photoshop brushes horses

The best shading/blending methods for digital painting…?
I’ve been doing digital paintings/airbrushings for about a year and a half now. I recently (last month) purchased Corel Painter X, after using Photoshop Elements 5.0 for about a year. Painter is MUCH more effective for paintings. I use the Wacom Intous3 tablet.
Now, after working a LOT, with Painter over the past few weeks–I’m wondering what the best shading/blending methods are. Or, what brushes are best to use for what. I mainly work on horses–and all animals. I occasionally do humans, but not nearly as often as beasts.
You can see my entire gallery here, paintedjewel.deviantart.com I have yet to submit any works that I’ve done with Painter, because my Internet really hasn’t been cooperative.
Now, here is a direct link to the gallery (the other links to the main page): http://paintedjewel.deviantart.com/gallery/ My most recent being, “Kitanii WIP”.
lot of sites offer the tips and tutorials.But don’t get carried away , the best way to blend is by the trail and error method. Find your own style and method ,Necessity is the Mother of all Inventions
Please check this site for a sample .though its a phshop , hope it will help.
Good luck
You Suck At Photoshop #16: Define Brush Preset