Basic Chinese Painting Brushes for Beginners, Set of 3 Three basic brushes for Chinese paintings or Sumi-e perfect for beginner 1 Sheep hair soft brush: bristle length 1-1/2" and 5/16" diameter 1 Wolf hair stiff brush: bristle length 1-1/8", total length 9-1/2" 1 small weasel hair stiff brush. Bristle length 3/4", 1/8" diameter.