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Photoshop Tips
Using Custom Photoshop Brushes to Create Traditional Painting Effects
Dateline: November 16, 2005
Version: Photoshop CS
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| Illustrator Damian Fagan altered brush dynamics to create custom brushes for the look of a traditional painting in his fantastical interpretation of Pescadora, a mythical fisherwoman.
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Fagan created a foundation for the
painting by drawing elements with the
Lasso tool and filling the selections with
solid colors that would serve as middle
values for shadows and highlights. Each
element was drawn and filled on its own
layer for individual manipulation.
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Click to enlarge
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Fagan employed a simple way to
mold 3D shapes from the flat-color
elements without applying more color.
In the Brushes palette menu, he chose
and appended the Natural Brushes 2
presets, and selected the Wet Brush 60
tip. He then customized the tip in the
Brushes palette by altering the Shape
Dynamics and varying the intensity of
the stroke pressure in Other Dynamics
so the brush would assume a more
painterly quality. Fagan selected the
Burn tool, chose his custom Wet Brush
tip, and darkened each element’s edges.
He started with a low Exposure setting
in the Options bar and slowly increased
the percentage to create dimension
and form. Depending on the color of
the element, he could deepen the color
or even vary its hue as he did with the
water wings, which took on an reddish
quality.
He then contrasted the contours
with the Dodge tool. “While the Burn and
Dodge tools are valuable for modifying
exposure in photography, using them in
this manner simulates the application of
varying hues,” he says. “I can modify the
existing color values of an element and
ensure the resulting color range will be
consistent with the original color value.”
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Since it is difficult to paint smooth
arcs or uniform edges with traditional
brushes, Fagan wanted the hard edges
of his Wacom-drawn elements to appear
more hand-painted. He sampled a color
along the edge of an element with the
Eyedropper tool, selected the Brush tool,
decreased its size, and painted along
an edge. This method worked well to
muddy the bottom contour of the torso.
While he painted on the element’s edge,
he changed color periodically, then
ducked in and out with the Blur tool
for some subtle irregularities.
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With the basic shapes formed, Fagan
further enhanced the realistic paint
effect. He added a new layer above an
element’s existing layer and used the
Brush tool with the same custom Wet
Brush tip to paint loose strokes and
blotches of color. He often chose high contrast
and complementary colors to
stand out from shapes underneath, such
as adding orange and yellow blotches
on the face.
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In the past, Fagan used the Texturizer
filter to simulate the look of canvas, but
it created a perfectly uniform texture
that looked computer-generated when
printed on canvas paper. “In traditional
painting, the paint sometimes thins out,
and the texture of the canvas shows
through,” he notes. To recreate this,
Fagan made a canvas brush using his
custom Wet Brush tip. He added to the
dynamics of the brush by selecting
Texture in the Brushes palette and clicking
the arrow next to the Texture icon for
a pull-down list of textures. He clicked
the arrow in the textures list, appended
the Texture Fill 2 set, and chose the
Weave 2 preset. He created a new layer
and used his custom canvas brush to dab
white in open areas of the background.
He also used this method to create the
moon, then lowered the layer Opacity
to blend it with the background. Making
sure to adjust only the brush Size and
not the Master Diameter, Fagan used
a smaller version of the custom canvas
brush in detailed areas. He also used the
brush on a separate layer to make shadows
on the swim cap. He sampled color
on the edge of the cap, painted with the
brush, and set the layer blending mode
to Multiply.
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Fagan used a default brush, Dune
Grass, to add detail to the sea floor in
the lower right corner.
To add a whimsical texture to the
background, he appended the
Special Effect Brushes from the
Brushes palette menu and selected
the Hypno Lines brush tip to apply
at various sizes.
The final image is shown at left (click to enlarge).
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Illustrator Damian Fagan is based in San Francisco.
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