Trying to figure out a good pen for photoshop

Skills sketching
1

Hey guys new to the posts, long time troller.

Annnnyway. I’ve been using photo shop and a wacom for 2.5 years now and in those two years I have yet to find either a good brush/pen for sketching, or a a good setting for a preinstalled brush/pen.

I’m trying to get something that has the feel of a bic pen but a little heavier. Also something that when I want to really darken a line it will allow me to.

I dont care if I have to swtich between pens, or if one single pen would do, I just want something that looks ‘real’. The lines that the pens make in PS just look to fake, they’re to perfect. I’ve used sketchbook pro and their lines are ALOT better, and seem to be based on real pens and markers.

Sooo, is there anything I can do to get a good pen in PS, or does anyone know where I can go DL some?

Thanks
C

2

I have been using pen paper then just scanning and adding photoshop. my last internship and current internship i have had the opportunity to use a cintiq monitor…

i normally use a number 5 brush and make a “basic sketch” layer. I reduce the opacity to that layer then add a second layer that i call “good lines.” Leaving the “basic sketch” layer behind and just reducing the opacity is kind of cool. You can always erase some of this “basic sketch” if you have too much mess going on." Then i add stroked paths with simulate pressure on to my main lines. This is a third layer. it gives the sketch a really expressive feel.

I feel you though. It doesnt look real. BUT…the stroke paths is the key. Do that to your key lines or color blocks and your sketch will pop and look interesting.

Hope that helps.
David

3

I’m not fortunate enough to work on a cintiq, nor do I have alias sketchbook. Does anyone sketch in photoshop or another program that allows for a decent looking line. Photoshop seems to lack the fluidity of line quality that sketchbook gives, any pointers for correcting this in photoshop besides the above mentioned

4

I have been using corel painter for linework lately. It is very realistic because you can control the grain of the linework. It adds a very nice pencil texture and all of the other linework controls are there in painter. Painter also allows you to rotate the page as simply as a piece of paper in front of you so for me it is absolutely perfect.

I still color in photoshop however because painter still can’t beat the dodge burn combo. Painter exports as PSD, so all layers are intact when it is brought into Pshop.

5

I have a few brush setups in PS that I like to use.

  1. Sketching pen
    Press F5 to open brushes and select “Shape Dynamics” Set size jitter to pen pressure. Then click “Other Dynamics” and set opacity jitter to pen pressure. Try setting the “Mode” to darken. mess around with opacity a bit until u find something you like.

  2. Cleanup
    For This brush I just use a round tip with no options selected set to normal mode. and just mess around with opacity in order to get the type of line i want.

I’m not at my home computer now, but I also have a nice sumi ink brush set up if I remember I’ll put that one up as well