Workshop
Playing with Brushes in PSP
Part 2

©Doodles by LadyFox  02/06/07 - Revised 02/14/07

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This tutorial and all images [except the PSP logos] belong to ©Doodles by LadyFox.  You may make a copy of this tutorial or print it out for your own personal use ONLY.  You are free to LINK to my tutorials if you would like to share them.  What you create from my tutorials belongs to you to do with as you wish.

Feel free to email me LadyFox

This tutorial was done with PSP9   
but could be done with version 8 or higher.

All of my tutorials are written following the steps I used to make my graphic.   
It is my hope that you will take what I provide 
and do your own thing with it. 

 

YOU WILL NEED

Paint Shop Pro -  Download a trial version 
Basic knowledge of  layers  
    Need LF_pine-001 brush 
      If you haven't already made one you can go and make one.

 
 
People do not expect to pick up a paintbrush and just start painting. It takes some practice and getting the feel of the brush.

Have you ever spent days working on a flower for example. Then wanted to use it in a scene only to find that when resized it lost most of the details? We will be experimenting with a way to make grass and flowers for those scenes.

This is the main purpose of this workshop.
1. To learn what you can and cannot do with the brushes in Paint Shop Pro
2. To practice using the brushes

These workshops will develop as I discover things that I feel need to be shared. They develop as I play with the brushes and settings and learn new things so sometimes they may seem erratic.  Mostly it is my hope that they are a fun way to learn about brushes.
  Brush Basics
  In playing with the brushes I learned some interesting things about resetting the brushes.  I will share these discoveries here.
 
Paint Shop Pro comes with some basic brushes installed
+Default
+Round 05
+Round 10
+Round 25
+Round 50 		+Square 01
+Square 05
+Square 10
+Square 25
+Square 50

The Default settings for the +Default Brush vary from the JASC versions
to the Corel versions
PSP Default Settings for PSP 8 & 9 PSP Default Settings for PSP X
Shape: Round
Size: 32
Hardness: 50
Step: 25
Density: 100
Thickness: 100
Rotation: 0
Opacity: 100
Blend Mode: Normal		 Shape: Round
Size: 32
Hardness: 50
Step: 10
Density: 100
Thickness: 100
Rotation: 0
Opacity: 100
Blend Mode: Normal
  Resetting Brushes
 
Click the drop down arrow next to the Presets window on the Tool Options Toolbar,  You will find a reset button on the side.  If you click this it will reset any brush to the PSP Default Settings.
 
This works for the following brushes:
Paint Brush
Air Brush
Retouch Brushes: Dodge, Burn, Smudge, Push, Soften, Sharpen & Emboss.  With the exception that the Dodge and Burn brushes reset to an Opacity of 10 instead of 100.
Color Correction Brushes: Lighten/Darken, Saturation Up/Down,
Hue Up/Down & Change to Target
To return any brush to it's Original Settings. Except Opacity which will remain where it is currently set.

Click the drop down arrow next to the brush tip window on the Tool Options Toolbar 
Double Click on the brush tip you want
OR
Highlight the one you want and click OK

Any of these will also reset the Brush Variance Palette
 

STEPS - These are the steps I used.

1.

Lets Play with the round brush for awhile

New Image  400x400
This is another work canvas so no need to save it

Flood Fill with White

Important
For the duration of this workshop:
When I list the entire brush settings, you need to select that tip and start from there.  Doing that will reset the brush and the variance palette.  Then make changes as needed

Otherwise we will only change a setting or two
Only change what is listed leaving everything as it was from the last step.

I will be using PSP9 Default Settings, so PSPX users will have to adjust the
Step setting.

2.

 Now For The Fun

New Layer

Foreground Color: #1b3c6d
Background Color: #b7cbe9

Paint Brush [B]

Brush Tip: + Default
Shape: Round
Size: 32
Hardness: 50
Step: 25
Density: 100
Thickness: 100
Rotation: 0
Opacity: 100
Blend Mode: Normal

Paint a small line

Change Density to: 50
Paint another short line

Change Density to: 25
Paint another short line

Reset the brush to the default settings

3.

 Lets Explore the Opacity

Paint Brush [B]
Change Opacity to: 50

Paint a small line

Change Density to: 50
Paint another short line

Change Density to: 25
Paint another short line

Change Opacity to: 25

Paint a small line

Change Density to: 50
Paint another short line

Change Density to: 25
Paint another short line

4.

 Painting Grass

Paint Brush
Brush Tip: +Round 25
Size: 25
Hardness: 60
Step: 1
Density: 100
Thickness: 2
Rotation:0
Opacity: 100

Brush Variance Palette
Color Blend: 100
Size: 5
Rotation: 5
Position Jitter: 54

Paint a short line

Brush Variance Palette
Change Rotation to: 15
Paint a short line

Brush Variance Palette
Change Rotation back to 5
Change Size to 15
Paint a short line

Brush Variance Palette

Color Blend: 100
Thickness: 5
Position Jitter: 54
Paint a short line

Brush Variance Palette
Change Size to: 5
Paint a short line

Brush Variance Palette
Change Rotation to: 5
Paint a short line

5.

 Painting Fur

Brush Variance Palette
Click the Drop Down Arrow next to Rotation
Select Direction

Paint a short line
Paint in a circle

6.

