Bristle: Made from natural pig hair and used for laying in color and throughout the oil painting process.
Synthetic: Made from nylon, mongoose or horsehair. Although the quality of these brushes have improved over the years, they usually aren't sturdy enough to handle oil painting. I do use these from time to time for blending, particularly large ones for the background.
Sable: Used primarily for smoothing or blending and detail work.
Brush Shapes: In order seen above.
Filberts: The strokes tend to have a more rounded mark than flats. They come in varying lengths, the shorter being stiffer. This brush will give a softer edge than other brushes.
Brights: A stiffer and stronger brush than flats due to their hairs being shorter. Use with thick heavy paint and when noticeable brush strokes are desirable.
Flats: The bristles are longer and more flexible. The bristles come to a finer point than brights. This is a versatile brush than can perform both broad and narrow strokes.
Rounds: There is little variation in brush strokes. They have a sharper point that works well for details.
The metal part that holds the bristles is called the Ferrule. The best are seamless nickel-plated copper.
Sables I use:
Kolinsky Black Sable for blending
Winsor and Newton Series 7 Sable for detail work
Langnickle 5590 Series for blending and detail work
For the most part, I use Filbert Bristle brushes. These are a couple brands I use:
Robert Simmons Signet Filbert
Trekell Long Filbert
The best advice is buy the best you can afford. It makes all the difference in your paintings. And also, treat them well and discard when too worn.
Cleaning Brushes: After removing paint with paper towels or newspapers and odorless mineral spirits, completely clean with the following.
Hog: Superfatted soap and water
Sable: Unfatted soap and water
Synthetics: dishwashing soap and water
I also use Trekell's brush restorer to keep the shape of my hog bristle brushes.
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