Six flat brushes on a printed ARTIST BRUSH card, wired in place in graded widths. The handles are clear moulded plastic, the ferrules bright nickel, and the heads golden synthetic cut square. The card states what they are for: suitable for use with acrylic and oil and water paints, made in China.

Six widths is exactly the right shape for a first flat set, because a flat is chosen by area covered rather than by skill. The narrowest of the six edges a border or paints a letter; the widest fills a background. Between them, most of a school chart, a poster or a hobby canvas gets painted without ever swapping to a different brush.

The clear handle is the giveaway that this is a school and hobby set rather than a studio one, and that is not a criticism — it is the reason it costs Rs. 250. Six brushes at about Rs. 42 each is the price at which a set can go into a classroom, be lent to a cousin, get left at a friend's house, and not be a disaster. Nobody rations a brush that costs this much, and rationing brushes is how children end up painting badly.

What you do get is the flat shape working properly. Held flat these lay a band of colour without a ridge down the middle; turned on the edge they draw a straight line without masking tape. Those two strokes are what a flat is for at any price, and they work here.

What you do not get is the durability of a studio brush. A cheap synthetic head splays sooner, especially if it is left standing in water or if acrylic is allowed to dry in the ferrule. Rinse them out at the end of the session, squeeze each head flat between finger and thumb, and dry them lying down — done that way a set like this lasts a great deal longer than its price suggests.

Rs. 250 for all six. If you need a flat that stays square for years rather than months, the Giotto Serie 600 taklon flats on this site start at Rs. 345 for a single brush — that is the honest comparison, and which one is right depends on who is holding it.

Why this product is worth considering