Boy will this generate a zillion different answers!
So, for my two cents worth. I've used many different brushes: disposable
ones, hake brushes, hog's hair bristle ones, etc etc and I swear by the
Puddle Pusher concept. Note concept. Sorry to potentially take business
away from B&S, whom we all love, but for 50 cents one can make for oneself
the same thing out of some 1/2" acrylic rod and some 1/8" inch acrylic
sheet for the handle. I've used them myself and with workshop students for
many years and they're great. I print on Arches Platine now. Granted,
rougher papers may prefer some brush strokes, but my acrylic spreaders work
wonderfully with Crane's Kid, Ecru, and Platinotype (by many names) and
Arche's Platine and Aquarelle.
And for prints up to 16x20, but it gets dicey working that large as it does
with brushes. Spreading so few drops of sensitizer over such a large area
is troublesome and different papers sometimes require different techniques.
And much of it all depends simply on the user's preference.
Good luck,
Bill
*************************************************************************
WILLIAM LAVEN PHOTOGRAPHY
Offering Platinum/Palladium printing services and workshops and tutorials
in Pt/Pd printing and other areas of photography (Zone System, etc.)
1931 23rd Street, San Francisco, CA, 94107
415-647-9432 (voice) 415-647-9438 (fax)
wmlaven@platinotype.com
www.platinotype.com
*************************************************************************