What brushes for oil painting?
The large selection makes it difficult to choose. There are basically two divisions:
The shape. a. Flat, b. Round and c. Filbert (cat´s tongue).
The material. a. Natural hair (pig, sable and mongoose.) b. Synthetic hair.
Painting a portrait I start with the biggest possible pig-hair brush because it has a good loading capacity and it makes a strong mark on the canvas. And filbert because of the possibility to make sharp and a detailed statements without the need to take a small round brush. I end with synthetic filberts to add soft, less-defined marks and for blending. The synthetic round for the highlights and details in the eyes and mouth. Big flat pig-hair for the background. (Sable brushes are often used for glazing and that is what I rarely do.)
Remember this: “Bad brushes makes bad paintings” Pamper yourself with good brushes!
See also this link
Big fan of pig hair, really like the way it slides across the canvas.