Jackson’s Akoya are superb white synthetic bristle brushes for oil or acrylic painting. A personal favourite of mine both for acrylic painting and painting with oil colour. Our customer Tad said that after trying many brushes the Akoya “really are the best brushes going around”.
Microscopic craters in each hair are designed to hold liquid and colour in the same way as natural hairs – in a way that other synthetic brushes are not capable of. In addition to this, the Akoya brushes maintain the excellent spring and shape that one would expect of a synthetic brush, reinforced by the two thicknesses of hair used. These brushes are designed to last, thanks to the strength of the filaments and a heating process that causes the hairs to retain their shape after use. This durability means that you won’t have bristles breaking off in your paint. With slightly stiffer hair than our Procryl brushes the Akoya exhibits the best characteristics of both the highest grade natural and the finest synthetic brushes.
Akoya brushes, so named because their pure white silky hairs resemble the Akoya pearl, have been developed to match and build upon qualities offered by the leading natural hog brushes. These white synthetic hog brushes are very well suited to water mixable oils where a regular hog hair might get water-logged. The brush is easier to clean than some other brushes, a blessing for oil painters and though the white bristles may become stained with a slight tint, it does not affect the colour of the paint.
Another benefit – these synthetic brushes do not contain any animal products, either in the varnish, bristles, paint or glue.
Our Other Blog Articles that Mention the Akoya Brushes
- Robert Higgins on Using Jackson’s Handmade Linen Panels
- Cruelty-Free Art Supplies
- Moving Oil Paint Around
- Trying Schmincke ‘Medium W’ for Oil Colour
Customer Reviews
Our hundreds of 5-star customer reviews are split about evenly between oil painters, water-mixable oil painters and acrylic painters, so it is truly a versatile brush. Below are a few of the reviews.
Review by Tad – Rating ★★★★★
I have started to use these brushes and they really are the best brushes going around. I have tried many. They can sit in turps for weeks and still come up really well. They last a long time retain their springiness and the smaller brushes are much better for fine detail. Better than expensive sables which don’t last nearly as long and are also prone to deteriorate quickly if neglected (Posted 2016)
Rating ★★★★★
Just beautiful quality (Posted 2014)
Review by Lubov – Rating ★★★★★
Very good brushes. Just irreplaceable … Especially for exact details in the portrait (Posted 2018)
Rating ★★★★★
Akoya filbert, beautiful brushes! Sufficiently elastic and at the same time soft. Something extraordinary and quite inexpensive. (Posted 2017)
Rating ★★★★★
great brush so really value for money (Posted 2017)
Rating ★★★★★
Excellent! (Posted 2017)
Rating ★★★★★
Used with water mixable oil paints these brushes perform very much like tradition hog hair, with the advantage of their being totally vegan friendly. Acrylic paint seems to be harsher on the synthetic bristles, but this could be down to my painting technique! (Posted 2018)
Rating ★★★★★
These Akoya brushes are my current favourites for painting with acrylics, not too soft like some others, but with good flexibility in the bristles (Posted 2018)
Rating ★★★★★
Great value. Plenty of bounce, not too soft, Akoya are my favourite brushes for acrylic painting (Posted 2018)
Review by Ola – Rating ★★★★★
An excellent brush. Durable and holds its shape really well. As a vegan oil painter, I’m constantly looking for good synthetic brushes, and this is definitely one of them. There are lots of soft synthetic brushes but fewer that mimic hog bristle. I will be buying more of these in different sizes and shapes! (Posted 2017)
Rating ★★★★★
good value, stiffer than most synthetic brushes, therefore useful for oil (Posted 2017)
Rating ★★★★★
I’ve given up with small bristle brushes. These do the job very well and keep their shape a lot longer. (Posted 2015)
Review by Denise Laurent – Rating ★★★★★
These Akoya brushes are wonderful with water soluble oils. I use the Holbein Aqua Duos and Jacksons own brand. You need brushes that have all the qualities of a good hog but can take being used in water as well. These synthetic bristle brushes are perfect. They’re springy and keep their shape very well indeed. (Posted 2015)
Review by Traci Newton – Rating ★★★★★
I am using Akoya brushes with Holbein duo aqua oils and am really impressed with the quality. They are neither too firm nor too soft, hold the paint well, and much easier to use than any other brush I have tried so far. (Posted 2015)
Rating ★★★★★
Lovely brushes. I’ve been using them for a while now. They are still as good as new with plenty of spring and keep their shape well (Posted 2014)
Jackson’s Akoya Brushes are available on the Jackson’s Art website
These great brushes are available in four shapes – Pointed Round, Bright, Filbert and the extra large Mottlers – in a variety of sizes. Also available in a set of 4, a set of 6 and as part of the Brush Hair Comparison Set.
Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses from jacksonsart.com is free for orders of £39.
Hi – I am looking for impasto bushes.
I already use the Akoya bushes but
would like to know if you have others
that are wider than 1 inch with a
longer hairlength – such as 1.5 – 2
inches. Can you recommend a brush/es
– preferably synthetic , but I will
also consider others. Thank you.
Best, Idun Eustace
Hello Idun Eustace,
Here are some brush suggestions that hopefully will be of interest:
The Onyx Synthetic Mottlers have a longer hair and available as wide flats up to 2 inshes – https://www.jacksonsart.com/jackson-s-onyx-synthetic-brushes-571-572-576
Omega S.461 (i.r. the top row in the link) are longer haired synthetic hair brushes (but thicker ferrule so more like a household paint brush) – https://www.jacksonsart.com/omega-polyester-brushes-s461-s463
Many thanks
Lisa
Nice brush I really like it. Hope some
online selling store post this brush in
their apps..