Create Cool Painterly Illustrations With the Art History Brush in Photoshop

Create Cool Painterly Illustrations With the Art History Brush in Photoshop

In this tutorial, Julianne Kost will delve into an often-overlooked yet highly versatile tool in Photoshop CS5—the Art History Brush. This tool, which utilizes history states and snapshots, allows users to transform their images into stunning painterly effects. Julianne emphasizes that while the default settings of the Art History Brush may not showcase its full potential, exploring beyond these defaults can unlock a world of creative possibilities.

Julianne begins by demonstrating the basic functionality of the Art History Brush using a simple image transformation. She explains how the tool can be adjusted to create more intricate and abstract effects, far beyond what the default settings offer. By showing before-and-after examples, she illustrates the speed and versatility of the Art History Brush, turning ordinary photos into unique pieces of art. Julianne also highlights the importance of understanding history states and snapshots to effectively use the brush, ensuring viewers can follow along and experiment with their own images.

Moving deeper into the tutorial, Julianne explores advanced techniques, such as merging painted images with their originals and using different brush presets to achieve varied artistic styles. She provides tips on setting up and customizing brushes to create desired effects, and explains how to navigate potential pitfalls, like changing bit-depths or color modes. By the end of the episode, viewers will have a comprehensive understanding of the Art History Brush and be inspired to use it in their own creative projects, leveraging its full potential to craft visually striking artwork.

Get tutorials & freebies delivered to you.

Subscribe to the Photoshop Roadmap newsletter, a weekly roundup of new tutorials, insights and quality downloads, trusted by 6500+ readers.

You might also like

How to Wrap Designs Around Complex Objects Using Displacement Maps in Photoshop

Professional mockups require more than simply placing a design onto an object. Complex surfaces like crushed aluminum cans demand advanced techniques to achieve realistic wrapping that follows every contour and deformation. This process combines displacement mapping, smart objects, and blending modes to create reusable templates that automatically conform any design...

How to Fix Three Confusing Default Settings in Photoshop

Sometimes Photoshop's default settings can make beginners think their software or hardware is broken. Images that fly around uncontrollably when panning, scroll bars appearing on full-size images, and zoom tools that seem to have a mind of their own are all caused by simple preference settings that can...

How to Create Better Shadows Than Drop Shadow in Photoshop

The basic drop shadow effect often looks flat and artificial compared to how shadows actually behave in real environments. Professional designers know that convincing shadows require understanding light direction, surface interaction, and atmospheric perspective. This technique demonstrates how to create custom shadows that respond naturally to your composition's...

How to Customize Your Photoshop Toolbar and Find Hidden Tools

A cluttered toolbar can slow down your workflow when you can't find the tools you need. Meanwhile, dozens of useful tools remain hidden in groups or completely out of sight. Learning to customize your toolbar lets you organize tools according to your actual workflow, remove tools you never...

How to Change Backgrounds and Match Lighting in Photoshop

Creating seamless background replacements requires more than just cutting out your subject. The real challenge lies in making the new composition look natural through proper lighting, color matching, and depth of field consistency. Modern Photoshop tools have simplified this process significantly, allowing you to achieve professional results with automated background...

How to Create a Colorful Aura Effect for Portraits in Photoshop

Portrait photography becomes truly captivating when enhanced with atmospheric effects that draw the viewer's eye. The colorful aura effect transforms ordinary portraits into striking visual statements by surrounding the subject with ethereal, glowing light that feels both magical and professional. This technique works best with portraits shot against...

You’ve successfully subscribed to Photoshop Roadmap
Welcome back! You’ve successfully signed in.
Great! You’ve successfully signed up.
Success! Your email is updated.
Your link has expired
Success! Check your email for magic link to sign-in.