{"id":13928,"date":"2025-06-02T10:17:19","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T14:17:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/?p=13928"},"modified":"2025-06-02T10:17:19","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T14:17:19","slug":"princeton-monarch-brushes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2025\/06\/princeton-monarch-brushes\/","title":{"rendered":"Princeton Monarch brushes"},"content":{"rendered":"

I routinely disparage synthetic brushes. I’ve written about this topic several times on this blog. My collection of synthetics quickly resembles the brushes in this photo—mishapen hulks with limited usefulness. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Read more<\/span>In the Studio Oct. 14 2012<\/span><\/a><\/div>

My opinion began to change several years ago when I used some synthetics that stood up to the beating from oil painting. I’ve steadily used those Princeton Monarch brushes, and they continue to perform well, maintaining their shape. I recently bought a dozen more, as you can see.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Read more<\/span>Smooth Move—Smooth Painting Surfaces<\/span><\/a><\/div>

These brushes are not inexpensive, but they are also not expensive for their category. The size 10 filbert shown above is $24. For comparison, Princeton’s size 10 bristle is about $15, but their size 10 sable is $35.<\/p>\n

The Princeton Monarchs are a pleasure to use. I recommend them for oil painters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I routinely disparage synthetic brushes. I’ve written about this topic several times on this blog. My collection of synthetics quickly resembles the brushes in this photo—mishapen hulks with limited usefulness.  Read moreIn the Studio Oct. 14 2012My opinion began to change several years ago when I used some synthetics that stood up to the beating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":13925,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[332,24,1],"tags":[224],"class_list":["post-13928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grumpy-review","category-shop_talk","category-uncategorized","tag-oil-brushes"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250602_092517.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5679,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2016\/01\/synthetic-brushes\/","url_meta":{"origin":13928,"position":0},"title":"Synthetic brushes","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"January 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u00a0wrote about my antipathy toward synthetic brushes. This photo illustrates the\u00a0point I made in the linked post. The four synthetic brushes on the left are old and misshapen. \u00a0In my experience, synthetics quickly lose their shape and become\u00a0good for little\u00a0other\u00a0than effects or glazes. The best thing about them, by far,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "materials"","block_context":{"text":"materials","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/materials\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/old-brushes.jpg?fit=600%2C627&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/old-brushes.jpg?fit=600%2C627&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/old-brushes.jpg?fit=600%2C627&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8738,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2020\/03\/not-all-synthetic-brushes-are-awful\/","url_meta":{"origin":13928,"position":1},"title":"Not all synthetic brushes are awful","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"March 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I heap abuse on synthetic brushes. But some synthetics are not too bad--for oils. I haven't found any synthetics that can replace sables for watercolor painting. Not even close. These synthetic rounds from Winsor and Newton are OK. Monarch brushes are made from \"synthetic mongoose fibers,\" whatever that might be.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "materials"","block_context":{"text":"materials","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/materials\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/2020-3-16-a.jpg?fit=956%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/2020-3-16-a.jpg?fit=956%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/2020-3-16-a.jpg?fit=956%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/2020-3-16-a.jpg?fit=956%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8620,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2019\/11\/trekell-fails\/","url_meta":{"origin":13928,"position":2},"title":"Trekell fails","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"November 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Lately, I've been spammed a lot by the independent brush manufacturer, Trekell. Oil paint is murder on sable brushes so Trekell's decent quality sables coupled with modest prices led me to past purchases. I have over 20 of their brushes. I also like their linseed oil soap. Readers of my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Grumpy review"","block_context":{"text":"Grumpy review","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/grumpy-review\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/terkell-1.jpg?fit=600%2C301&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/terkell-1.jpg?fit=600%2C301&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/terkell-1.jpg?fit=600%2C301&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4516,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2015\/01\/oil-brush-reference\/","url_meta":{"origin":13928,"position":3},"title":"Oil brush reference","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"January 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I wrote about oil brushes before\u00a0and it's a good topic to expand. This post is a companion to my\u00a0Oil Paint Brand reference\u00a0and, like that post, I'll update this one as I get\u00a0new material. When I started out, my sole criteria for\u00a0buying brushes was price. Like most in my\u00a0position, I told\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "materials"","block_context":{"text":"materials","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/materials\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/brushes.jpg?fit=500%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6594,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2016\/12\/studio-journal-122816\/","url_meta":{"origin":13928,"position":4},"title":"Studio journal 12\/28\/16","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"December 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Euclid Avenue #1 took up my time today. \u00a0Euclid Avenue #1 is part of the Playhouse Square series. \u00a0Push-pull. I've disdained synthetic brushes in the past, but I finally found a model that behaves decently: Escoda\u00a0Primera. \u00a0The\u00a0Escoda\u00a0Primera model, like all synthetics, is rugged. \u00a0It handles well for a synthetic; not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "materials"","block_context":{"text":"materials","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/materials\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/studio-2016-12-28.jpg?fit=800%2C815&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/studio-2016-12-28.jpg?fit=800%2C815&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/studio-2016-12-28.jpg?fit=800%2C815&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/studio-2016-12-28.jpg?fit=800%2C815&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4452,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2014\/12\/oil-brushes\/","url_meta":{"origin":13928,"position":5},"title":"Oil brushes","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"December 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I have a lot of oil brushes, as can be seen in the accompanying photo. I have another much smaller group for watercolor. I NEVER use my watercolor brushes for oil painting. Watercolor brushes are more expensive and should, with proper care, last a long time. Some of my watercolor\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "materials"","block_context":{"text":"materials","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/materials\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/brushes1.jpg?fit=600%2C526&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/brushes1.jpg?fit=600%2C526&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/brushes1.jpg?fit=600%2C526&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Gw6F-3CE","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13928"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13932,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13928\/revisions\/13932"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}