The maker's own set for miniature painters: seven brushes on shortened handles, mixing kolinsky, sable, squirrel and synthetic across the useful shapes.
Kolinsky, sable, squirrel and synthetic mix · 7 brushes on 3.5in handles
Rosemary & Co Brushes
Rosemary & Co are a family brush maker in Yorkshire, hand-making artist brushes since 1985 — and among miniature painters they have become the open secret: kolinsky sable quality at a fraction of the price of the famous names. The Series 33 kolinsky round is the one you will see recommended over and over; the Series 363 is their own miniature line, short-handled and usually a little cheaper; the 323 is a spotter for eyes and freehand, and the 22 a longer-haired designer that draws a longer line. For freehand and banner work the Series 44 rigger and the shorter-haired 441 draw an unbroken line no round will. If you would rather not put sable in your metallics, the Series 401 and 402 are sable-and-synthetic blends at a third of the price and the Ivory range is fully synthetic and vegan-friendly. Two miniature sets, four ways to carry the brushes home, and the prices below come straight from the maker.
The Honest Verdict
The best value kolinsky sable in the hobby. A Series 33 gives up very little to a Series 7 at a much lower price, and because most stock ships from the maker or established art retailers, the counterfeit problem that dogs the bigger names barely exists here. If you are buying your first good brush, start with this brand.
The Range
Hair
42 of 42 brushes
The community favourite single: a pure kolinsky pointed round with a thick belly and a snap-back point. Size 1 is the workhorse.
Kolinsky sable · Size 1, short handle
One size down from the workhorse, for eyes, freehand and edge highlights on infantry. Still enough belly to finish the stroke.
Kolinsky sable · Size 0, short handle
One size up: basecoats and larger models without giving up the point. If you own one Series 33 and want a second, buy this.
Kolinsky sable · Size 2, short handle
The Series 363 is their miniature line — the same kolinsky on a short handle only, sized and shaped for painting at arm-on-desk range rather than at an easel.
Kolinsky sable · Size 1, short handle
The miniature line in the detail size. Cheaper than the equivalent Series 33 and made for this job.
Kolinsky sable · Size 0, short handle
The miniature line at basecoating size, for filling armour panels and cloaks without switching to a synthetic.
Kolinsky sable · Size 2, short handle
The smallest of the miniature line. Genuinely tiny — worth having for eyes and script, but a size 0 will out-paint it on anything longer than a millimetre.
Kolinsky sable · Size 3/0, short handle
A spotter: the same kolinsky hair cut short, so the point stays put under pressure. Less paint on board, far more control — the brush for eyes, freehand and lettering.
Kolinsky sable, short cut · Size 1, short handle
The spotter in the size most painters reach for. Stiffer than a Series 33 of the same number, and it stays where you put it.
Kolinsky sable, short cut · Size 0, short handle
The finest spotter they make, and the cheapest brush on this page. For pupils, gems and freehand you need a magnifier to check.
Kolinsky sable, short cut · Size 3/0, short handle
The designer: longer hair on the same belly, so it carries more paint and draws a longer line before it runs dry. The one to try if your edge highlights keep breaking mid-stroke.
Kolinsky sable, long cut · Size 1, short handle
The designer in the detail size — a fine line that carries further than a Series 33 will.
Kolinsky sable, long cut · Size 0, short handle
The largest designer worth owning for miniatures: long strokes over big flat panels, glazes and washes that need one pass.
Kolinsky sable, long cut · Size 2, short handle
A size up again, and the point still holds. This is the one for basecoating vehicles, monsters and cloaks without swapping brushes for the edges.
Kolinsky sable · Size 3, short handle
The largest kolinsky round with a real use on a model: big armour panels, terrain and 75mm figures. Above this you are paying for belly, not point.
Kolinsky sable · Size 4, short handle
The miniature line at basecoating size, and cheaper than the equivalent Series 33 — as it is at every size they share.
Kolinsky sable · Size 3, short handle
The biggest of the miniature line worth owning. Same job as the Series 33 size 4, a little less money.
Kolinsky sable · Size 4, short handle
A rigger: a round with much longer hair, so it draws an unbroken line — cables, banner edges, script and freehand borders. Rosemary's own page says the Series 44 is used in acrylics mainly by miniature painters. The 2/0 is the finest, and the cheapest kolinsky on this page.
Kolinsky sable, rigger · Size 2/0, short handle
The rigger in the size most painters want it: fine enough for freehand on a shoulder pad, with enough hair to finish the line.
