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tools used to apply paints and inks to a surface, consisting of bristles held in place by a metal band attached to a handle.
 
Bristles may be natural or synthetic.
Brushes for acrylic paints generally have nylon bristles.
Synthetic brushes are cheaper than natural brushes.

A brush used with acrylics can be used with oil colors. 
A brush used with oil colors cannot be used with acrylics.

brushes can be hard or soft.
Hard brushes are resilient, flexible and tough.
They are stiff and tend to leave their mark in the paint stroke they make. 
They hold a lot of paint.

Soft brushes tend NOT to leave stroke marks, and deposit paint evenly and smoothly.
They are used for details, and to finish a painting.
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brushes come in different sizes...
Size is measured in roman numbers.
The larger the brush, the higher the number.
A number 6/8 brush is considered a medium size brush. 
A 12/14 brush is considered a large brush. 
A 24 brush is considered a very large brush.
A 00 brush is an extremely fine brush used with inks and watercolors.
 
There are five basic brush shapes:
 
  FLAT Flats are used for making broad, sweeping strokes.  The brush fibers form a flat, wide shape that is perfectly squared at the tip.  The flat can hold a lot of paint and is often the brush of choice for the early stages of a painting.
  BRIGHT Brights are modified flats. They have much shorter fibers.  They hold far less paint than a flat, usually just enough for only two or three strokes.  Brights are also very effective in removing small amounts of paint from the canvas.
  FILBERT The filbert is a rounded flat.  The outer edge of the brush curves slightly inward toward the center of the tip.  The tip itself is, however, perfectly straight. This design guides the paint towards the center.  The filbert gives more control than a bright.
  ROUND A round has fibers gathered into a perfectly round shape.  They hold a lot of paint and are capable of making either thick or thin strokes. This is the brush to use for drawing lines.  It is also useful for dabbing on dots of color, as in the pointillist technique.
  FAN The fan blender is a flat, fan-shaped brush. This is a specialized brush used for particular tasks; therefore, depending on the style of the work, it can be either indispensable or totally useless.  It is not meant to hold paint, but to be used dry, brushed lightly across applied paint to blend colors together.  Fan brushes must always be used clean.