Everywhere you look you see brushes. Those brushes add an extra dimension and lots of ooomph to your layout. As a paper scrapper it’s very easy to add a little dimension to your lay out. All you need is a digital kit with brushes, graphic software or you can create your own.
Do you have a favorite flower, or garden, if the answer is yes to both you are half way there. We are going to explore both options from a kit and creating your own.
Here is the supply list you will need:
- A digital kit with brushes
- Graphic software or Microsoft word
- Printer
- Transparencies
I am using the Little Black dress kit from dragonflaire.com, and a picture. Here’s the first step:
- Open the file in your graphic software or Word.
- Locate the brush you want to use
- Open the picture then duplicate the picture by going into Image duplicate, close original picture for safe keeping.
TIP: Always duplicate the image in case you need to use it another way later. :)
Second step: This is where the fun begins
- Create another layer for the brush
- On the color palette select your colors, it can be any color. I selected a pale pink by using the eye dropper to sample the shirt she is wearing.
Step 3:
- Decide where you want to place the brush. In this picture since she is looking to the right I wanted to create the illusion she is looking at the brush.
- Then I changed the blend mode of the layer to burn. Experiment with the blend modes until you are sastified with a blend.
- If the brush is over the picture and you don’t like the look you can use the eraser tool or a small soft brush and delete the part you don’t want. Look at step 3 picture.
Now I’m happy with the brush but I want to grunge it a bit. There are several ways to do this as well.
- You can use a brush at a very small point and select white for colour and just squiggle, or you can use the eraser tool with a brush to grunge it it up
See pic #4 I gave it a bit of an aged look by erasing lightly.
At this point you are done! Very easy
TIPS! Other things you could do with the pics are to add an overlay to the picture like pic #5.
- I added an overlay and changed the blend mode by using the paper from the kit, then I added more colour as a layer.
- Other ideas: You can add swirls and layer the brushes and change the blend modes. My favorite trick is to layer a number of brushes then change the blend mode. Then I distressed parts of the brushes.
Now for the next step if you have a flower and want to create a brush it’s easy.
- First open the flower in your graphic software.
Then duplicate the image and close original
(Picture 1)
- We are going to select the image by using the Lasso tool (Picture 2)
- Select the area and make sure you select a large feather to give the brush a soft edge. (Picture 3)
TIPS:
- When creating brushes always select a large feather. It will give the edges a soft look as opposed to a hard edge. In Photshop, you can create as large as 2500 pixels and in PSP 11 as large as 900 pixels.
- Next select file export create brushes
Give your brush a name and voila you are done.
I created a mother’s day with this brush and printed on tranparency for later.
TIP:
- Other things to do with brushes, how about using some letters you have received as a brush then print them to create your own paper.
In this case I duplicated the brush by using a darker colour and created a border for my card.
In PhotoshopCS2
There are tons of tutorials on the internet on how to install and use the brushes in CS2. Here’s a simple way.
- Adobe>Photoshop>>Preset>>Brushes file. (It’s better to have them in a folder not to bog sown your system.)
- Select your brush tool.
- Select your menu bar and select the arrow for the drop-down menu.
- In the window you will see your brushes and you can change their size and diameter.
If you have any questions or comments I can be reached at Dragonflairestudios@Yahoo.com
Have fun, create your ART. |