 Saving Settings - Optional

Click the Drop Down Arrow under Presets

Click the Save Button

Give Your brush a name
 
I always place LF_before the names of all brushes, tubes and shapes. This forces them to be listed together and saves searching for the one
I want

7.

 Painting Leaves

Paint Brush
Brush Tip: +Round 25
Size: 25
Hardness: 60
Step: 200
Density: 100
Thickness: 35
Rotation:0
Opacity: 100

Brush Variance Palette
Color Blend: 100
Size: 5
Click the Drop Down Arrow next to Rotation
Select Repeating Fade In  - 5
Position Jitter: 25

Scribble a small area

8.

 Painting Bricks

Paint Brush
Brush Tip: +Square 25
Size: 25
Hardness: 60
Step:100
Density: 100
Thickness:100
Rotation:0
Opacity: 100

Brush Variance Palette
Color Blend: 50

Paint a short line
Paint a second line right below the first

Brush Variance Palette
Size: 1
Paint two more lines

Change the Brush Thickness to: 55
Paint two more lines

9.

 Painting Lines

Paint Brush
Brush Tip: +Round 25
Size: 25
Hardness: 90
Step: 10
Density: 100
Thickness: 2
Rotation:0
Opacity: 100

Brush Variance Palette
Color Blend: Fade In - 0

Think of this brush as a flat tip marker
Paint some lines - straight, wavy, curved - just have fun

Brush Variance Palette
Change Color Blend to: Direction
Paint some more lines

10.

 Clouds

Active Layer: Raster 1

Flood Fill with #1b3c6d

Foreground Color: #ffffff
Background Color:#e9e7e7

Paint Brush [B]
Brush Tip: +Round 50

Shape: Round
Size: 50
Hardness: 25
Step: 100
Density: 25
Thickness: 100
Rotation: 0
Opacity: 100
Blend Mode: Normal

Brush Variance Palette
Color Blend: 55

This is what in real life painting is called the Stipple Brush, it is good for painting leaves on trees and filling large areas. I also use it for flowers

Dab the brush a few times

Change the Brush Opacity to: 70
Dab the brush a few times

11.
 

 Let's Explore The Pine Brush We Made
 If you haven't already made one you can go and make one.
  I have seen vinyl covered practice sheets used for tole painting practice. This is kind of like that so we will put each part on it's own layer. This way you can paint and if you don't like it all you do is clear that layer and try again.

The palette has 6 colors we may or may not use all of them. Feel free to try different combinations and even your own colors. 

12.

 Painting Pine Trees
  400x400
save as practice.pspimage

Flood Fill with White

New Layer: tree trunks

Paint Brush - tree trunks

Brush Tip: +Round 10
Size: 5
Hardness: 100
Step: 10
Density: 25
Thickness: 100
Rotation: 0
Opacity: 100

Brush Variance Palette [F11]
Color Blend: 100

Colors 1& 2

Paint 3 tree trunks

13.

 Tree Tops
  New Layer: tree tops

Colors 5 & 6

Paint Brush [B]
Brush Tip: LF_pine-001
Size: 25
Hardness: - [This one will be grayed out]
Step: 1
Density:100
Thickness: - [This one will be grayed out]
Rotation: 90
Opacity: 100

Brush Variance Palette [F11]
Color: 100
Size: 0
Jitter: 5

Place a green top on the trees

14.

 Tree 1
  New Layer: tree 1

Brush Size: 10 - 25
Brush Density:50
Brush Rotation: 0
 
I started with a brush size of 10 at the very top and increased it up to 25 as I worked down the trunk using
Alt+C to increase the size of the brush
Alt+X to decrease the size of the brush

I also painted in a slight zigzag stroke

Experiment to find what works for you

I found it easier to control the brush if I zoomed in to about 200


New Layer: tree 1-2
Colors 4& 6
Repeat the above steps to add more branches

15.

 Tree 2
  New Layer: tree 2

Colors 5& 6

Set the size back to: 10
Change Rotation to: 299

Place some branches down the right side of the tree, changing the size as above

Change Rotation to: 50
Place some branches down the left side of the tree, changing the size as above

Colors 4& 6
Change Rotation to: 55
Place some more branches down the left side of the tree

Change Rotation to: 306
Place some more branches down the right side of the tree

Change Rotation to: 281
Place some branches down the middle of the tree

16.

 Tree 3
  New Layer: tree 3
Now experiment with rotating the brush to get something between the two

I switched the colors around some and used the following rotations
       L / R
    25 / 323
   50 / 309
110 / 249

Alt+C to increase the size of the brush
Alt+X to decrease the size of the brush

17.

 Painting Grass Using The Pine Brush
  #648347
#4e6841

Brush Tip: LF_pine-001
Size: 25
Hardness: -
Step: 55
Density: 50
Thickness: -
Rotation: 0
Opacity: 100

Brush Variance Palette [F11]
Color: 100
Size: 5
Jitter: 25

Place some grass

Brush Rotation: 90

Brush Variance Palette
Size: 10
Rotation: 15

Paint a line
 

This workshop is leading up to a painting tutorial. 
You can find it

 

©Doodles by LadyFox  02/06/07 - Revised 02/14/07

If you have any questions or need help,   you may email me LadyFox

 

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