How to Sketch in Photoshop

Do you want to learn how to create drawings in Adobe Photoshop? Modern software like Photoshop can be used to make all kinds of digital art, from intricate photo transformations to detailed sketches.

Don’t worry if you’re new to Photoshop or don’t think you’re a very talented artist. Anyone can learn how to sketch in Photoshop with a little effort.

I’m Aly, I am Adobe Photoshop certified and have been using Photoshop for over five years. In this article, I will be showing you how to sketch or draw using brushes in Photoshop

Key Takeaways

  • Once you learn to sketch these drawings can be turned into digital art.
  • Pay attention to the brush’s settings, I will explain them in detail in the article. 

How to Sketch With the Brush Tool in Photoshop

You’ll have all the information you need to begin drawing in Photoshop by the time you finish reading this article by following the steps. 

Step 1: Open a new document in Photoshop first before beginning anything else. The menu bar at the top of the screen’s File section can be used to accomplish this by selecting New.

Step 2: Set the Resolution to 72 pixels/inch and the Width and Height to 600 pixels each when the New Document window appears. then press OK.

Step 3: Choose the Brush tool from the toolbar. 

Step 4: The next step is to select a brush tip. You can browse the list of possible brush tips by selecting the drop-down menu in the Options bar at the top of the screen and clicking on each one until you find one you like. 

We’ll use a soft circular brush tip with a 30-pixel size for this demonstration.

Step 5: You should now select a color after selecting your brush tip. By selecting the Foreground Color swatch in the Options menu (the one with the black color), you can do this. Click whatever color you like in the color picker that appears, and then click OK.

Now that everything is set up, you can begin drawing! Make some basic geometric forms including triangles, squares, and circles.

You can experiment with more intricate forms as you become more accustomed to using Photoshop’s drawing tools. 

You can paint on any layer with the Brush tool, just like you would with a real paintbrush. Additionally, there will be a variety of settings available to you, allowing you to tailor it to a variety of circumstances.

Once you understand how to use the Brush tool, you’ll realize that many other tools, including the Eraser and the Spot Healing Brush, employ a set of parameters that are very similar.

Tips on Brush Settings

  • From the Control panel at the very top of the screen, you may also change the Brush tool’s parameters.
  • Brush Size: In the Control panel, click the Brush Picker drop-down arrow and then move the Size slider to change the size of the brush. The brush size can also be swiftly increased or decreased at any moment by pressing the bracket keys [ ].
  • Hardness: From the same drop-down menu, you can change the hardness to make the brush’s edges harder or softer. The edges of a harsher brush will be distinct and distinct, whereas the edges of a softer brush will be hazy and less defined. 

Setting the hardness to 50% or below will help lessen the visibility of individual brush strokes in most cases.

Brush Tip: The same drop-down menu offers a variety of brush tips to choose from if you want to produce a distinctive effect. While some of these are straightforward, others are made to look like actual sketching implements like pens and markers.

Final Thoughts

Play around with more than just the brush in the tutorial, as you will see there are many, many more than just the soft-tip brush. You can use pencils, bigger brushes, smaller brushes, you name it. 

Any questions about How to Sketch in Photoshop? Leave a comment and let me know.

About Aly Walters
As a graphic designer who uses the entire Adobe Suite on a daily basis, Photoshop is my inspiration, especially since I'm Adobe certified and use it most often for my graphics and web-designed images.

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