Comments about Isabey Mongoose Brushes:

Mongoose brushes are in my opinion vastly superior to sable for oil painting, and Isabey makes the best I've ever used. Their superiority to the Raphael mongoose brushes is somewhat slight, but nonetheless quite appreciable.

Mongoose brushes have *much* more spring than any sable, but are every bit as precise and as capable of applying fluid paint wet into wet without lifting the underlayer or leaving undesirable streaks.
On the other hand they're stiff enough for fairly vigorous brushstrokes, if that is desired.

As compared to sable, there are only advantages and absolutely no disadvantages, as far as I'm concerned.
(That is if we're talking oils; mongoose is no good for watercolor, trust me.)
Every sable I've ever used obliges you to dilute the paint almost to the point of transparency before the limp sable hair will stand up to it. (If for some reason you feel you *must* use sables for oil painting, Escoda and Utrecht make best brushes.)

There are two downsides:

When mongoose hair is used for filberts, there is a tendency for the hairs to stick together and form "prongs" like a fork. For this reason I prefer to compliment my array of filberts with Da Vinci black sables (which don't have this problem at all). Mongoose brushes are (in my opinion) good in filberts, and absolutely peerless in brights and rounds.

The other problem is that mongoose hair, for whatever reason, appears to make it very difficult for the manufacterer to ensure consistent quality, as individual brushes of the same make tend to vary quite considerably. I recommend buying them at a store where you can inspect them first, if possible.

Comments about Isabey Mongoose Brushes:

I really loved these brushes for the first painting I did with them, but then I noticed that they seemed to be getting shorter and shorter in length of bristles. So I measured the length and compared it to the online listed length and sure enough they were shorter. It was like the ends had disintegrated. I'm not sure if it's the brush, the way that I paint, the scale that I paint, or from cleaning with mineral spirits. Either way, I'm very sad that they only lasted me through one painting, but I might try getting one or two more to see if a more careful treatment of them will result in longer lasting brushes because they do handle very nicely.

Comments about Isabey Mongoose Brushes:

I bought a few of these brushes a year ago, and during this time have collected quite a fistful.

They are wonderfully versatile and suit my style of work perfectly. In fact they are the most heavily used out of my arsenal of brushes.

I like to paint in oils, in large scale, and high, crisp detail. At a certain angle they possess a stiffness almost akin to boar bristles, to where they can pick up and lay down paint with great ease. At the same time their tips and flat edges are so soft, like kolinsky, allowing exquisite blending. They are very pleasant to work with.

The smaller sizes do require more careful handling, or perhaps I've been bashing them around too much everyday, however there's nothing wrong with amassing a bunch of scrubbers, which are useful for so many things, from cleaning up edges to creating a myriad of textures.

I would say to start with 3 brushes, maybe #1, 4, and 6, just to get a feel of them and enjoy the experience of not having to fight with one's tools.

Hope this was helpful!

Comments about Isabey Mongoose Round Series 6115:

I use the moongoose for some detail and fill of large lettering on show cards and large card stock setups for trade shows. Its versatility allows edge cleanup, fill and just about anything you can throw at it when working up to a larger scale. It's characteristic memory holds a good resavoir and yet will still hold its width to continue a stroke with the same fan without fear of engorging. It's a winner!

Comments about Isabey Mongoose Brushes:

I'm an oil painter; don't waste this brush on acrylic or such. Mongoose hair was created for plant oils and damar resin...

I've been on leave for a long time after an accident. At the time I couldn't find these anywhere and am so happy to find them at Dick Blick! With a vase full of mongoose and another of big hogs I can do about anything. I don't feel a huge need for sables, although I have them because a couple particular ones are golden in the hand, but I buy mongoose when I can find it and afford it now and Isabey is the best, worth every very well priced cent here- I'm amazed at the great prices.
It glazes, it does teeny details, it has a nice stiffness but still soft enough to caress a little spot of color. And the snap!

Brushes are very, very personal things, but I'd encourage every one to try these. Just one or two to start. I had a real fondness for Grumbacher's Renoir sables back in the day; They got me some excellent work done in school. These mongoose fellas have a lot of the glaze power but are tougher, they won't wear as fast and can take a bit heavier hand. Still have that sensuous touch though.