| That's so funny because I, too, was looking through old posts this morning. My DH is out golfing and I thought I would work in my paint room. Problem is there is a sale at Hobby Lobby and Michael's has American paint on sale - my favorite so I have to take a little trip. I use a rake or comb brush. Michaels has them - Soft Grip - $2.99 each. They come in several sizes, 1/4", 1/2". The trick for me is to thin the paint a bit, load my brush and touch lightly on a paper towel. Then start your beard. I usually start at the bottom and work my way up. Press lightly to begin with and reload as necessary. I always undercoat with a darker shade, i.e., dark gray base, medium gray with the rake brush, then white with a very little amount of gray for the final. Sometimes I will come back in and pull in a few curls with the liner brush. With the flamingo I used the angle brush to stroke in the basic shapes, the rake to put on the really thin feathers and a liner to complete the single thin feathers. With the flamingo I started with a mix of alizarin crimson and white to make a dark pink, added more white for the next layer and finished with very thin lines of white. The flamingo was on the cover of Paintworks in November by Willow Wolfe. For roses I use an angle brush which was actually called a rose brush for a long time. The angle makes it easier to stroke the petals. I have containers full of brushes but I find myself painting with the same ones all the time. Soft grip also has angle brushes for the same price. Granted, they may not last as long as others but for the price I think they do a great job and I really have not had a problem with mine. I double load a lot but for the Santa I side load when doing the shading and again when applying a highlight. After washing my brush thoroughly (I use lava soap and water), I will dip them in alcohol and pat them on my palette to see if there is any paint left in the ferrell. The alcohol will break down the acrylic paint. I do this several times until I am sure I have a good clean brush. I then wash it again with soap and water, blot it and run the hairs across the soap. The soap will dry on the bristles and help keep their shape. Make sure to wash rinse your brush before painting your next project. I am happy to give you any help I can. My husband says I have so much information in my head that I just can't contain it. Maybe that is why people run from me when I go into the paint section of Michael's. I am always trying to get people interested in painting - if I could just get them to understand that this is something anyone can do, like most things it just takes a little practice. | 
