Visit Stationerie in Kolkata: Workshop Notes and Studio Picks

Welcome to the Stationerie Art Journal, where we share what happens behind our brushes, a few picks for your studio, and the occasional tip to help your work. If you paint, letter, sculpt or sketch, you are in the right place.

Every brush starts as a bundle of fibre and a length of wood

Stationerie brushes are not ordered from a catalogue and rebranded. They are made by hand in our Kolkata workshop by a team of more than sixty artisan brushmakers, people who have spent years learning how to dress a tip so it holds a point, snaps back and carries the right load of colour. The full step-by-step process is in how handmade artist brushes are made.

That craft runs through the whole range: Kolinsky-synthetic detail liners, riggers and spotters for fine work; Squirella and Velour mops that drink up water for broad, even washes; Chungking hog flats with the spring that oil and acrylic need. Around the brushes we also make and stock handmade watercolour paper, canvases, palettes, and clay and printmaking tools.

A few picks for your studio

Not sure where to start? A short liner or rigger is the brush most artists reach for when they want control: clean lines, lettering, the last details on a piece. For watercolour, a squirrel or Velour mop changes how a wash lays down: fewer strokes, softer edges, less fighting the paper. And if you are building a kit from scratch, one of our mixed brush sets covers rounds, flats and liners in one go.

Browse all Stationerie brushes, or explore the brands artists here ask for most: Camel, Brustro and Winsor & Newton.

One small tip: match the brush to the mark, not the medium

It is easy to buy brushes by medium: watercolour brushes, acrylic brushes. But the more useful question is what mark you want to make. Long, unbroken lines want a rigger, whatever the paint. Soft, spreading washes want a mop. Crisp edges want a flat. Choose for the mark and the same few brushes will serve you across media. More on this in paint brush shapes explained.

Come see us in Kolkata

You may know us by our older name. For more than twenty-five years we have served artists in Kolkata and across West Bengal as R Kumar (Art & Craft) on Gariahat Road, and Stationerie grew out of that same shop. If you are in the city, come in, hold the brushes and talk to the team behind them. If you are anywhere else in India, we will ship them to you.

R Kumar (Art & Craft) · Stationerie
47/3 Gariahat Road, Ballygunge, Kolkata 700019
Open Monday to Saturday, 11 AM to 8:30 PM. Store details and directions.

Thank you for reading, and for making things. We will be back with more from the workshop soon.

The Stationerie team