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Orville
The best brushes I have ever found for oil painting--combining many of the advantages that Michael pointed out--are the Winsor & Newton "Monarch" brushes. They are synthetic; meant to emulate mongoose. I am also familiar with the Isabey Mongoose brushes and I feel the W&N offerings are as good or better than the real thing. I use almost exclusively filbert-shaped brushes, throughout their entire size range. Filberts allow you to be both precise and loose, or to apply either rounded or squared-off brush strokes--a very versatile shape. The Monarchs are springy, too. That is, they are not too soft and not too stiff. Paint comes off of them completely and they are easily cleaned. (That is one reason I never use bristle brushes, except as trowels; because more paint stays on the brush than goes on the canvas. And, they are un-cleanable). The Monarch brushes are remarkably durable and although more expensive than most lines of brushes, they tend to last longer.
I understand that the same brush is now being offered by another company under a different brand name for somewhat less than the price of the Winsor & Newton version. I guess that the manufacturer was not W&N per se, but rather a sub-contractor. Whatever deal they had with W & N has probably run out and now they make the brushes for others. If you're interested, I'll try to find out what the name of that other company is. In the meantime, I recommend the Monarchs highly.
All the best.
Juan
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