Stumpy Pencil

Bubbles!

2011-09-09T13:41:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple more brushes I developed that I use somewhat frequently. They are more effect brushes than sketching brushes, but when you need some bubbly texture they can be quite helpful.

There are two brushes in this set of Tool Presets. They both lay down a swath of dots with hues that vary slightly from the chosen color. They build up really nicely and I recommend layering them up with variations on color for some really nice effects.

The brush called "Watery Bubbles Bleach" uses an 'additive' blending mode which blows out the luminance to create some nice highlight effects. Both of these brushes work really well in combination with the 'Water Color' style in an earlier post below.

Here are a couple style frames I made for a project a couple years ago. Alas, I ended up not using the effect because the brushes were too difficult to animate, but I think the frames sure came out nice.

Please take a look at the blog sidebar for instructions on installing them. Enjoy!

Download Watery Bubble Brushes Here

Edit: If anyone is interested in seeing the film that the above style frames were taken from, visit Coalition of the Willing, a film that discusses how we can use new internet technologies to leverage the powers of activists, experts, and ordinary citizens in collaborative ventures to combat climate change. I designed and directed a segment on the 60's.

Gallery Time

2011-04-19T07:29:00.000-07:00

I would like to share some of the fantastic illustration and animation that visitors have shared with me. All of this stuff goes beyond my original visions for these tools, and it's incredibly rewarding to see people making them their own.

First off is this adorable comic illustrated using the good ol' Stumpy Pencil, by the amazingly talented Carly Monardo:

Next up is this haunting illustration called Voodoo Possessed by Ossy using the Sumi brush:

Last up is some animation by Luke over at Doinky Doodles that employs the Stumpy Pencil and the Watercolor brushes. It's really cool to see these tools used this way.

Unfortunately I can't get the video to embed, so you'll have to follow this link to see the work.

Thanks for the submissions. And please follow through and visit the artist's blogs to see a lot more excellent work!

Halftone Brush

2010-11-23T07:17:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, my friend Michael Ricca told me of a challenge he once had to build a brush that painted in a halftone screen. Unable to help myself, I immediately began to try and construct a solution in my head. The result isn't a brush exactly, it's more of a layer setup. But it works pretty well, and is fast and fun to play with.

I have built an Action that automatically sets up the layers so you can jump right in and draw. I recommend starting with a big, soft edged brush to get an idea of what it does, but it will work with any brush. Just create a new document, run the action, pick a brush and start painting (if nothing appears, see the clipping mask note below).

The halftone effect itself is an effect on a Smart Layer, so if the screen size isn't to your liking you can open the filter and modify the parameters.

Some things to note: The drawing area is actually a layer mask of a halftone screen, not a layer unto itself. so if you are switching around layers and want to get back to drawing, remember to activate the layer mask.

Also, if you are drawing and don't see anything, it is probably because there are two adjustment layers above the halftone layer that, depending upon your Photoshop settings, may set themselves up as clipping masks (CS4 and below I think). If they appear clipped to the halftone layer, like in this image, release the clipping mask on them via the Layers menu pulldown. I *think* this should not be an issue in CS5 which includes a parameter to override the clipping mask preference.

Now, here is a challenge to you: Currently this method only works when creating a single color (in this case Black) screen. I would *love* to be able to have this work on a 4 color process, so that one could paint on each color channel individually. But because of the way this particular method works, it effects all layers below, so it doesn't composite nicely. The only way I can figure is to move this entire setup into smart layers, but then one has to open the smart layer, paint, save and close before seeing the results, which isn't immediate enough to be practical. If anyone can figure out a way to do more than 1 color screen, please post a solution. ((Just changing the current halftone screen angles isn't the solution. One has to be able to paint 4 separate halftone screens that blend into one full color image).

Download the action here: Halftone Brush.zip

Broken Links Fixed

2009-11-16T09:39:00.001-08:00

Sorry about the broken file links folks. All files should be linking properly now.

Stumpy Pencil, V2

2009-11-16T06:54:00.000-08:00

I started this blog a year or two ago with a Photoshop brush for a stumpy pencil, my favorite drawing tool. Flat, soft and dark, crudely sharpened with a knife, a stumpy pencil lays down such an effortless line that it is a great tool for thinking on paper. My Photoshop effort became quite popular, and even in the long interval when I was not posting, I would still get feedback from people who had found it while searching for Photoshop tools.

Well it's still one of my most used brushes. I go to it first when I am sketching out ideas in Photoshop. I even use it for finishing when I want the final output to have a rougher look. I like it's speed and responsiveness. It's texture is convincing enough that I have actually used it to make revisions to actual scanned pencil drawings.

