GRAPHICS AND TYPE
- CREATE AND CUSTOMISE PHOTOSHOP BRUSHES
Eric Proctor (tsaoshin.deviantart.com) is also a fan of the
brushes in Photoshop, especially custom tips: “Being able to set and adjust various brush parameters such as scatter,
opacity and linking actions to tablet pressure gives me the control I need to create a brush set that emulates traditional
methods. My library for brushes includes custom brush tip sets to help me automate tedious tasks like creating blades of
grass, texture on rocks and strands of hair.”Fredy Santiago (Photoshop’s brushes to add texture to his art: “The way I http://www.imsugarcoated.com) uses
use the paintbrush is mostly to control textures that I want in certain areas; it gives me the opportunity to display
contrast within the image. The Brush tool has also allowed me to use different tricks with it, like experimenting with
opacity, Flow, brush assets and [variable] options. From time to time I create my own brushes; I am a big fan of
graphite-like texture brushes and watercolour ones.”Marco and Stefano of Van Orton Design (www.
vanortondesign.combrushes when it comes to delivering their electric designs: ) also rave about the importance of
“Perhaps the answer will be trivial, but for us the most important tool is just the brush and a good tablet –
absolutely essential for the success of some phases of our work. Also a good use of black marks and appropriate
selections complete the work in the right way.”- USE PHOTOSHOP WITH OTHER SOFTWARE
Many illustrators use other programs, such as Adobe
Illustrator, 3D software and painting programs, but
Photoshop has a key role to play in these workflows.
For Shaivalini Kumar (www.behance.net/shaivalini),
Photoshop is an essential component in getting the
illustrations to completion: “Being a graphic designer, I
use Adobe Illustrator a lot. But for all my illustration
work, I use Photoshop, as it gives me more control
over my rendering. I often create my base shapes in
vector format in Illustrator, and then texture them and
give them highlights in Photoshop. A lot of my
illustrations require the use of the Airbrush, Dry
brushes, Watercolour brushes, etc, therefore my final
compositing for my illustrations is done in Photoshop.
“What Photoshop also allows me to do is use
pressure sensitivity while drawing, therefore giving me
maximum control over my strokes. I am also heavily
into typography and editorial design. Photoshop,
therefore, is the best place for me to create hyper-
realistic mockups. It helps me in presenting my work
in the best manner. The action-coded layers in
Photoshop mockups make it very easy to use them.
For me, Photoshop is a complete package [and in]
using [it] I can create my artwork and deliver it in the
best way possible too.”
André Souza (www.samurai.cc) likes the variety that the
Brush tool in Photoshop offers him: “I don’t know if it’s the most important tool, but I really like and know the
importance of how to work with brushes, I think you can achieve a great variety of [art], only using brushes. You can
paint, you can retouch, you can cut with brushes and you can [customise] this in infinite ways”© André Souza© Eric Proctor © Fredy Santiago © Van Orton Design© Shaivalini Kumar