Face Painting Flat Brushes

A flat brush has a squared, sharp edge, which is what makes it the brush of choice for pulling a clean splitcake blend or a straight-edged shape like a mask outline. Heart Face Art's one inch splitcake flat and its Half Inch Flat sit at the wider end, while Keep Smiling's Flat No. 1 through No. 8 and White Pearl's Flat No. 2, No. 6, No. 12 and No. 14 cover a finer numbered run.

Flat, angled or both

Some flats are cut on an angle rather than square, such as TAG's numbered angle option or White Pearl's Angle Flat No. 10, which lets one edge of the brush pull a thin line even though the head is wide enough to lay down a broader band of colour. Xin Bowen's No. 10 Flat Brush is a 3/4 inch width, useful for base colour before detail work goes on top.

A flat's sharp edge is the opposite of a rounded filbert brush, and for a fully angled shape rather than a flat with an angled cut, see the angle brushes page.