• 13 parts
  • Checked September 2026

Label the Parts of a Paintbrush

An artist's brush and six brush shapes: thirteen numbers, a line for each name, and a key.

Label the Parts of a Paintbrush

Name Date

Numbered worksheet

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
More options

Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. Handle
  2. Bristles
  3. Ferrule
  4. Toe
  5. Belly
  6. Heel
  7. Crimp
  8. Round brush
  9. Flat brush
  10. Fan brush
  11. Filbert
  12. Angle brush
  13. Rigger (liner)

Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a part is answered.

Next step The labeled brush, one drawing at a time

All 13 parts on the diagram

Show the list

Parts of the brush 7

  1. Handle Usually wood, painted or varnished, or plastic. Long handles are for painting at an easel; short ones are for work at a table.
  2. Bristles The hairs of the brush, natural or synthetic. They pick up the paint and lay it on the surface.
  3. Ferrule A metal band holding the bristles in shape. It joins them to the handle.
  4. Toe The very end of the bristles. On a round brush it comes to a point.
  5. Belly The thick middle of the bristles. It holds most of the paint, and it shows most on a round brush.
  6. Heel The part of the bristles where they enter the ferrule.
  7. Crimp Where the ferrule is squeezed onto the handle to hold it fast.

Brush shapes 6

  1. Round brush A round ferrule and a pointed tip. Used for detail, lines and washes.
  2. Flat brush A flat ferrule and square-ended hair. It makes broad strokes, or fine lines when used on its edge.
  3. Fan brush A thin layer of hair spread out by the ferrule. Used for blending and for textures such as grass.
  4. Filbert A flat brush with a rounded, oval end. Its soft edges suit blending.
  5. Angle brush A flat brush with hairs longer at one side. So the end slants. Used for precise strokes, lines and curves.
  6. Rigger (liner) A thin round brush with very long hair, for fine lines. It was used to paint the rigging in ship pictures.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two independent sources use it. (1) An Introduction to Art Paintbrushes by Marion Boddy-Evans (The Spruce Crafts), read as the Internet Archive copy of 31 January 2024: handle, ferrule, bristles or hairs, toe, heel and belly; round, flat, filbert, fan and rigger or liner brushes, https://web.archive.org/web/20240131094128/https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/an-introduction-to-art-paint-brushes-4086375. (2) Anatomy of a Paintbrush, the Princeton Artist Brush Company's blog, read as the Internet Archive copy of 29 September 2022: toe, belly, heel, ferrule, crimp and handle, and the angle brush, https://web.archive.org/web/20220929045714/https://princetonbrush.com/blog/anatomy-of-a-paintbrush/. (3) Brushes by Shape (Blick Art Materials), Internet Archive copy of 31 January 2024: angular, fan, filbert, flat, round and script or liner, https://web.archive.org/web/20240131094130/https://www.dickblick.com/info/brushshape/. (4) Wikipedia, text only: Paintbrush (bristles, ferrule, handle; the round, flat, filbert, fan, angle and rigger shapes; long and short handles), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paintbrush. (5) The Visual Dictionary Online (QA International, published with Merriam-Webster), brush: bristles, handle, ferrule, https://www.visualdictionaryonline.com/house/do-it-yourself/painting-upkeep/brush.php. (6) How Products Are Made, volume 5, Paintbrush: ferrule, handle, and the handle being crimped to the ferrule, http://www.madehow.com/Volume-5/Paintbrush.html. The crimp is named as a part by source 2 only; source 6 describes the crimping. Hints and detail lines are in this site's own words. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no maker's brush, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

To label the parts of a paintbrush, write a name on the line for each number. Seven numbers ring a round artist's brush and its head drawn larger, and six more ring a row of brush shapes below.

Read the full guide

Paintbrush word bank

In alphabetical order, to copy onto the board. The brush: belly, bristles, crimp, ferrule, handle, heel, toe. Brush shapes: angle brush, fan brush, filbert, flat brush, rigger, round brush.

The numbers that get swapped

Bristles is asked once, on the whole brush at the top. The larger head under it asks for three stretches of that same tuft, so bristles is not an answer there. Ferrule and crimp are one piece of metal: one number is on the smooth sleeve, the other on its two pressed rings. The row of shapes is not numbered from left to right: the fifth head's number is lower than the fourth's. Heads two, three and four are alike but for the end of the hair.

  • Rigger and liner are two names for one shape. Either is right on the line.
  • Hair or hairs is as right as bristles for the tuft.

Questions and answers

What are paintbrush bristles made of?

Natural hair or a synthetic filament such as nylon or polyester. Natural hair is either soft, such as sable, squirrel or ox, or hog bristle, which is stiffer and stronger.

How are paintbrush sizes numbered?

A number printed on the handle gives the size, and a higher number means a bigger or wider brush. Sizes below 1 are written 0, 00 and 000. Makers do not agree on the sizes, so one maker's 10 can differ from another's.

What holds the bristles in a paintbrush?

Glue, inside the ferrule. In a factory the hair is pushed into the metal band and locked there with epoxy, a two-part glue, before the handle is fitted to the other end.

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