Jan, welcome to a long, long road of learning. I paint in acrylics so I'll hit the answers that I know and leave the rest to others. Your brushes are horrible and will lead to insanity. It may be the way you are handling them, but they were very cheap, and that may be the problem. Some brushes come with a bit of gum arabic on their bristles to protect them in transit and maintain their shape. Just stand them briefly in warm water and gently work it out. That said, water is a HUGE enemy of oil brushes, and will swell the fibers and make them unruly. Synthetic brushes don't do that, because they don't absorb water and are the choice of acrylic painters (who use a LOT of water!). Oil painters found synthetics sensitive to the cleaners that were used, such as turpentine and mineral spirits or gasoline (not a typo!!), so stayed with natural fibers, such as hogs' hair. Paint that builds up at the base of the bristles also causes the splaying that tips the ends out, as will cleaning them and leaving them to dry with the bristles pointing up (water seeps down into the ferrule) . Dry flat or hanging tips down. My go-to for brush cleaning is Windsor and Newton's brush cleaner, which is nothing short of a miracle compound, and safe. I have also heard of methods (for oils only!!) where you don't clean your brushes, but rather dip them in something (ask Google!) that keeps them from drying out for a few days and avoids cleaning altogether. I would suggest that you go to an art store or two where they will allow you to handle and test drive the brushes. Personally I would go for a synthetic. There are newer ones that have the body and spring you need for oils and can cope with water. You also need to find out which brushes you like to work with: long or short bristles, flat or round, curved ends (filbert, my fave) or blunt/square. It is a long process, but start with a couple of medium sized, decent quality brushes and find out what works for you. The other problem is your substrate: it is probably way too smooth to hold paint. Get cheap practice pads and use both sides of the paper until it starts to make sense for you. Then you can find ways to make your own surfaces. That said, your study has a lot of really good stuff happening! You are well under way. Lay your paint on a textured, gessoed surface with a good brush (that doesn't scrape off paint with the ratty bristles) and you are going to find it a rather blissful experience!