[Nebulus]

I'm new to this forum and I was hoping to find some useful resources to help me paint better. By resources I mean guides covering specific techniques to create a given texture or effect that you won�t typically find in your general �how to draw� tutorials. Not that I didn�t enjoy the stickied tutorial thread. It has quite an exasperating list of tutorials.

But the one resource I�ve truly been searching for are brushes! As much as practice and tutorials help, sometimes having the rights tools (including the right brushes) by your side makes all the difference in the world. There's no point in trying to desperately and meticulously attempt to make an unfit brush do a job it wasn�t meant for when you can simply use a brush specifically designed for the job and accomplish the desire effect in one swell stroke of the pen.
Sure, there are plenty of websites dedicated solely at offering a litany of cool Adobe Photoshop or Corel Painter brushes. But its a daunting task to sift through all the options. And, not doubt, the brushes provided by the more accomplished Sijun members are of a scale and class far superior than the brushes that are readily available across the net.

So for those of you who have been trying to make or find a particular brush for a particular task but couldn't quite get your hands on it this thread might just be your solution. Here you�ll be able to find, test, share, and evaluate your fellow artist�s favorite brush(es).

How to post your brush:

Of course you'll have to figure out a way to attach your brush file to your post. For those of you with a server or webhosting account feel free to upload the brush you wish to share onto your website server space and list the url. You can use http://www.megaupload.com/ to upload your individual brush, and you can upload your images from either www.imageshack.us or http://photobucket.com/

If you can upload an image of your brush stroke onto the internet please do so. It would be best that you make this brush stroke over a white background. Unless of course you�re demonstrating an eraser brush, in which case, showcase how it erases a colorful and busy background.

Begin by offering a basic set of descriptions:
What should the brush be used for?:
Is it to be used early on. Is it typically used for the background or foreground. For fine tuning and detailing. To blend and offer transition between colors. Is it a multipurpose brush etc�

What category would you best place it in?:
Grudge, dry, wet, bristle, sponge, sharp, grain etc..

List the desired specifications:
size, opacity, flow etc.

Given the massive amounts of brushes available please only post the brushes that you've found to be the most effective at performing a given task. If you find that users are beginning to posts too many brushes that only have minor differences from one another try and showcase a brush that isn't like the one's previously posted (Unless you feel so adamant that your brush is far superior to it�s similar counterparts).

In order to make the search easy for everyone I must insist that you provide all the information detailing the brush's qualities and purpose. If there are intermediate steps necessary to really make the brush achieve it fullest potential then provide the necessary details. If you provide illustrations in which the given brush strokes were used, and if these strokes are obscured by other brush strokes (that is to say: if the brush your presenting is difficult to discern or not pronounced enough) then try and indicate precisely where the brush was used on your image to help viewers locate the brush�s role in your artwork.

Combination brushes:
Some brushes can be seen as pretty pointless. But when matched and used in unison with another brush it suddenly becomes remarkable. Some brushes only seem to shine best when coupled with another brush. If so feel free to list good brush combinations.

Perhaps once we accumulate many brushes we could eventually have everyone vote on their favorite brush and we could maybe create a webpage that will hold only the best brushes our top artists have to offer and accompanying each brush would be a long description of its effects and description on how to properly use it.

This is strictly �open source/shareware�, copyrighted brushes are not allowed.

[Nebulus]

I'm quite new to digital painting, so like all �newbies� I went about searching for information. And in the pass month I�ve gathered all the necessary tools; I bought a wacom tablet, burrowed my friend�s photoshop and not being satisfied with the default brush photoshop provides I naturally searched for quality brushes. After exhaustively searching the internet, I�ve yet to come across anything that surpass the quality of Dave Nagel�s brush series.

It would seem the most common brush available on the internet outline the shape of objects that focus on themes such as holiday decorations, sports, and architecture while others are about trees, birds, or snowflakes. I�ve found few that were designed solely for giving the brush a specific texture that was designed to emulate natural media. It would seem the primary use for brushes is to create stencil-like cutouts that can, for the most part, only be dabbed and selectively placed onto your canvas than it is to design a brush that was intended to be stroked and swiped and follow all the motion and behavior of common media applicators like paintbrushes, cloth, rags, rollers and sponges.

You�ll notice that a number of his sets are designed to help �create human and animal texture maps for 3D applications to add a little depth to the surfaces of objects�. But they can just as easily be used in 2D composition; like for generating deep textures for use in backgrounds or for creating abstract art.

Most, if not all of his brush collections are fully dynamic allowing you to control various aspects of the brush through pen pressure, tilt and direction. Each individual brush has also been given specific presets to give the brush its desired effect. So david tested and tweaked every single brush. Configuring its size, opacity, scattering, color variation, blending mode, and other parameters.
And if the effects aren�t to your satisfaction fear not, for:
"(If you would like to modify a brush and save the modifications to a new preset, you can do this by opening the Brushes palette, then choosing "New Brush Preset" from the flyaway menu on the top right of the palette. This applies to both Photoshop CS and Photoshop CS2.)"
Another fantastic thing about his brush is that �the brushes are available for download free and can be used for commercial and non-commercial purposes alike.�


I�m looking forward to seeing what you guys use. I hope the brushes will help you as much as they�ve helped me.
The brush series I�ve used the most so far are:
Series #29, 41, 31, 22, and 26.

Dave Nagel's series can be found here: http://photoshop.digitalmedianet.com/articles/splasharticle.jsp?type=downloads

Here�s a look at some of his brushes:
Series 41:
Nagel Series 41 Bristles 4:

Charcoal 2:

Rough Pastel 4:


Nagel Series 29-Rough Chalk 1

Nagel Series 29-Coarse Bristles 2

Nagel Series 29-Coarse Bristles 1

Nagel Series 29-Pastel 1


Set # 22:

[EraserX]

I just put up a bunch of free Photoshop brushes on DeviantArt, all custom by me. No cost, no restrictions for using them, just enjoy.

http://eraserx.deviantart.com/art/Photoshop-Brushes-77303422


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