How to Create Basic Photoshop Brushes

Every illustrator starts out using great brush sets, or even just the standard brushes that come with their device. I am a firm believer that when you are starting out in illustration you should use the basic brushes that come with Procreate or Photoshop.

Basic set or custom brushes?

There are many articles online about this topic. Everyone has an opinion about whether or not you should create your own brushes or use the default ones that come with Photoshop/Procreate. I think it really just depends on which materials feel the most comfortable. When I started digital painting, it felt extremely unnatural to me and took me years to really click.

Paper screen for your iPad. A paper texture screen might help in the transition to drawing on the iPad. I also have a Wacom tablet. My workflow is quicker when I use the Wacom because I can paint directly into Photoshop. However, I find the iPad is a lot more versatile and portable.

As far as the brushes themselves, I have become accustomed to modifying the brush settings. You can do this easily when you select a brush and go into the options panel. Play around with adjusting these settings and then save the brush. This will help in getting used to digital painting with the iPad.

Step 1 : Creating Your Brushes

The first step to creating a custom brush is to paint, snap a photo, or use an ink brush with watercolor paper. Create the design or brush texture on paper.

Step 2: Scan the Paper and Save

Scan the textures you just created. I use a basic $100 Canon scanner and save the image as a high resolution (300dpi) image to my desktop.

Step 3: Open in Photoshop

After saving the newly scanned image, I boot up Photoshop and open the image. Here you will select the background with the magic wand tool and then hit mask. You may have more than one brush on one page. If that is the case, you will need to use the selection tool and select one brush at a time.

Select the original image and paste it to a new layer. Select the brush again and then go to Edit > Define Brush. You can then export the brush and save it to your desktop or Adobe Library.

I painted this digital conceptual piece using the iPad and Apple Pencil. They have become favorite way to create digital art and make a great tool for lettering.

My Custom Brush Pack

You can also download my custom brushes in my shop for $2. I created them because I wanted to get the feel of an ink drawing in my digital paintings that has a real texture. I painted these brushes with a lettering ink brush on watercolor paper.