Originally posted by bjolester Well, if one takes a look at forums for musicians, one will find that musicians are equally obsessed with gear as photographers. Drummers discuss what sticks are best, guitarist discuss strings, amplifiers, and guitars, saxophone players discuss reeds, mouthpieces and saxophones, and so on. Some of these people in music forums also make great music, but many (most of them) spend all their time debating on forums about which gear is best, instead of practising and performing music. Music forums and photography forums are not very different from each other.
It is no different among watercolor enthusiasts, its not too uncommon for discussions about brushes and how they compare to the high end models.
a great deal of brushes I used and was recognised by fellow painters was the Kolinsky sable brushes. if you had one in your hand they was often discussions with compared to others and synthetical models.
If you look at promotional videos about the kolinsky sable series 7 brushes they really don't different from that of promotional videos on lens or camera Manufacturing because people like quality and the subtle differences that quality can bring to their work, how they feel in hand and enjoyment from using them.
A painter may not discuss with a person buying one of their paintings what brushes they use, but get into a room of painters and see how long it takes for someone who likes to paint to start a discussion on the paint or their brushes