In today’s post, I want to show you the variety of new natural brushes in Photoshop CS5. We will stick with the default brushes included in the software, although there are many more available for download online.

First, these are the new natural brushes in CS5:

They can be found in the brushes pulldown menu in the options bar (while using a brush-based tool) or in the Brushes panel.

These are the different strokes created with the brushes. These were created using a mouse so they do not have variable stroke pressure for the demonstration:

However, using a Wacom tablet and stylus, you can create a great, natural effect (especially if you use one with the new 6-D controls). When using a stylus, it can be helpful to use the Brush Preview (found under View>Show>Brush Preview).

Using the Brush panel can also yield fun results just by adjusting a few of the brush settings.

Here is an example of the various results by adjusting the Bristle Qualities:

Even using the default settings will give you a variety of results. If you do choose to adjust the Bristle settings, be sure to save the brush, or it will reset to default when you select another style brush. You can save your new brush by clicking the “New Brush” icon on the bottom right of the panel.

In the next session we are going to put these brushes to work, painting a simple shape and experimenting with various techniques.

This week I am starting a new series of how to create a digital painting in Photoshop CS5.

Today in Part 1 I will show you the different Mixer Brush settings. To choose a proper setting, you must first understand the different options at your disposal, starting with the Blending Brush Combinations.

This is the Mixer Brush, found in the tool bar, under the normal Brush Tool:

Once selected, these are your options:

1. Brush Type   2. Brushes Panel   3. Current “Load” (Swatch)   4. Load the brush after each stroke   5. Clean the brush after each stroke

6. Blending Brush Combinations – (This is what we will showcase today.)

7. Wet settings   8. Load amount   9. Mix ratio   10. Flow (think opacity)

11. Airbrush Option – this causes the brush to react like a spray can with poor results.  (I never use this option.)

12. Sample All Layers.

Blending Brush Combinations gives you a preset group of “useful” wet, load and mix combinations. Each one has a different reaction to your image and can give you great results once you are familiar with their settings.

The Blending Brush Combinations go from very little mixing to heavy mixing in order, starting with “Dry”.  Here is my starting image:

I have chosen the “Round Point Stiff” Brush from the Brush Type menu (1).

Whenever painting from a photograph, I find it helpful to lock the photo layer and paint on a new blank layer using the Sample All Layers option (12) using the clean/load brush after each brush stroke  (4&5). I sampled an average skin color from the hand. Here are the results from each blending combination:

Next week, we will take a look at the new Natural Brushes in Photoshop CS5 and the options available for each. For now, try using the Mixer Brush with different Blending Combinations and see what results you can get using just one brush.

Have fun!

Developers and mobile designers take note! Normally I post tips, tricks and product information on the blog, but today I thought I would switch it up to talk about a great mobile app.

James Conway and I are attending Photoshop World 2010 in Las Vegas at the end of this month. Normally to figure out the schedule of events you would review the website, literature and try to coordinate classes. However, Photoshop World has taken this to the next level with a very cool iPhone/iPad app from Shawn Welch (@shawnwelch). This is how a conference should use mobile devices. I dare say this is the Swiss Army Knife of conference apps.

First you can search for events and classes by date/time, instructor or course track. But that’s just the start – you can also search for exhibitors and other events throughout the conference. It live updates for room locations, schedules, and information to keep you completely up-to-date with information.  It even has a built in Twitter feed complete with #psw searches for Twitter users and news feeds from Photoshop World. You can also use Bump technology to share your schedule and information with other attendees.

Bundle all that with maps for the hotel and convention center and you have one very useful tool for this conference. Hopefully mobile developers, designers and other conference organizers will take note of this very clean design and usability to bring similar apps to other events.