Hobby Highlighting Brush vs Drybrush: Which to Use
By The Army Painter: all you need for miniature painting | Published: 2026-10-21
Category: Comparisons
Compare The Army Painter Hobby Highlighting Brush and Hobby Drybrush. Learn their distinct uses, trade-offs, and which brush suits your miniature painting technique.
Quick answer
Use the Hobby Highlighting Brush for precise edge highlights and fine detail work, and the Hobby Drybrush for textured, weathered effects on larger areas. They serve different techniques and are not interchangeable.
Why the brush shape matters for your technique
The Hobby Highlighting Brush features a sharp tip and fine taklon bristles, designed to mimic sable for controlled paint flow and absorption. This makes it ideal for reaching tight spots and applying clean highlights.
In contrast, the Hobby Drybrush has flat-topped, coarse bristles that hold minimal paint and allow a stippling motion. The round handle offers flexible grip control for the drybrushing technique, which relies on texture rather than precision.
Trade-off between precision and texture
The sharp tip of the highlighting brush lets you paint thin lines and small details, but it will wear quickly if used for drybrushing. The drybrush's coarse bristles create rough, dusty effects but cannot produce a clean edge highlight.
Choose based on the effect you want: crisp highlights require the highlighting brush; weathered, textured surfaces call for the drybrush. Having both in your kit covers the most common miniature painting techniques.
Trade-offs at a glance
- Hobby Highlighting Brush: Sharp tip and fine taklon bristles for precise highlights and detail work. Best for edge highlights, eyes, and hard-to-reach areas.
- Hobby Drybrush: Flat-topped coarse bristles for drybrushing texture. Best for weathering, stone, fur, and basecoating raised details.
- Key trade-off: The highlighting brush excels at precision but cannot create drybrush texture. The drybrush produces texture but cannot paint clean highlights. If you only buy one brush, decide which technique you use more often. For most painters, both brushes complement each other.
Brush comparison at a glance
- Hobby: Highlighting Brush: High quality taklon bristles that mimic sable properties for best possible absorption. The fine bristles and sharp tip let you apply controlled paint lines and highlights on small model areas.
Hobby: Highlighting Brush - Hobby: Drybrush: Flat topped and coarse bristles, perfect for the drybrushing technique. The coarse bristles hold minimal paint and create textured, dusty effects ideal for weathering and basecoating raised surfaces.
Hobby: Drybrush
Which brush fits your painting style?
Best for
- Painters who focus on edge highlights, fine details, and controlled line work
- Hobbyists who paint small models or intricate parts and need a sharp tip
Not ideal for
- Creating textured, weathered effects or drybrushing large surfaces
- Painters who primarily use the drybrush technique for basecoating or terrain
