The brushes I typically use for my paintings are as follows: "Jeanne Dobie Brush" Cheap Joe's Art Stuff, size 1 1/2", pure ox hair. This is great for large wash areas, it holds a ton of paint. Grumbacher Aquarelles, style 6142, sizes 1" and 3/4". These are great for smaller wash areas. Winsor Newton Series 7 Rounds, sizes 10, 8, 7, 4. I use these on the subject of the painting mostly. They are great for detail and because of their quality they hold a great deal of paint and yet are able to come to a very fine point, even in the larger sizes. They are very expensive, but are worth it because they are miles in front of the other brushes, in my opinion. An assortment of sponges - Elephant Ear, Silk Sponge, and Sea Sponge. I use these for everything from cleaning my palette to moistening areas of the paper. They are also useful to roll your brush on to get rid of excess water before applying paint. Q-Tips. These are a very useful tool when you are painting detail in a small area. They can take up small areas of paint, or smooth areas. I use a lot of these.