I found these brushes a few years back at my local Michael’s store–I was searching for something else, and noticed these in a rack.  I bought a set and took them home, not sure what I would do with them. Once I’d opened them and played with them a little, I saw that the pointy ones would be perfect for spot dyeing.

Oddly enough, a short while ago I came across this photo of a pysankarka in Chornyi Potik spot dyeing a pysanka; she uses what appears to be a wooden dowel sharpened to a point like a pencil to apply the dye to the egg:

I use these Fantastix in a similar manner.  The plastic handle has a fibrous tip; there are two sorts, a pointed one and a “bullet” tip.  I prefer the pointed one (top):

The fibers hold onto paint or dye much like a brush does; I just dip the brush into a small pot of dye, and then apply it where needed. I rinse out the brushes after using.

You can buy the brushes with or without caps; small sets come with, large bulk purchases are usually without. hey are not really necessary, if you rinse and pat dry the tip between uses.

These brushes can, of course, also be used to apply large swathes of dye, as would be needed when creating faux sgraffito eggs.  Just load the brush up with dye, brush it on (using the sides of the brush and not just the tip), and pat dry:

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