Review Casaneo da Vinci Brush Set

The Defet Brush Factory was so kind to send me a set of three brushes to try out. They are from their Casaneo watercolour brush range: a flat and squared top one (5898 No. 8) and two different sized ones (5598 No4 & 8). They are obviously synthetic brushes, but the brush hair is constructed to imitate squirrel hair. I never have used real squirrel haired brushes, so I can’t give you a comparison on this point. If you pay attention to the hair texture, you will see that it is slightly wavy.

Having never used real watercolour brushes (they really differ from the normal hobby and crafts one) before, this was my first. The brushes are so soft and have practically no resistance on the paper. They run smoothly over it and hit all the crevices of the structured watercolour paper (Hahnemühle).  I tried them at first with gelatos, but that did not work as they are too soft to take colour from the gelato itself. Rubbing the gelato on the paper and trying to load up colour did not work either. Watercolour brushes really need a quantity of water to run so smooth, so I used my old Winsor & Newton watercolour paints and a couple of new ones from Kuretake (Gansai Tambi). With those the brushes’ flow was really lovely. I also tried the brushes with Finetec Pearlcolors. If you want to add some sheen to your watercolour painting, that works, but the colors get eaten rather fast using them with so much water. In the end, I also tried the small brush No. 4 with some drawing and calligraphy ink and small delicate lines were possible. I tried some writing with them and you might be able to use them as calligraphy brushes as well, although Defet also offers a range of calligraphy ones (set Nova). They have a versatile range of vegan friendly brushes.

Here are the da Vinci Casaneo watercolour brushes http://www.davinci-defet.com/englisch/artist-brushes/products/new-products-2013-2016/da-vinci-casaneo-water-colour-brushes.html

And here are some, I just stumbled upon, with unusual shapes: http://www.davinci-defet.com/englisch/artist-brushes/products/special-brushes/brushes-for-pinstriping-squirrel-imitation-synthetic-fibre.html

To the conclusion: I really like them, although I had a not so even start, using the wrong watercolour paint at first and having never used specific watercolour brushes before as well as not being a landscape (loving) painter. With the bigger brush the background is painted in no time. And what I never realized before: they work like blenders. After drying a bit, I noticed some edges, so I went over again with the big brush and they smoothed out completely; they were gone.

I really did want to use vegan supplies for this paintings and this post, but again, I had to use my old Winsor & Newton ones, that I have had since I was about 10 years old. For my first attempt I used mostly the Gansai Tambi ones (pale aqua and cornflower blue). For the second attempt I drew my creature with a mechanical pencil and blue lead (Faber Castell) and then painted over it with the watercolour.

“Wading, Floating and Flying in spring”; my first attempt with Casaneo da Vinci brushes
“Flowerpot Femme Blooming Spring”; second attempt with Casaneo watercolour brushes

Strathmore Paper Products

Paper Manufacturer: Strathmore

All Strathmore paper products are vegan friendly with the exception of Gemini Watercolour Paper.

https://www.strathmoreartist.com/faq-full/are-strathmore-products-vegan.html

Source: Website and mail contact

 

vegan friendly products by Derwent

Manufacturer: Derwent

Vegan friendly products:

  • All Derwent Procolour Pencils
  • All Derwent Coloursoft pencils
  • All Derwent Inktense
  • All Derwent Graphitint pencils
  • All Derwent Aquatone
  • All Derwent Metallics
  • All Derwent Graphitone
  • All Derwent Pastel Pencils and Pastel blocks
  • All Derwent Charcoal Pencils and Charcoal XL Blocks
  • All Derwent Graphite Blocks and Graphite XL Blocks
  • Derwent Graphic Pencils B, HB, F, H, 2H, 3H, 4H, 5H, 6H, 7H, 8H, 9H
  • All pencils of both the academy colouring and watercolour range with the exception of Olive Green
  • All Derwent erasers
  • Graphik Line Painter and Line Maker
  • Derwent watercolour paper
  • all waterbrushes: water reservoir brushes with small, medium and chisel tip
  • water soluble sketching pencils

Here are the vegan friendly pencils from the Derwent Artists and the Derwent Studio range:

