It could be daunting when you first start painting digitally. There are so many brushes on the internet—free ones, paid ones, a pack for hairs, a pack for plants. Should you download all of them? Are brushes crucial to the painting process?
I have been painting digitally for about 20 years (which is kind of scary to think about). I know it's been around for a long time, but I haven't seen much talk about what kind of brushes beginners should start with!
Based on my experience, you should start with the following three categories:
1 - Basic brushes
They are the general brushes that Photoshop or any other painting software included. I like to keep:
- a hard round brush with No pressure sensitivity
- a hard round brush with pressure sensitivity
- a soft round brush with NO pressure sensitivity
- Optional - both hard and soft oval brush (squashed round brush). This is mainly for painting environments.
2 -Textured brushes
These are brushes with some textures used to paint rough surfaces, add material information details, create look of traditional paint, or just for personal style. I like to keep:
- Sponge/chalk brushes
- Traditional looking brushes - watercolor/oil paint/gouache
(I personally don't really use this much because I don't recreate the traditional painting look in my current paintings)
3 - Special shape brushes
These are basically stamps/stencils that help accelerate our painting process when there are a lot of repeating small things. Depending on what you like to paint, you might need different brushes:
- Plants - grass, bushes, trees, flowers
- Buildings - windows, bricks
- Flocks of bird
- Hairs
- Skin texture
- Etc.
That's my list! If you like to add anything to the list, feel free to comment below. Honestly though the only brushes you absolutely need are the general round brushes. The other ones are just embellishment or speed up the workflow.
I hope this provides some guidance to painting digitally. I mainly use Photoshop, but the list should apply to all painting software out there!