When it comes to high end paint programs most artists would probably agree that Painter is the app of choice because of its Natural Media brushes. But Photoshop also has some very cool features that are just waiting to be tapped into when it comes to painting.

First begin with a background image of some kind. Something arty with some kind of texture is a good place to start.

Now go to the Layers Palette and drag a new empty Layer above the Background Layer. Do not fill this new Layer, just leave it empty.

Next turn off the visibility of the background layer in the Layers Palette. Now use a variety of brushes to paint on the empty layer. Try larger brushes with Wet Edges on as well. Don't fill the entire Canvas, leave some empty space as we want the background image to show through.

Now turn on the visibility of the Background Layer and you might have something that looks like the image below. Well it certainly doesn't look too thrilling. Lets procede to the next step...

Click on the Painted Layer (was empty Layer) and choose Bevel and Emboss as a Layer Effect.

Wholy dialogue box Batman! Yes it's the one, it's the only, oh my it's the Layer Style dialogue that is larger than some small countries! The key thing here is to change the Technique of the Bevel and Emboss to Chisel Soft from the default of Smooth (which is ok too) and also click on the Contour option. Also experiment with the settings a bit and then click OK. Since this is a Layer Effect we can always return to this dialogue to tweek.

Once the settings are to our liking we can take advantage of one of the great new features of Photoshop 6, Styles. Click the New Style button and all the settings we have chosen will be saved as one nifty little package to the Styles Palette. So anytime we have created a new layer we don't have to go though all the settings in the Layer Styles, we just click on a Style to apply them all! Below, a new Style added to the Style Palette for future use!

Voila, the brush strokes layer with Bevel and Emboss take on a sculpted and very organic look! Since the brush strokes are on their own Layer it's easy to experiment with different blending mode and opacities. The choices are endless! Try going back to Bevel and Emboss and change the Angle and Altitude of the Shading. Talk about interactive brush strokes!

Back to the Top


Tips Home