{"id":813197,"date":"2024-03-03T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-03T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/?p=812335"},"modified":"2024-03-04T09:48:22","modified_gmt":"2024-03-04T17:48:22","slug":"guide-to-photoshop-brushes-pt-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/guide-to-photoshop-brushes-pt-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The complete guide to Adobe Photoshop brushes, Part 2: Types of brushes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you\u2019re just getting into creating digital art with Adobe Photoshop<\/a> and your Wacom device, or have been using them for a while but want to deepen your understanding of how Photoshop works so you can level up your artistic practice, this guide is for you. The best way to create digital art is to use the full range of the features available in software like Photoshop -- and you need a creative pen tablet or display, like a Wacom Intuos, Wacom One, or Wacom Cintiq<\/a>, to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is Part Two<\/strong> of our four-part, complete guide to Adobe Photoshop<\/a>\u2019s brush engine. If you haven't already, be sure to check out Part One<\/a> before continuing. This post will walk through all the different types of brushes that Photoshop has to offer. This will be important to understand before Parts Three and Four go into the settings of these brushes, and then finally how to create your own. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Let\u2019s take a moment away from Photoshop's interface to cover the different types of brushes and why you\u2019d use them. For this and the following sections, I asked several questions about brush use to artist Axel Patterson<\/a>, who goes by Omtay Dover<\/a> around the internet and previously wrote \u201cHow to Draw Your Dragon<\/a>\u201d for us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look throughout this article for boxes with gray backgrounds, like this one, for Photoshop brush insight from a pro.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The basic types of Photoshop Brushes<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

There are countless subtypes, but I think these are the broad categories most of them fall into:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Round Brushes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hard and Soft Round: this is as simple as digital painting gets. A circle, with hard or soft edges, that makes pixels change color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are two extremes on the spectrum of digital painters: \"brush hoarders\" and \"Round-Brush purists.\" Most of us will fall somewhere in between, but an exercise many pros recommend is to practice using only the Hard Round brush for a piece. It\u2019ll force you to focus on values, colors, and blending, not taking shortcuts to achieve an aesthetic result, and help overcome the idea that you just need the right brushes to take your art to the next level. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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