I'm still getting the hang of them but I've found the water brushes fantastic! The size range has been exactly right for my projects, which have primarily been greeting cards for friends. I only have to apply a deliberate pressure to activate them, which is huge because if they were too thin and too sensitive, my shaky hands would easily squeeze out too much water all at once. They're thick enough that rarely happens, but not so thick that I find it challenging to activate. Refilling them with water is a cinch.
Bleeding is always an issue with watercolor, but the finest of the three water brushes makes it easier for me to bring different colors right up next to one another without bleeding too much, too often. It does happen, but a more experienced artist with stabler hands should be able to execute their ideas more easily than me.
Clearing the bristles of a color only takes a few seconds of patting with a paper towel and a few drops of water from the brush pen. Once cleared, they've stayed cleared. I've used them to make close to sixty cards. I have also let my cousin's daughter use them since she was 5 and even with her sometimes brushing them in the wrong direction or pushing too hard, the bristles are still entirely intact.
Once the watercolor dries, the Tombow Mono eraser can be used over it without smearing the color. That lets me brush up to, and over, pencils and then remove the pencils after I've gone over them. It's quite spiffy.
My only qualm--and it's a minor one--is that the brush pens are too large to slot into the marker carrying case.