  • 0000 Lime, Derwent Artists only
  • 0100 Zinc, both ranges
  • 0200 Lemon Cadmium, both ranges
  • 0300 Gold, both ranges
  • 0400 Primrose Yellow, both ranges
  • 0410 Champagne, Derwent Artists only
  • 0500 Straw Yellow, both ranges
  • 0600 Deep Cadmium, both ranges
  • 0700 Naples Yellow, both ranges
  • 0800 Middle Chrome, both ranges
  • 0900 Deep Chrome, both ranges
  • 1300 Pale Vermilion, both ranges
  • 1400 Deep Vermilion, both ranges
  • 1600 Flesh Pink, both ranges
  • 1610 Light Sienna, Derwent Artists only
  • 1620 Salmon, Derwent Artists only
  • 1630 Ash Rose, Derwent Artists only
  • 1700 Pink Madder Lake, both ranges
  • 1800 Rose Pink, both ranges
  • 1900 Madder Carmine, both ranges
  • 2000 Crimson Lake, both ranges
  • 2100 Rose Madder Lake, both ranges
  • 2200 Magenta, both ranges
  • 2210 Heather, Derwent Artists only
  • 2220 Soft Violet, Derwent Artists only
  • 2300 Imperial Purple, both ranges
  • 2400 Red Violet Lake, both ranges
  • 2500 Dark Violet, both ranges
  • 2600 Light Violet, both ranges
  • 2700 Blue Violet Lake, both ranges
  • 2800 Delft Blue, both ranges
  • 2810 Royal Blue, Derwent Artists only
  • 2820 Mid Ultramarine, Derwent Artists only
  • 2830 Teal Blue, Derwent Artists only
  • 2840 Pale Ultramarine, Derwent Artists only
  • 2900 Ultramarine, both ranges
  • 3000 Smalt Blue, both ranges
  • 3100 Cobalt Blue, both ranges
  • 3200 Spectrum Blue, both ranges
  • 3300 Light Blue, both ranges
  • 3400 Sky Blue, both ranges
  • 3500 Prussian Blue, both ranges
  • 3600 Indigo, both ranges
  • 3610 Ash Blue, Derwent Artists only
  • 3700 Oriental Blue, both ranges
  • 3800 Kingfisher Blue, both ranges
  • 3900 Turquoise Blue, both ranges
  • 4000 Turquoise Green, both ranges
  • 4100 Jade Green, both ranges
  • 4120 Fir green, Derwent Artists only
  • 4130 Spruce Green, Derwent Artists only
  • 4140 Distant Green, Derwent Artists only
  • 4200 Juniper Green, both ranges
  • 4300 Bottle Green, both ranges
  • 4500 Mineral Green, both ranges
  • 4800 May Green, both ranges
  • 5000 Cedar Green, both ranges
  • 5010 Green Gray, Derwent Artists only
  • 5100 Olive Green, both ranges
  • 5120 Light Moss, Derwent Artists only
  • 5140 Green Earth, Derwent Artists only
  • 5150 Parchment, Derwent Artists only
  • 5300 Sepia, both ranges
  • 5310 Felt Grey, Derwent Artists only
  • 5400 Burnt Umber, both ranges
  • 5600 Raw Umber, both ranges
  • 5700 Brown Ochre, both ranges
  • 5710 Light Ochre, Derwent Artists only
  • 5720 Yellow Ochre, Derwent Artists only
  • 5800 Raw Sienna, both ranges
  • 6000 Burnt Yellow Ochre, both ranges
  • 6200 Burnt Sienna, both ranges
  • 6300 Venetian Red, both ranges
  • 6400 Terra Cotta, both ranges
  • 6430 Rust, Derwent Artists only
  • 6440 Light Rust, Derwent Artists only
  • 6450 Mahogany, Derwent Artists only
  • 6470 Mars Violet, Derwent Artists only
  • 6480 Taupe, Derwent Artists only
  • 6490 Bistre, Derwent Artists only
  • 6500 Burnt Carmine, both ranges
  • 6610 Mars Black, Derwent Artists only
  • 6800 Blue Grey, both ranges
  • 6900 Gunmetal, both ranges
  • 6910 Storm Grey, Derwent Artists only
  • 7000 French Grey, both ranges
  • 7100 Silver Grey, both ranges
  • 7110 Fell Mist, Derwent Artists only
  • 7200 Chinese White, both ranges

Derwent Vegan Product List

https://www.derwentart.com/en/gb/home

Source: Mail contact

 

vegan friendly products by Faber-Castell

Manufacturer: Faber-Castell

an incomplete list of vegan friendly products:

