brushes remained precise, responsive, and a pleasure to use.
Testing the Da Vinci Colineo Micro Synthetic Sable Brushes with gouache on paper, I used ShinHan PASS Colours, a gouache-watercolour paint hybrid, to create a small test illustrating a bird’s head, working on a Jackson’s Acrylic Block. This felt like a solid middle ground between the watercolour and acrylic tests: the paper gave the gouache enough body to build up colour and definition, while the brushes allowed me to work in the fine detail they are best suited to. I found this combination of materials particularly effective for delicate, detailed work. I could see it working especially well for fine botanical or natural history illustration, where you need to build up layers of colour while retaining precise lines and small details.
Testing The Da Vinci Colineo Micro Synthetic Sable Brushes With Acrylic on Gesso Panel
Finally, I wanted to put the brushes to the test with a fully formed miniature painting. I chose Jackson’s White Gesso Craded Painting Panel as my surface, which provided an incredibly satisfying, smooth, crisp base for my work. For my subjects, I thought about what I would naturally gravitate towards painting anyway and settled for two little everyday things: a peacock butterfly wing and a strawberry. This also gave me plenty of opportunities to try different techniques, from stippling and layering to painting the fine hairs on the butterfly wing and the tiny seeds on the strawberry.
Working with acrylic paint on a gesso panel, I built up the layers as I normally would for an acrylic painting, adding a dash of my favourite Jackson’s Acrylic Retarder to the paint to improve its fluidity and extend the drying time. The result was exceptional. The brushes gave me an incredible level of control with the acrylic paint, allowing me to build up minute details without losing precision. On the smooth surface of the gesso panel, as I applied the varying colours and small marks, it all began to come together. And I could confidently create a painting exactly to the level of detail I desired. In comparison to the acrylic on paper tests, this felt like a more successful combination of medium and surface. And of all the tests, this was perhaps where I was most impressed by what these brushes are capable of.
Overall, the Da Vinci Colineo Micro Synthetic Sable Brushes are a beautifully made set of four incredibly fine, well-pointed brushes that excel at miniature painting and small, precise details. When working on paper, I found them best suited to watercolour and gouache, where their fine points and fluid handling really come into their own. For acrylic, I’d recommend moving to a smooth gesso panel and adding a little retarder to the paint to improve its fluidity and extend the working time. This combination gave me the most impressive results of all my tests, with the brushes handling everything from delicate lines and stippling to tiny areas of layered colour. After use, the brushes were easy to clean and maintained their point after drying.
Across all of my tests, the brushes lived up to their promise of allowing an artist to be in complete control of their work. If you enjoy miniature painting, botanical illustration, natural history subjects, or simply adding fine finishing details to a larger painting, this is a set I would thoroughly recommend.
Further Reading
A Review of Da Vinci Go Synthetic Travel Brushes
Introducing Da Vinci Colineo: Vegan Brushes for Watercolour
Da Vinci Colineo Brushes Reviewed After Six Months of Painting
Understanding Brush Shape Names, Hair, and Applications
Shop Art Materials at jacksonsart.com
