Photoshop brushes

1 : i only just got into it myself, but making your own brushes is ok - i just think about the texture im trying to achieve and imagine what i need to make it.. and make one to suit... although you can pretty much get anything you want with the photoshop 7.0 brushes.

2 : i use it - but only minimally to clean up seems, to blur sharp lines etc.

3 : dodge and burn, not to much though - just for small high / low lights etc.

Thanks hazard, I'm stuck with PS 6 for the moment, I'll look into Dodge and burn, haven't really touched that yet.

Wis: to add to HazarD's comments, dodge and burn are photographic terms relating to over and under exposing areas of photographic paper. this info will probably help when you try to work out how and where to use these tools. Smudge is a 'painting' effect- don't know about texturing, but for painting effects it can be very useful. I use it mostly for smokey effects with (what i consider) good results, and difficult to achieve other ways. Smoke on my DragonHound (see exhibition section) sketch was done mostly with the smudge tool

Use any tools that get the effects you are after. The combinations of tools and filters is so vast in photoshop that the makers don't even know the limits of the program! So experimentation may produce results that no one else has ever discovered.

only piece of advice on technique I'd really want to ever offer someone is this:

Know how to paint it manually before you use a tool.

The point being if you are wanting to call yourself an artist, you should have artistic knowledge first, not technical knowledge.

thats a pretty decent point - ive done a few paintings before, and a crap load of pencil sketches - long before i started painting and doodling with computer generated art...

in saying that tho - only like a 6 weeks ago have i started to use a tablet , and ill never go back to using a mouse to paint stuff computerwise :D...

I should definately keep up the painting tho... thanks for raising that point JI.

hehe, I should really clarify that - I've been getting out a lot of half thoughts recently due to trying to post quick and dirty [:)]

With that said... PREPARE FOR RANT! WOO!

My personal opinion is that digital art is just another medium to realise your vision, just like charcoal, or oils, or markers. That's why we can call ourselves artists, just as an oil painter does, instead of calling ourselves "pixel engineers" or the like.

My statement before was more directed within the medium - "Know how to paint it manually before you use a tool."
What I mean by this, is don't just use tools. Understand why you're doing it, and why it works the way it does. To do this, I believe you have to first know how to achieve the results manually, through artistic knowledge.
A good example being before you dodge in a highlight, grab a hard round brush (arguably the most basic of tools in this media), and laying out colours you pick on the fly, changing the size of the brush, and using the alt key to sample colours and tones... paint it. Do you understand what you're doing, and how to make the look you want with just your knowledge?

Once you understand this, it's where a lot of artists have an epiphany - "hang on... I know what colour and tonal range a curved brass surface is in this light, and I know what colour it's highlight should be... and dodge ain't anywhere near that!"

It seems like when people understand this, they also appreciate the fact that the computer shouldn't be doing the work for them. How does the computer know that the highlight or shadow should be that colour? It doesn't. It's wrong, and you know it.

So what's the point to all this? Something pretty simple actually - be an artist - not an operator.

Point taken JI, I realise now more than ever that if I'm to be able to texture well then artistic knowledge is what I need, but I was still hoping you could answer my queries, you know, just to give me a nudge in the right direction.

hehe, sorry, got caught up in the moment [;)]
Here's my own personal answers to your questions... I'm trying to answer these in a way that if I was starting out again I would've liked to have heard first [:)] A lot of it is stuff I was teaching in the little lectures I was doing at the AIE last year:

1. To what extent do you guys use custom brushes?
Next to never... only really used them in experimenting to find out whether or not they're worth using.

2. Is it a good or bad idea to use the smudge tool?
smudging is good for what it does - used in a practical way, it's a very useful tool. Just don't overdo it! I've seen people try and paint/texture/draw using smudge for 50% of the work, then ask what the "secret technique is" for sharpening their textures up [;)]

3. What other tools should I be focusing on using, and for what purpose?
It may sound silly, but I believe these are the most important tools:
- Hard round brush, with pressure sensitive opacity
don't be timid with painting - slap shit all over the place! Don't be precious if you feel something's not right, and draw straight over something if you want to improve on it instead of trying to polish a mess.

- navigation
No, I'm not joking, use those shortcuts and speed up your productivity!
space+click+drag, space+ctrl+click, space+alt+click, space+ctrl+drag

- navigator window
Again... no joke. Use it as a previewer for your image/texture in the way a traditional painter may take a few steps back to look at their painting as a whole. Make it look good as a whole image before you make it look good as a lot of disjointed detailed little parts.

