I confess... I have a lot of brushes. I mean A LOT of brushes! And if you've purchased one of my brush packs then you have a lot too. It's fun to try out new brushes and see what kind of marks they make and try to imagine the possibilities, and how you can fit them into your next painting. BUT... It can also be a stumbling block at times, and can easily pull you out of the painting process searching for just the right brush. "Ahhh... Found it!" Now what was I was painting again?
In this video I'm going to cover my process for picking out my brushes BEFORE I begin a painting. "Before!?" You might ask... But how do you know which ones to choose?
Think of brushes by brush type versus individual brushes
I sort my brushes by "brush type". Meaning that I pull 8-10 brushes for a painting or two before changing them out for some variety later on.
The brush types that I'm searching for typically fall into these categories:
- Pencil
- Detailer (small pointed brush)
- Round Opaque (for blocking in areas of color)
- Round Transparent (for color shifting areas)
- Hard Edge Brushes
- Soft Edge Brushes (like an airbrush)
- Flat Brushes (for paint stroke effects)
- Wash / Paint Effects
- Splatter Effects
Where do these brush categories come from?
These brush type categories come from my experience painting traditionally. I usually have a tool to do a certain task. Like a small round for details, a large flat for big washes or areas of color. The difference between these traditional brushes and digital brushes is that the traditional brush can make an infinite amount of marks depending on factors like the amount of paint versus water in the brush, or the grain / texture of the paper.
Digital brushes are a bit more limited in the marks that they make, so that's why I like to have so many and switch them out often so that I have that nice variety and surprise while painting digitally.
Conclusion
Check out the video and watch me select some brushes for a drawing I just completed. Let me know if this method helps you to organize your own brushes, and if it keeps you from becoming distracted or overwhelmed by brush hunting.
