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Photoshop: What brushes do you paint with?

bounchfx
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bounchfx mod
I'm sitting here trying to improve my photoshop painting technique, and while painting I realize that most of the awesome paintings I see done with photoshop have a lot of brush strokes that certainly aren't made with the circle brush.

my question is what do you guys use when painting in photoshop?

what makes you pick a certain brush and how do you go about using it efficiently? there are so many unique, interesting paintings out there done with PS and I look at them and have no idea how they came up with that result.

how/when do you know to use a specific brush, or what do you just default to when painting to get a more interesting result? I'm not sure I like the circle brush, but it's also most likely because I just don't have enough experience and ability using it yet.

thanks!
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  • Kawe
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    Kawe polycounter lvl 8
    I think variations of the hard and soft brushes is all you need. once you have mastered them you can start looking at other brushes imo. it's like everything else really... brushes are amazing time savers but like many other time savers you still need to be able to use the basic stuff. kind of how I started out texturing thinking I could use photoshop filters to do everything.. I'm still laughing at myself for that :)

    so I figured that I'll probably realize myself when I can start making brushes and use them efficiently. like if I'm doing something repetitive that I can turn into a brush or something like that.

    that's one way of thinking. another is to sit down and experiment with brushes like mad. make a bunch. play with the settings and try to make something with only the brush you are creating. when you've done that enough it'll most likely be easier to figure out when to use what.

    erh.. basically I don't think there's a rule or trick to when to make and use a specific brush. gotta figure that out yourself.

    but ya.. try the default hard brush. it's a square I think and it's probably the "next step" if you want to move on. it may not change much about how you paint things but it'll give your painting another feeling I believe... and once you start mixing it up with the circle brush you are familiar with it'll give you endless possibilities :) then you could try making some more advanced brushes.
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  • Jeremy Lindstrom
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    Jeremy Lindstrom polycounter lvl 18
    on a related note, I have a problem painting and instead find myself 'coloring' i've talked it over with a couple guys here and as soon as I said that they knew exactly what I meant. I'd love to learn to 'paint' instead of 'color' just not sure how/where to start. :D
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  • Eric Chadwick
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    Eric Chadwick admin
    Dekard, take a painting class. Might be something online, but in-person is best. Make sure the teacher's work really rocks, you don't want some joe blow who doesn't know jack squat.
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  • Ryno
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    Ryno polycounter lvl 18
    I probably use 60%+ custom brushes, most being my own. As an environmental artist, getting organic irregularity is very important.
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  • Jeremy Lindstrom
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    Jeremy Lindstrom polycounter lvl 18
    EricChadwick wrote: »
    Dekard, take a painting class. Might be something online, but in-person is best. Make sure the teacher's work really rocks, you don't want some joe blow who doesn't know jack squat.


    Yeah, the wife and I went to a painting class, the dude was like just paint no instruction. :D
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  • Japhir
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    Japhir polycounter lvl 16
    mostly i use a (slightly rounded off) square, set up so that it follows the direction of the stroke. also with opacity and flow marked as pen-pressure. and minimum diameter up to about 60%. don't know why, but i really like it :D
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  • Mark Dygert
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    Mark Dygert mod
    Standard Hard and soft round/square brushes, mixed with a few custom brushes for things like hair, weld marks and grunge.

    And yea painting classes are great, these should get you rolling and hungry for more.
    http://www.bobross.com/howto3.cfm?type=Landscape&Page=Autumn&ExpandHowTo=True
    http://silviahartmann.com/art-bob-ross-beginners.php#Bob_Ross_Beginner_Exercises__
    http://www.gfxartist.com/features/tutorials
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  • Eric Chadwick
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    Eric Chadwick admin
    Ouch Vig, not Bob Ross. The gfxartist tuts are good though, especially Ron Lemen's tuts. Of course the perennial PSG tut is also worth checking out.
    http://itchstudios.com/psg/art_tut.htm

    Sorry to hear that Dekard, that's why you gotta check out their work first, interview them like you would if you were hiring them (can I see examples of your work, tell me about your teaching style, etc.).

    (sorry to the OP for derailing the thread)
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  • bounchfx
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    bounchfx mod
    Japhir wrote: »
    set up so that it follows the direction of the stroke.

    how is this done?
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  • Mark Dygert
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    Mark Dygert mod
    Bob Ross rocks... or rather did... I could watch the guy paint for hours on end, but true he wasn't the greatest of teachers.
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  • System
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    System admin
    I'm really not fond of over the top custom brushes, I share kawe's sentiments and i think its probably a lot better to be able to paint and create things with a simple brush before jumping in the deepend and using crazy assed brushes.

    Ryno - i've been wondering about environments with that approach lately, I really love the whole abstract idea of carving/sculpting forms out of the random noise/texture that is generated but I feel like im cheating myself. It feels too easy to make things up - believable or not!


    I really enjoy using; http://zhuzhu.deviantart.com/art/Z-PS-Brushes-V2-55088505

    those brushes, more specifically, the "Art Marker, Pastel and Smooth Flat" - mainly because of their chizzled shape and the way they work. I also just stick to 100% opacity and flow on brush sensitivity because i feel like i learn more if im picking a colour and seeing how it works without any blending trickery and whatnot.

    Im in love with these guys stuff at the moment and have been for a long time;

    http://www.redbeardead.com/c9/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1654

    http://crayonboxofdoom.blogspot.com/

    Such amazing use of ...everything!
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  • bounchfx
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    bounchfx mod
    on a related note: what type of brush do you need to make use of flow?

    I was trying to paint with lower opacity which usually has its uses for blending when I remembered that flow does the same type of thing if I remember correctly, and in airbrush mode, but I turned it on and flow to 40 and it was still projecting the full color, I was confused?

    any tips on using flow or whatnot?

    and thanks for the links jackwhat! your color studies in general really motivated me to start doing these daily

    edit: wow there's some bad ass brushes in here
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