GO is the exciting new range of travel brushes from da Vinci, created for artists who want to paint wherever inspiration finds them.
The range reworks da Vinci’s traditional travel brush format, bringing together brush heads from four of their most popular ranges: SPIN, CASANEO, COLINEO and MAESTRO. Each offers a different combination of softness, spring, precision and colour-carrying capacity, so there is a GO brush to suit almost every watercolour painting style.
A smarter travel brush system
The real innovation is in the shape and mechanism of the handle.
At the heart of the GO system is a convenient click connection between the handle and brush head. When you are ready to paint, the head clicks firmly into place. After use, it can be reversed and safely stored inside the handle, protecting the point and fibres while in transit.
The system is quicker to assemble and disassemble than many traditional screw-together travel brushes. It also provides a firm, secure fit during painting and is designed to withstand frequent use without noticeable wear.
The newly shaped handle feels comfortable and balanced in the hand, while its wider opening makes it easier to store the brush head without catching or bending the fibres. An integrated air hole at the end of the handle provides ventilation and helps prevent moisture from becoming trapped inside.
GO brushes are ideal for urban sketching, travel watercolour, plein air painting or simply keeping a compact brush selection close at hand.
The system has already received international recognition, with da Vinci GO COLINEO winning the Creative Impulse Award for Artist Product of the Year 2026 at Creativeworld Frankfurt.
Choosing your da Vinci GO brush
Although every GO brush uses the same clever travel system, the four brush families perform quite differently. Your best choice will depend on whether you prefer softness and water capacity, or spring, precision and control.
GO SPIN: versatile and responsive
GO SPIN brushes are made with extra-fine synthetic fibres. They are soft enough for watercolour and other fluid media, but still have plenty of flex and spring. This gives you excellent control as the brush moves across the paper.
SPIN is the dependable all-rounder of the GO collection. It works beautifully with watercolour, gouache, inks and fluid acrylics, making it a great choice for anyone looking for a versatile travel brush at an accessible price.
The Round is a useful everyday shape that can move between washes, expressive strokes and finer details. The Flat is ideal for broad marks, straight edges and filling larger areas. The Slanted brush can produce both fine lines and wider strokes, making it especially useful for architectural subjects and urban sketching. The long, fine point of the Rigger is perfect for branches, grasses, rigging and other continuous linework.
Choose GO SPIN if: you want a versatile synthetic brush with good spring, control and value.
Available at Gordon Harris:
GO CASANEO: soft and highly absorbent
CASANEO fibres are designed to offer many of the painting qualities traditionally associated with natural squirrel hair.
These extra-soft synthetic fibres have exceptional elasticity and can hold a large amount of water and colour. This allows you to create long, flowing strokes and smooth washes without constantly returning to your palette.
CASANEO is softer than SPIN or COLINEO, so it responds beautifully to pressure and produces expressive, organic marks. It is particularly well suited to loose watercolour painting, botanicals and larger areas of fluid colour. As the range uses synthetic fibres, it is also a vegan-friendly alternative to natural squirrel hair.
The Round has a generous body for holding colour while still forming a useful point. The Flat creates broad washes and strong-edged strokes, while the Wash brush is designed to carry plenty of water across larger areas.
The specialised Liner has a colour-holding brush body with an extra-long, needle-sharp COLINEO synthetic tip. This construction continuously feeds colour towards the point, making it ideal for delicate branches, grasses, lettering and other long, fine details.
Choose GO CASANEO if: you enjoy soft, expressive brushes and want excellent water and colour capacity.
Available at Gordon Harris:
GO COLINEO: synthetic sable performance
COLINEO is da Vinci’s synthetic alternative to Kolinsky sable.
The fibre composition combines straight and wavy synthetic fibres in different lengths and thicknesses, finished with extra-fine tips. This carefully balanced mixture gives the brush excellent elasticity, colour absorption and point retention.
COLINEO offers more control and spring than the very soft CASANEO range, while still carrying enough colour for smooth, consistent strokes. This makes it a great option for artists who want the precision and responsiveness associated with natural sable in a vegan brush.
The Round is an extremely versatile choice for controlled washes, tapered strokes and detail work. The Flat gives you crisp edges and broad, even marks. The Slanted makes it easy to alternate between fine and wide strokes, while the larger Wash brush carries plenty of colour for covering broader areas.
GO COLINEO was named Artist Product of the Year 2026, recognising both the performance of the fibres and the innovation of the GO travel system.
Choose GO COLINEO if: you want a precise, responsive synthetic brush with characteristics similar to natural Kolinsky sable.
Available at Gordon Harris:
GO MAESTRO: premium Kolinsky sable
GO MAESTRO is the premium natural-hair option within the collection.
These brushes are made from selected Tobolsky Kolinsky red sable hair, prized for its elasticity, fine point and ability to carry a large amount of water and colour.
Each MAESTRO brush is individually checked and tested by da Vinci’s master brushmakers. The result is an exceptionally responsive brush that combines a generous colour reservoir with a finely shaped point.
The Round is remarkably versatile. It can carry plenty of colour for washes while still returning to a fine point for delicate details and controlled lines. The Flat provides smooth colour application, crisp edges and highly controlled strokes.
Unlike SPIN, CASANEO and COLINEO, MAESTRO is made with natural animal hair and is not vegan.
Choose GO MAESTRO if: you want the responsiveness, carrying capacity and precision of a premium natural Kolinsky sable brush.
Available at Gordon Harris:
Which brush shape should you choose?
If you are building a travel set, think about the kinds of marks you make most often.
- Round: The most versatile shape for washes, lines and fine details.
- Flat: Best for broad strokes, crisp edges and geometric forms.
- Slanted: Useful for changing between fine lines and wider marks.
- Wash: Designed to hold plenty of water and cover larger areas smoothly.
- Rigger: Produces long, continuous lines for branches, grasses and fine details.
- Liner: Ideal for lettering and delicate, controlled linework.
For a compact everyday kit, I would begin with a medium Round. From there, add a Wash brush if you enjoy larger areas of fluid colour, or a Rigger or Liner if your work includes plenty of fine detail.
Made to go wherever you do
A compact travel brush should not mean compromising on performance.
The da Vinci GO collection takes familiar, well-loved brush heads and gives them a practical new format. Whether you prefer the versatility of SPIN, the softness of CASANEO, the synthetic sable-like precision of COLINEO or the premium natural hair of MAESTRO, the range gives you the freedom to work wherever creativity arises.
Whether on the road, in an urban environment or in the studio, da Vinci GO offers uncompromising performance and maximum mobility.
