Prz,
I have found that it's not so much the size of the brush as the ability of the brush to maintain a very fine point and the thinning of the paint. I have watched figure painters of the highest rank paint eyeballs using a 0 brush, but it was a Windsor/Newton Series 7 Kolinsky Sable brush and the paint was perfectly thinned. Also, I briefly studied icon painting with an amazing Russian artist and she said she "always knew exactly where the tip of her brush was in regards to the surface being painted". After further explanation and demonstration, her point became clear.....that it was a matter of how much pressure one puts on the brush, the more pressure causing more fluid to be released. Also, that the least amount of pressure must be applied when first touching the surface, as that is when the most amount of fluid is still held in the bristles. It's all obvious but having an artist demonstrate it makes it that much clearer.
An interesting side note; I attended the World Expo in 2005. This is the tri-annual gathering of the world's finest figure painters. The year I attended it was the Russian women icon painters who walked away with most of the gold, and rightly so as their technical painting ability was unmatched. And they all freely admitted that they had no real interest in figure painting, but, knew that they could sell the prize winning figures to collectors for a pretty penny...er, ah ruble. And did they!!!
Cheers from NYC,
Michael