  • Gelatos
  • Polychromos coloured pencils
  • Albrecht Dürer watercolour pencils
  • regular erasers, kneadable erasers, pencil erasers
  • all Pitt Artis products:
  • Pitt Artist pen and brush pen
  • Pitt calligraphy pen
  • Pitt Artist pen metallic
  • Pitt Artist pen sanguine /Rötel Pitt Artist
  • black lead / graphite pencils/Bleistifte
  • graphite aquarelle pencils
  • Art Grip aquarelle pencils
  • Pitt Pastel Pencils
  • jumbo lead pencils
  • mechanical pencils
  • mechanical pencil refills; coloured and lead ones
  • Pastel crayon Polychromos
  • paper wiper Estompe
  • soft pastels
  • oil pastel crayons
  • foldable watercup
  • Charcoal  natural Pitt/ Zeichenkohle
  • sharpener
  • Pitt Monochrome
  • Ecco Pigment
  • Grip lead pencils and mechanical pencils
  • Grip Textmarker & Textliner
  • Multimark Marker
  • Art & Graphic Water Brush
  • Graf von Faber-Castell inks
  • Goldfaber Coloured Pencils
  • Goldfaber Aqua Watercolour Pencils
  • Oil Colours (Creative Studio)

All Faber-Castell coloured pencil ranges are vegan-friendly.

 

Official Statement by Faber-Castell’s Press Department: “all pencils, pens and erasers from A. W. Faber-Castell Vertrieb GmbH are based on inorganic components (e. g. inorganic fillers, inorganic pigments), syntactical raw materials (organic pigments, dyes, plastics) or vegetable raw materials (waxes, oils).

Furthermore we can assure you that Faber-Castell does not do any animal testing.”

http://www.faber-castell.com

https://www.faber-castell.de

 

Source: Mail contact

 

vegan fine art paper, technical paper and canvas by Hahnemühle

Manufacturer: Hahnemühle

All Hahnemühle FineArt paper products, technical papers and canvases are vegan friendly, with the exception of Photo Silk Baryta and PastellFix.

Furthermore, all Lana Beaux Arts products distributed by Hahnemühle are suitable for vegans as well.                               The gelatine used in the watercolour paper is not from an animal source.

https://www.hahnemuehle.com/en/traditional-fineart/lana-beaux-arts.html

Source: Mail contact

Hahnemühle certificate of conformity

https://www.hahnemuehle.com/en/hahnemuehle.html

vegan Products by Schmincke

Manufacturer: Schmincke

Update May 2018
Schmincke can neither deny nor confirm, that their contractors and subcontractors do perform or do not perform animal-testing.
Therefore their products can NOT be considered vegan-friendly.

Vegan friendly products:

-All Akademie and College products:

-Akademie Aquarell watercolours

-Akademie Gouache

-Akademie Acryl Color

-Akademie Oil Color

-College Oil

-College Acrylic

-College Linol

-Aero Color Professional

 

Vegan friendly products with exceptions:

-PRIMAcryl with the exception of Ivory Black

-Pastels with the exception of D Black (D Schwarz)

-Pigments with the exception of Ivory Black

-Aqua Linoprint colours with the exception of Ivory Black

 

Source: Mail contact

http://www.schmincke.de/startseite.html?L=1

Synthetic Brushes by da Vinci

Brush Manufacturer: Defet

All pure synthetic da Vinci brushes are vegan friendly:

-Casaneo (watercolour brushes)

-Nova Synthetics,

-Spin Synthetics,

-Cosmotop Spin

-Cosmotop series 5040

-Effect Brushes and Pipe Overgrainers

-Vario Tip

-Top Acryl

-Grigio Synthetics

-College /Forte Acrylics

-Impasto Top Acryl II

-Junior Synthetics

-Forte Synthetics

-Forte Basic

-Fit for school and hobby

-Paint-finger

-Manolino

-Primo Synthetics

 

Source: Mail contact

http://www.davinci-defet.com/englisch/

 

Acrylic Products by Golden Paints with exceptions

Manufacturer: Golden Paints

Vegan friendly:

All acrylic products including mediums and varnishes

with the exception of:

Bone Black, Jenkins Green, Neutral Gray 2, Neutral Gray 3, Neutral Gray 4, Neutral Gray 5, Neutral Gray 6, Neutral Gray 7, Neutral Gray 8, Prussian Blue Hue, Terre Verte Hue, FLUID Bone Black, FLUID Jenkins Green, FLUID Prussian Blue Hue, MATTE FLUID Jenkins Green, MATTE Bone Black, MATTE Jenkins Green, HLA Bone Black, OPEN Bone Black, OPEN Jenkins Green

http://www.goldenpaints.com/animalingredientsanimaltesting

Vegetarian friendly:

Williamsburg Oil Paints with the exception of Ivory  Black,                                                      Cold Black, and Payne’s Grey

Source: Mail contact

http://www.goldenpaints.com                                                          http://www.williamsburgoils.com