Trying hard to achieve this look!

[benjamino]

Hello


I have been doing pencil work on (real) paper for a long time and now I would like to try other media and use digital tools to paint my scanned works.


I am using Photoshop cc 2014 and I have tried to create a background with the following look (excerpt from an Andy Kehoe painting.... check his work, which is awesome!) :





(I am also trying to do this, to no avail, in an evaluation version of Artrage)

It seems like he used multiple layers of ??? using a rather dry brush, but I am not sure.


I have tried various brushes but have not succeeded in creating something even remotely resembling this (I am not trying to copy this work but rather achieve the same gritty and textured look).


Although I feel I am OK with pencil and ink, I am a real beginner for other kind of things such as oil, acrylic or watercolor... Do you think this kind of background can be done with a ps brush ? Are there any tips or techniques you can suggest to do it ?


Thank you very much for your help and pardon my english ! (I am french speaking)


Benjamin

 

[IamSam]

Hi Benjamin and welcome to PSG.

One of the most difficult questions asked of us is how to re-create a background such as this with fantastic texture. I certainly believe it can be done in Photoshop. It's a matter of searching for the right Ps brush or creating one of your own, and lot's of experimentation. I find that digital techniques can often mimic actual painting techniques so having some knowledge of how the original was created could be helpful.

You should familiarize yourself with Photoshops Brush Tool including settings, modes, flow, etc. and how they interact with the individual brush. As I stated there is not a simple answer for this question. Like you, I would just have to keep trying until I came up with a reasonable approximation of the original. I think the biggest challenge here will be finding a brush that can simulate the brushstroke texture in your example. Good luck.

 

[benjamino]

Thanks for taking the time to give me this very good advice, IamSam.

Meanwhile, I have been experimenting with the "natural" brushes (the ones where a 3D image of the brush appears in the top left corner while painting) and I think that I should keep on searches. The possibilities seem endless.

Have a nice day and thanks again !