More on Brushes

I've had a request to write more on brushes.
I have moved my TAG Cloud from the bottom of the page to the top to make it easier to search my blog.
Here are some links on this blog about brushes:

 http://neonsunshine-jody.blogspot.com/search/label/brushes
http://neonsunshine-jody.blogspot.com/search/label/brusheezy
http://neonsunshine-jody.blogspot.com/search/label/steampunk%20brush

To start off here's a link from Deviant Art that I posted earlier:

http://nokari.deviantart.com/art/Guide-to-PS-Brushes-66462868

This is a small downloadable handbook which contains a lot of useful information about PSE/PS brushes.
There are a couple of different types of brushes. The default set of brushes are for drawing.    Then there are stamp type brushes. The stamp brushes reside in the same place as the regular brushes. To change the colour of your brushes. Go to the bottom lefthand corner of your toolbox. Click on foreground colour; that will be the colour of your brush.

Black brush using the BRUSH menu

Red brush using BRUSH menu and selecting RED foreground colour

You can also reach them using the STAMP TOOL. A word of warning about using brushes with the stamp too. At the top near the brush menu is the pattern tool. When you select a brush it will also have the colour and PATTERN that is selected. So you cannot choose the colour for your brush stamp On the brighter side there are some great patterns that can be used with your brush.

-  When selecting a brush you'll see a number below it. That's the MAXIMUM size of the brush. The absolute maximum of any brush is 2500 x 2500 px or just over 8". That's why when you use a new brush for the first time it may be huge enough to cover your screen. That number is also important when you are deciding the size of your finished artwork.

Also on my sidebar there are links to sites that offer free brushes. These are grouped together so you don't have to pick through the links. Most people on deviant art or brusheezy will post their new brushes to get feedback and find out how popular their brushes are.

Where to get brushes:

http://shadowhousecreations.blogspot.com/search/label/Brushes

http://www.deviantart.com/

http://www.brusheezy.com/

The last point to remember is anyone can make a brush from any image. If you want to make a brush of your cat you can do it.  Here's a video that explains how to do it.

   

This video is about how to save your new brush.

   

I hope these tips help. You may have noticed I've included a lot of  links in my post. The reason for this is that I'm not very good with brushes yet. So I thought I'd let direct you to other people that are more knowlegable. After all this blog is about learning photoshop with me. So in the spirit of that, feel free to send along your own tips and links which I will publish.