Paint Brush Size Guide : Inches and Millimeters

INTRODUCTION

Purchasing paintbrushes can be a tricky experience when it’s your first time. In case you’re a beginner, it’s difficult to know which combination of shape, size and brand suits your requirements. But that’s okay, because that’s why we are here to help you in your search for paint brush sizes in inches.

You’ll get a lot more confident when you go through the article and will understand different paint brushes a lot better.

DIFFERENT PAINT BRUSH SIZES

For each brush shape there exists many sizes, from 0000 right up to size 24. By and large, you would use:

• mid-size brushes for adaptability,
• small-size brushes for detail work, and
• large-size brushes for painting extensive regions and washes.

You’ll see that a few paintbrushes would have short handles while others would have longer handles. Brushes with longer handles are valuable for easel work or painting backgrounds; when you need to paint from a distance. It enables you to keep an eye on the whole picture as you keep on stroking.

One should begin with mid-sized brushes (sizes 6 to 8) and after that branch out as indicated by the necessities of your work of art style and the adaptability of your financial plan. From the smallest to the biggest, the sizes are: 20/0, 12/0, 10/0, 7/0, 6/0, 5/0, 4/0 (0000), 000, 00, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30. Below is given the paint brush sizes graph for both round and flat brushes for your study.

PAINT BRUSH SIZES CHART

Flat Brush Sizes

Brush Size No.	Imperial Measurement	Metric Measurement
0	1/32”	0.8 mm
1	Less than 2/32”	1.2 mm
2	3/32”	2.4 mm
3	4/32”	3.2 mm
4	5/32”	4.0 mm
5	Less than 6/32”	4.4 mm
6	6/32”	4.8 mm
7	7/32”	5.5 mm
8	1/4”	6.4 mm
9	9/32”	7.2 mm
10	10/32”	8.0 mm
12	12/32”	9.5 mm
14	1/2″	12.7 mm
16	9/16”	14.2 mm
18	11/16”	17.4 mm
20	13/16”	20.6 mm
24	1”	25.4 mm

My Recommendation

I liked this flat paint brush set on Amazon. I think it’d be really good if you need a flat paint brush set.

Round Brush Sizes

No.	Brush Size No.	Imperial Measurement	Metric Measurement
4/0	0000	Less than 1/64”	0.3 mm
3/0	000	1/64”	0.4 mm
2/0	00	Less than 1/32”	0.6 mm
0	0	1/32”	0.8 mm
	1	less than 2/32”	1.2 mm
	2	2/32”	1.6 mm
	3	Less than 3/32”	2.0 mm
	4	3/32”	2.4 mm
	5	Less than 4/32”	3.0 mm
	6	4/32”	3.2 mm
	7	Less than 5/32”	3.6 mm
	8	5/32”	4.0 mm
	9	6/32”	4.8 mm
	10	7/32”	5.6 mm
	12	9/32”	7.2 mm
	14	10/32”	8.0 mm
	16	12/32”	9.5 mm
	18	15/32”	12.0 mm
	20	9/16”	14.2 mm
	24	11/16”	17.4 mm

My Recommendation

This is a really cool round paint brush set on Amazon. Have a look at it. If you’re looking to buy, then try it out.

Size of Brushes You need

In case you’re purchasing your first paintbrushes, I’d suggest three round brushes: little (around size 3), medium (5-6), and large (12). Due to their flexibility, they’ll be all you need at the start. In case you’re somebody who likes painting detailed works, you can consider getting a spotter or rigger brush. If you want to take a shot at large size canvas with pleasant major brushstroke, you will require some large brushes and possibly a few mediums for itemized work. If you are working with regular size surface, or you are simply beginning, you will for the most part need 1 extensive brush for preparing the huge surface coverage, couple of medium-size brushes and just a single or two little ones for small details. Try not to go wild about getting numerous little brushes because probably you won’t require them all except if you need to make super-practical work of art with various little details.

LONG OR SHORT HANDLES?

You’ll see that a few paintbrushes for acrylics have short handles while others have long handles. Brushes with longer handles (up to 12″) are helpful for easel work when you need to paint from a distance that enables you to see the entire work immediately. The short ones (around 6″) are used when you need a simpler close-up work.

FINAL VERDICT

Concluding, this article will assist you with the distinctive paint brush sizes and their uses in detail. Each brush type comes in the variety of sizes. The brush size is an imperative thought when looking for the ideal painting brush. Brushes are grouped by their manufacturers utilizing a standard numbering framework, you can discover the size demonstrated by a number imprinted on the handle. The littlest brushes begin at 0000, at that point continue to 1, 2, and on up to 24 or much bigger. You should know that the brush sizes somewhat differ from brand to brand as well before buying one.