Exploring pairPaint's 24 Brushes: Which One to Use When

How the Brush tool works

The Brush tool lives in the toolbar — tap it, or press B. Tap it again and the picker opens: a grid of brush styles to choose from. Pick one, and every stroke you draw after that uses it until you pick another. Your brush size comes from the size slider (or the = and - keys, which grow and shrink it one step at a time), and the color picker sets the color — including an opacity slider when you want a softer, see-through stroke.

One detail worth knowing: the picker actually shows 25 buttons, because Calligraphy appears twice — a classic angled-nib version and an extra textured version. Same name, two different feels. You do not need to memorize any of this: open a blank page and draw one squiggle with each brush, and two minutes of play will teach more than any list. This post is the cheat sheet for that first play session.

A quick note on the neighbors: the Pencil draws a thin, steady line for sketching and writing; the Highlighter lays down translucent color for marking over text; the Brush is where the expressive, textured strokes live. If a stroke should look like paint, reach for a brush.

See the brushes in action

Words only go so far with brushes — here is what a few of them actually look like when they draw. Watch the strokes paint themselves, from a clean Round line to a glowing Neon sign and a trail of stamped hearts.

Animated preview — open the canvas to try all 24 brushes live.

All 24 brushes at a glance

Every brush in the picker, as a quick stroke sample. Find the look you want here, then read below for what each one is best at.

The everyday brushes: Round, Marker, Calligraphy, Sketch, Taper

Start here. These five behave like real drawing tools, and they cover most drawings on their own.

• Round — the default felt-tip. Smooth, even, predictable. The best brush for outlines, coloring, and anything a young child draws. When in doubt, use Round.
• Marker — a flat chisel tip that lays down bold, even color. Great for coloring large areas, thick outlines, and big lettering.
• Calligraphy — an angled nib that makes thick downstrokes and thin upstrokes. Try it for fancy letters and decorative borders. The second Calligraphy in the picker is a textured take on the same idea — compare them side by side.
• Sketch — a loose double pencil line that looks hand-drawn. Use it when you want a rough, sketchbook feel instead of a clean line.
• Taper — starts thick and ends thin, like a brush lifted off the page at the end of a stroke. Lovely for hair, grass tufts, swooshes, and flowing lines.

Texture brushes: Crayon, Chalk, Spray, Airbrush, Spray paint, Dots, Neon, Rainbow

These brushes add surface and mood — they make a flat drawing feel like it was made with real materials.

• Crayon — rough, grainy, like a wax crayon dragged over paper. Perfect for kids' drawings and for shading that should look handmade.
• Chalk — a soft, dusty stick. Use it for cloudy skies, soft shadows, and chalkboard-style lettering.
• Spray — fine speckles, like an airbrush can held close. Good for soft shading and gentle color blends.
• Airbrush — a soft radial glow of color, lighter at the edges. The gentlest way to shade a cheek, a sunset, or a shadow.
• Spray paint — chunkier speckles than Spray, with a street-art feel. Great for graffiti-style lettering and textured backgrounds.
• Dots — a dotted trail. Fun for dotted paths on treasure maps, stitching on a drawn quilt, or polka-dot patterns.
• Neon — a bright core with a glow around it. Draws like a neon sign: best on a dark background, in bright colors.
• Rainbow — cycles through hues as you draw, so one stroke paints a rainbow. A favorite for rainbows (obviously), magic wands, and anything that should look joyful.

Fun and stamp brushes: Ribbon, Fur, Sparkle stars, Heart, Star, Wiggly line, Grass, Hair

These are the playful ones. Several stamp shapes along your stroke instead of painting a continuous line, which makes them brilliant for decorating — and forgiving for small hands, because every wobble just adds character.

• Ribbon — three parallel lines that flow like a ribbon. Use it for banners, bows, and flowing hair.
• Fur — short stray hairs sprouting from your stroke. The instant way to draw furry animals, fuzzy monsters, and shaggy rugs.
• Sparkle stars — stamps little stars along your path. Magic dust, fairy trails, night skies, celebration confetti.
• Heart — stamps hearts as you draw. Borders, Valentine's cards, and "I love this drawing" decorations.
• Star — stamps stars. Night skies, sheriff badges, reward charts, and flag designs.
• Wiggly line — a line that snakes as you draw. Wavy rivers, squiggly worms, wobbly spaghetti.
• Grass — sprouts little green blades along your stroke (it picks its own greens). Lawns, fields, and jungle floors in one drag.
• Hair — many fine parallel strands. Long hair and flowing manes.

Tip for teachers and parents: the stamp brushes are a wonderful first step for a child who is still learning to control a mouse or a finger. A shaky drag with Heart or Star still produces a beautiful row of hearts or stars, so the child gets a satisfying result from the very first stroke.

Learning brushes: Alphabet and Counting

Two brushes double as early-learning toys. Alphabet stamps letters along your stroke, and Counting 1 to 100000 stamps numbers in sequence — 1, 2, 3 — as you keep drawing. Drag a long line and watch the numbers climb. For more structured practice on paper, free printable collections like the ones at freekidworksheets.com pair well with a screen session — draw the letters on the canvas first, then trace them on the printed sheet.

Smudge: the blender

Smudge does not add color — it pushes the color that is already there, like dragging a finger through wet paint. Use it to soften a hard edge, blend two colors where they meet, or smooth rough shading. If you smudge too far, undo brings the original back.

Which brush for which job?

If you remember nothing else, remember this short guide:

• Coloring a picture: Marker for big areas, Round for edges and details, bucket fill for whole regions.
• Outlines and cartoons: Round for clean lines, Sketch for a rough storybook look, Taper for hair and swooshes.
• Lettering: Calligraphy for fancy writing, Marker for bold posters, Neon for signs that should glow.
• Shading and skies: Airbrush or Spray for soft blends, Crayon or Chalk for texture, Smudge to smooth the joins.
• Decorating: Heart, Star and Sparkle stars for borders and celebrations; Ribbon for banners; Dots for paths and patterns.
• Nature scenes: Grass for lawns, Fur for animals, Hair for manes, Wiggly line for rivers.
• Learning play: Alphabet for letter paths, Counting for number lines.

And the most important rule: there is no wrong brush. A Rainbow outline on a house or a Fur sun is not a mistake — it is a choice. Undo forgives everything, and a blank page costs nothing, so the best way to learn the brushes is to try the one that looks fun and see what happens.

Brushes when you draw together

Everything above works the same way in a shared room. When you draw together online, each person picks their own brush, and everyone sees each other's strokes live — one friend can outline a house in Round while another fills the sky with Airbrush and a third adds Sparkle stars. Same canvas, same brushes, no accounts, no downloads, no waiting.

And if you want a stroke that keeps moving after you lift your finger, I built Live Paint for exactly that — five brushes whose strokes stay alive on the canvas.

Frequently asked questions