Kolinsky sable, rigger · Size 0, short handle
The largest rigger with a use at 28mm — a banner edge or a long cable in a single pass. Bigger than this and the line is wider than the work.
Kolinsky sable, rigger · Size 1, short handle
A half rigger: the same shape with the hair shortened, which their page describes as being for anyone who finds a full rigger hard to control. Made in a short handle only — no easel version exists.
Kolinsky sable, half rigger · Size 0, short handle
The half rigger a size up. If your freehand keeps wobbling with a full rigger, start here rather than with the Series 44.
Kolinsky sable, half rigger · Size 1, short handle
The Series 401 is a sable and synthetic blend — the maker calls it the best of both, with the sable holding pigment and the synthetic giving spring. Not vegan and not cheap hair: this is a real sable brush at a fraction of the kolinsky price.
Sable and synthetic blend · Size 0, short handle
The blend in the workhorse size. The honest answer to "everyone recommends the Series 33 size 1 and I want to try one brush first".
Sable and synthetic blend · Size 1, short handle
Basecoating size in the blend, and the top of it. For anything larger the Ivory synthetic below does the job better and costs less.
Sable and synthetic blend · Size 2, short handle
The Series 402 is the blend cut as a designer — a much longer, finer point, made for drawing a line rather than filling a shape.
Sable and synthetic blend, long cut · Size 0, short handle
The blend designer in the workhorse size, for a fraction of what the Series 22 costs. Try this before deciding whether the kolinsky one is worth it.
Sable and synthetic blend, long cut · Size 1, short handle
The Ivory range is 100% synthetic and vegan-friendly, and it is the brush to put in the metallics, the washes and the contrast paints instead of destroying a sable one. It is also the only Rosemary range they can ship to the USA.
Synthetic (Ivory), vegan-friendly · Size 0, short handle
The synthetic in the workhorse size: the vegan painter’s Series 33 size 1, and everyone else’s metallics brush.
Synthetic (Ivory), vegan-friendly · Size 1, short handle
Basecoating size in synthetic — springier than sable, and it does not mind the abrasive paints that get used at this size.
Synthetic (Ivory), vegan-friendly · Size 2, short handle
Laying colour over a big panel does not need a kolinsky point. Their own page calls the larger Ivory rounds brilliant for laying on colour.
Synthetic (Ivory), vegan-friendly · Size 3, short handle
The biggest brush on this page with a miniature use: terrain, vehicles and 75mm work, at a price that does not punish using it for the messy jobs.
Synthetic (Ivory), vegan-friendly · Size 4, short handle
The synthetic rigger — the one freehand brush on this page that is not sable, so it is the one an American reader can actually be sent.
Synthetic (Ivory), vegan-friendly · Size 0, short handle
A short flat is its own tool, not a round in another dress: the chisel edge draws a clean straight highlight along a blade or a panel line, and the face drybrushes and side-loads. Synthetic on purpose — dragging a brush is what ruins sable.
Synthetic (Ivory), vegan-friendly · Size 0, short handle
The short flat sized for 28mm: a chisel edge about as wide as an armour panel is deep.
Synthetic (Ivory), vegan-friendly · Size 1, short handle
The drybrushing size, and the top of the useful band. A flat wider than this is a wash brush for paper.
Synthetic (Ivory), vegan-friendly · Size 2, short handle
Their second miniature set, and the bigger one: ten full-length brushes across four hair types — the synthetic Red Dot, red sable, squirrel and a sable-nylon blend. Their page says it exists by popular request from miniature painters.
Red Dot synthetic, red sable, squirrel and sable-nylon blend · 10 brushes
The cheapest way to stop ruining your points, and probably the first thing to buy after the brushes. Eight pockets, and being a roll rather than a zipped case is the point — the maker notes it lets the brushes breathe, which is what stops ferrules corroding.
8 pockets, bamboo
The case actually sized for the brushes on this page: fifteen dividers, brushes up to 24cm, and both sides fold up into a standing brush easel at the bench. A 7in short handle is about 18cm.
15 dividers, brushes to 24cm
The bigger one: eighteen brush pockets, two storage pockets, a hard outer and an all-round zip, sized for brushes up to 35.5cm. More room than short handles need, and useful if you also own long ones.
18 pockets, brushes to 35.5cm
The luxury option, and worth being honest about: the bamboo roll above holds the same eight brushes for a fraction of this. What you get here is a hand-made fabric wrap with an Italian leather tie, cut for short handles rather than easel ones.
8 pouches, short handles
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