Getting to Know Autodesk Sketchbook #2: Relevant Brushes

Next to picture quality in the table of relevance sits texture. After you've gotten your pictur quality right, your work will essentially be a combination of different types of brushes which you can't afford to get wrong. You have to know how each brush functions so as to make a perfect combination. This episode will only be about brushes but it promises to be insightful.

When we start an artwork, what do we first do? Well, we outline. An outline is needed for the basic colour filling at least. To make a neat outline - neglecting factors such as resolution or the instability of the hand - we will need a good brush. This brings us to
the

MEDIUM TIP MARKER

• Designer

Now, there are a couple of brushes that outline greatly but I just find myself comfortable with this brush, sitting in the designer section. It just does it in the simplest of ways. The only con about it is that the opacity can't be adjusted but really, it's an outline, you don't need reduced transparency. In place of opacity, it has a malleable flow and wetness.

Notable Mentions

• Designer

Paint Tapered, Fineline Pen, Digital Brush. All of these can be used in place of Medium Tip Marker. Some may even prefer the paint tapered over the Medium Tip Marker given that it simulates pressure sensitivity - not literally. It just gives the feel. And pressure sensitivity is really the peak of any image outline. Autodesk makes tapered pen less obvious.

HR

Making a hair can be quite tricky as most times one may get confused to which to use. I have used a variety of textures overtime but what I've noticed is that I - eventually - come back to using HR, frequently.. And it produces a more realistic result. It depends on how you use it though, you have to know how to work your way through the size and opacity.

We also have the Thorny, Hatching 1, Hatching 2 and Scratches which can be used instead. Depending on the texture of the hair you're making. When you are dealing with beards, we can also use the hr texture too because it doubles a a universal hair brush. Albiet some brushes in the SHAPE section can substitute.

• SECTIONS

FINE ART

Any of the brushes under this section will do the trick when you're dealing with eyebrows, you just have to stroke in the right manner with your preferred size and opacity

LEGACY

Under this, we have the soft and hard eraser which are for cleaning. When you get into shading, you'll definitely be needing the soft eraser.

TRADITIONAL

The soft and hard airbrush are the most important when it comes to shading, you can't do without them and we'll be talking about how to use them effectively for your artworks soon.

HALF TONE

It just gives you the room to map out predesigned textures on your preferred area. Talk of stars, dots, whirls and what not, you have it all. These would come in handy if you're looking to design a cloth with a particular pattern or perhaps make a background look a bit more appealing to the eyes.

SMUDGE

This is the trickiest of all. And in truth, I still have problems with getting the best out of it. How does it work? It basically smoothens out the desired parts of an image and blends them all together, making it kinda 'watercoloured'. It is greatly affected by size and flow so it needs to be greatly tweaked before it starts producing your desired results. And most of all, requires a lot of patience.

COLORLESS

Very Similar to the Smudge. In fact, I wonder - at times why they ain't in the same section but nonetheless, it can be used the same way smudge can.

There are a whole lot of other useful brushes but these are just the ones you will get to use frequently. I'd advice you to take your time to master the manipulation of each brush with size and opacity for the time being. I'll be updating you soon. Till next time!

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