oil painters..

[DragonGX]

..what kidn of brushes do you guys use to blend tones? Say for example in a portrait.. I was thinking jsut a normal 1 inch brush, or maybe a fan brush, but someoen told me they like to use a japanese brush called a "hake" brush.. Some even told me to use a palette knife..

Anyone have any opinions on which types I should use?

[Lionel]

You can priety much use a flat brush for anything with oils. If you are trying to save money on brushes then just buy a whole lot of flats. The brush that people use to do blending is a fan but it really isn't that useful and is best for removing brush strokes. I have one and never ever use it (mind you I am not that good at oils) so I would say save you money and buy an extra flat. If I were you worrying about blending tones would be the last thing I would worry about. If you want smoth graduations use glasses. I spend more time wanting to stop my colors from blending. When you paint oils try to do it like drawing with an opace brush in photoshop and mix your colors on the pallet and just apply them to the painting. You will find this will work better than blending on the canvas. The edges of your blocks will blend into each other without you needing to use any special brushes. But rember with all these things it is all down to personal preference :).

Btw for all you oil painters
www.trekell.com (http://www.trekell.com)
is aparently a very good place to get brushes from. I haven't had the opitunity to try them yet but with people like William Whitaker raving about them there must be something in it.
http://forum.portraitartist.com/showthread.php?threadid=1053&highlight=trekell

[MadSamoan]

What you're looking for are sable brushes, probably in filbert shapes. Kolinsky sables are the best quality, but synthetic sable brushes are a good substitute if you're just starting out and even for experienced painters, and they're cheap. Make sure you're diligent about cleaning them after each painting session. Whether they're real or synthetic, letting paint dry on them overnight will damage them immensely, if not flat out ruin them.

[Elwell]

Originally posted by Lionel
When you paint oils try to do it like drawing with an opace brush in photoshop and mix your colors on the pallet and just apply them to the painting. You will find this will work better than blending on the canvas. The edges of your blocks will blend into each other without you needing to use any special brushes. But rember with all these things it is all down to personal preference :).
This is very good advice. The less smooshing around on the canvas the better, in general. There will be times when you may want to lessen or eliminate brushstrokes, though. For overall softening/blending any brush with soft and relatively long hairs will do, even an old sable that's lost it's point. Watercolor wash brushes are good too. A hake brush is usually 2-3" wide and made with very soft hair. Fans can be useful if you do a lot of this sort of work, just remember to wipe them thoroughly after every few strokes to keep paint from building up and always use the lightest touch possible. (Salvador Dali, a master of the smooth, super blended style, said that the fan brush stroke should be like "the wisper of the butterfly's wing.")
Btw for all you oil painters
www.trekell.com (http://www.trekell.com)
is aparently a very good place to get brushes from.
I've got some Trekell sables and I must say I'm very impressed. For the prices they are charging the quality is phenominal. I especially like how they give exact measurements for the different sizes on their site, not just numbers.

[samwell]

use a mop watercolor brush. a cheap one will do.