Splotches

Finished splotch

The above picture is the way that this tutorial will come out when you are done. It is basically the way that I make ink/paint splotches. Feel free to add things to it to make it suit you; this is just how I make them

I like to call them my specialty because these were some of the first brushes that I made by hand that were unique.

1

Start out with a 1000x1000 px file set to Transparent (as always.) Then, get the brush tool, set he color to black, make sure the brush Hardness is at 100%, and make the brush size depending on how big you want your splotches to be. Click on the image above to see how big I made the brush size.

After you have everything set, make a few random dots on your surface. Don't space them too far apart, and don't give them an obvious pattern (like make a square or something.)

2

Next, set the brush size a bit smaller and add more dots around, overlapping the previous dots and making an occasional new dot. Do this again and again until you have something that looks like the above image. You should probably stop with the brush size around 2 px. Notice that I made them generally random but overlapped the smaller and bigger ones a lot and added more around the outside the smaller the brush size. It is not necessary to create a new layer for each of these; you will probably be okay with one layer for all of these.

3

Now, create a new layer and zoom in until you have the entire thing in plain sight. Use the line tool, set to about 3 px (I used 2 px as an experiment for this one, but generally the splotches look better when you use a thicker line. It is not a good idea to go over 5 px though.) Connect random big splotches, randomly. Be creative, and once again, do not make an obvious pattern. Let lines overlap; have two lines going to the same spot. It is okay to even end the lines in "midair." After you are satisfied so far, rasterize the lines and compile them all in to one layer if the lines aren't already. You should have two layers minimum now.

4

Now, create a new layer over top of the lines and select the brush tool, still set to Hardness of 100% and 100% opacity, but set the diameter to 2 or 3 px. In the new layer, smooth out the places where the line meets the splotches by brushing over the area where the line meets a splotch. Create a sort of bridge between the side of the splotch next to the line and the line; see the above example. This makes the lines and the dots look more fluid and connected. Also, go over the lines with the brush tool, drawing out of the lines a bit to make the lines look less perfect. Did you notice how the lines look like paint drawn away from a big splotch with a toothpick? That is the look we are going for.

It is good to play around with this a bit and make the lines look more like paint.

5

Now, merge the line layer and the layer that you just created and take out the eraser tool. Set the diameter to something less than 5 px, and make sure the Hardness is 100%, as well as the Opacity. Go over the edge of the lines, making them look even more rough and imperfect. This will decrease the look of a hand-drawn line and make it look more like paint or ink. It is also good to add the occasional dot to the line. If you ended a line in free space, make sure the end isn't like a box - erase a bit of it to make it taper off.

6

Now, you can merge all of the layers if you want. To make a brush out of it, make sure the background it transparent before going to Edit > Define Brush... and making a brush out of your new splotch.

My splotch turned out a little different than my other ones, and it is good to play around with them to get them the way you want. I also found a couple ways to spin them:

Well, I hope this tutorial was of some use. Happy creating!