Things -not- to concentrate on:
-layer blending
The second cheapest effects you can spot a mile away :)
-filters
The absolute first cheapest effects you can spot 10 miles away :)
-layers
try and stop being precious and try to just paint what you want in there instead of fiddling around with 20 layers to get the same effect [;)]

all of this is of course my own personal thoughts and opinions and sums up how I pretty much work, so the last thing I should stress is... take it all with a grain of salt [:)] find your comfortable zone and what works for you.

i have to agree with the layers thing - ji caught me at a bad moment a few weeks back when i was complaining about my puter running slow... and haveing a massive photoshop file for a texture... it was because i had like 122 layers.. .. moving on,...

now i paint on 3 - 4 max usually :D thanks for that ji :)

1. To what extent do you guys use custom brushes?

Vary rarely, I use them occasionally but for the most part I just use the solid circular brushes. I sometimes use other brushes to achieve specific effects, like the chalk brush for certain textures, stuff like that but I make such decisions on a case by case basis.

2. Is it a good or bad idea to use the smudge tool?

I like the smudge tool, but only for certain things like hair, I like the way it tapers.

3. What other tools should I be focusing on using, and for what purpose?

I will add an opinion of certain things that JI mentioned in this area.

Filters: I do not think they are the devil they are often portrayed as, but you need to know what you are doing. It is rare that through the straight up application of any filter that the result will look good. But correctly applied, altered and built upon, filters can help your create certain effects faster then you otherwise could. Just be careful with them.

Layers: I?m on the other end of the opinion ladder when it comes to layers. I find that by being able to place different areas of colour/ materials on different layers and lock the transparency on them it overall speeds up your production as it means that you don?t have to be careful close to edges and the like. Layers also give you the equivalent of a large collection of undo steps. Ie, by slapping another layer on you can paint over section you have already done, try adding different elements etc and if it all looks like crap then delete that layer and you have your image back the way it was.

Pantmonger

pants: that's actually all I use layers for nowadays too [:)] as another "layer" of undo for trying stuff out over something I'm not too sure about.
Best example of layer abuse I can think of is is when we need to look at the UK's PSD's at work - it's a chaotic mix of folders and layers within layers of photos and blending effects. The layers number in the hundreds. Takes about 10 mins to load a simple 512x512 texture sheet [:)]

Awesome man, I appreciate those tips very muchly, I never would have thought that a hard round brush would be the tool of choice for professionals such as yourselves :)

I already agree with you on the layer effects, I've never used them for anything but what you describe.

JI, I know what you're saying about the smudge tool, I already feel I overused it when texturing my competition entry, but it did help me out a lot with shading and gradients.

Once again, thanks a bunch, and to keep you happy JI ;) I'm looking to do some more lifedrawing classes and maybe a short course in art somewhere.

Yay for softcore por... I mean life drawing! [:D]
Naw, life drawing is probably one of -the- best investments that anyone who wants to call themselves an artist can make. Yes, even better than that berret and stick on goatee.

My goatee is real thank you very much, only my berret is fake.

Pantmonger

You forgot the black sweater and false sense of arrogance. Hwoah Hwoah (you know the sound of a French laughing :) )

1. quite a bit but only for very particular uses. It's as easy to make things look rubbish with custom brushes as with the standard ones :)

2. Invaluable in certain situations, but no replacement for careful colour picking. Sort of like driving a bulldozer over the forms of yer image if you don't watch yourself..

3. erm - there are lots of tools in photoshop, and you can use any of them to achieve many things, but the main thing is knowing what you're trying to do and which tools you'd prefer to utilise - I reckon that you should try not to overcomplicate things with crazy brushes and stuff - pick a brush you like and learn to use it, pick a tool you fancy and learn what it can do..

not very helpful I suppose, but I reckon it's all about getting your hands dirty and learning whats best for you. - like mr styles said - stick to the hard round for a bit and get the swing of that one - then diversify at your own pace.

oh yeah, and beware the filters (although highpass has its uses..) ;-)

meh, what the hell.

1. Never!! just straight up defualt brushes, the soft ones. And airbrush too, none of that paint brush crap! ;)

2. It can be good, to help smooth shading but I never seem to need it.

3. Forget the tools, focus on the fundamentals like many have said. Learn how to paint first, then learn how to use a painting program second.

This is awesome, didn't think I'd get this many responses, thanks to all who replied. I'm going away for a short holiday this week with my sketch book, a few pencils and a 24 pack of derwents to work on my colouring and drawing skills, should be very helpful.