For painters...?

Acrylics are best for beginners. Oils are a little more difficult to use but are massively capable and can give you color that just beats everything else cold. Watercolors require a lot of experience with the technique before you start turning out really good work but are capable of really beautiful images.

As to price... probably acrylics. Good watercolors and oils can run into real money.

Brushes depend on the paint you're using.

Watercolors pretty much demand massively expensive sable brushes... The difference between the good ones and the cheapies is just night and day. Good sables hold a point and make painting a pleasure. Cheap ones can be like using a small mop. Unfortunately, they can run into hundreds of dollars. Fortunately, that sort of brush is something you only buy once.

Brushes for oil and acrylic are easier and probably interchangeable. Old fashioned bristle brushes work beautifully for oils and aren't that expensive... just watch the quality... some of them will fall apart while you're painting and you'll end up having to dig bristles out of your painting. Sables are great for oils but can run into money.

Synthetics work pretty well for both oil and acrylic. Again, you don't want to go really cheap. Stick with mid priced brushes until you get a little more clear as to what you want. You can start with a decent set of them and introduce better quality brushes as you progress.

Don't be afraid to experiment... you can do some great things with those little foam brushes that are made for trimming windows and so on and small house painting brushes can work beautifully for some things. I always keep a few 1, 2 and 3 inch bristle brushes around for large glazes, applying gesso and so on.

If you're using acrylic or watercolor a spray bottle for water is essential... sponges, rags, knives, etc...

throughout the years i've found hardware stores are great for paint , acrylic piant i just acrylic paint & they will make ANY color you want & in small quantities .mixing your oun color from tubes also can be inexpensive , but REMEMBER anytihng you get inexpensively you will suffer as the artist , because with art supplies as many things in life "you get what you pay for " ! i've also found brushes at swap meets , but a brush is a very inportant tool & my advice would buy the best you can possibly afford , just but one at a time till you get allyou need .

I buy my brushes on ebay. I like Royal Taklon and Donna Dewberry's One Stroke brushes. I just bought 29 brushes for $19.50. Also, I buy from artistclub.com they have some nice sets and also a lot of other supplies. You didn't say what kind of painting that you do...I work with acrylics.

"Best" and "inexpensive" are sometimes mutually exclusive. I will say, if I were beginning today, I would avoid traditional oils and experiment with the water soluble oil paints, or acrylics, or watercolors. Just because oils and turpentine and linseed oils, etc. are so toxic.

which type of painting or brushes? brushes for chinese ink painting you can get it at UE3 Jalan Cheras, if you are in Kuala Lumpur. brushes for oil painting. Nangyang bookshop. Jalan petaling street. the price is resonable.