But, as with any digital tool that emulates a analog tool, it's never perfect. So I continue to tweak and refine and expand on it, evolving it and making it more effective with time. I present this new revised version to you today.

The tool has been expanded and refined. Let me break down the Tool set for you. It includes:

- Brush Tool: "Pencil: Stumpy 6 pt." - The original tool, slightly modified but otherwise as it was. It's fast, textured, with a chiseled shape. It goes dark easily. It's fun to draw with.

- Brush Tool: "Pencil: Round 3 pt." - A similar pencil, but with a different shaped Brush. Good for tightening up, or when the chiseled head of the Stumpy Pencil isn't working.

- Brush Tool: "Pencil: Graphite 30 pt." - This one has a gray color included to emulate the look of a soft graphite pencil.

- Eraser Tool: "Pencil: Stumpy 6 pt. Eraser" - an eraser which duplicates the feel and texture of the Stumpy Pencil, so you can erase an retain the textured quality of the line.

- Eraser Tool: "Pencil: Pink Tip Eraser" - Emulates the feel of an attached pencil eraser, with a slight grainy texture and medium flow. I wish I could make it so that it left little pink eraser shavings behind, but there's only so much Photoshop can do.

You can download the whole set here: Stumpy_Pencil.v.2.zip

If you like the tool and use it, please send me some of your artwork to post on the blog! Make sure to include how you want to be credited. Enjoy!

Sumi Brush

2009-08-24T12:01:00.000-07:00

Ok, so calling this brush 'Sumi' probably is a misnomer. Real Sumi brushes are more solid and have more of an ink wash look. But this is a big brush with lots of brushy detail.

I enjoy doing loose sketching with this brush on my Tablet PC from life (particularly on the train home). It has a lot of variation and discourages a lot of overworking of the illustration. Just focus on your subject and get into the Zen of the brush.

That being said, if you screw up I have also included a Sumi Eraser in this set so you can remove while still retaining the overall quality of the brush. I prefer to use it very sparingly, but I am sure you will find your own technique.

Download the Photoshop Tool set here: Sumi.v01.zip

Watercolors v.01

2009-08-17T14:25:00.000-07:00

So let me kick this back off with a nice little set of presets to emulate the look of watercolors. Like the ole' stumpy pencil (which will be receiving an update here soon), a good watercolor look has been a bit of a life long pursuit for me. I remember trying to write scripts using Arexx on the Amiga many years ago to achieve this effect automatically. I used Fractal Painter for a long time specifically because of it's 'wet layer' that tried to emulate watercolors (not horribly but not great). But I've never used any computer tool that didn't have an artificial look.

This collection is no exception, but I think with some practice you can get some convincing results. I don't believe any computer will ever be able to reproduce the complexities of true watercolor. There are just too many variables, too many techniques. But this set does some specific things fairly well.

To use it, first unzip the folder. Inside you will find the following:

1) A Tool preset file which contains presets for two watercolor brushes and a watercolor eraser.
2) A Styles preset file with 2 layer style effect presets.
3) An Action for quickly creating a creamy paper background.

Once you have imported all these preset files into Photoshop (if you don't know how then plz Google it) you are ready to get started. Create a new document (I generally work in HD sized documents for video so 1980 x 1820 is what these tools were built around.) Create a new layer. On the new layer select the style "Watercolor Brush FX" from the Styles palette. Then select the brush tool, and from the Tools palette, choose "Watercolor: 50pt. Brush." Pick some color and paint away.

If you mess up, chose the eraser tool and then pick the "Watercolor: Eraser" Tool preset. It will preserve the characteristics of the watercolor texture as it erases.

The brush Tool preset "Watercolor: Soft Brush" is to help blend colors within an area of paint. It's not very good at laying down initial color, but once you get an area of color you like, try selecting the 'preserve transparency' for the layer and using this brush to softly mix in other colors.

The technique uses the alpha of the layer to create the buildup of paint around the edges, so it won't work on layers that are fully filled. The watercolor layers are set to 'Multiply' so use white to lighten areas, as that will render transparently. You can add as many layers as you want, just remember to select the style preset to employ the effects. Also try it out using different brush shapes. The effects on the layer will still work.

It will take some practice to get the results you want, but I think you'll find it produces a convincing effect.

Have fun and send me feedback and some of your artwork!

Download here: Watercolor.v01.zip

The Return of Stumpy Pencil

2009-08-17T14:19:00.000-07:00

So I had pretty much abandoned this blog a while ago, but despite the inactivity, I still get fairly frequent email about the stumpy pencil Photoshop brush I posted. I make new Photoshop brushes all the time so it occurred to me that it might be fun to revive this blog to share these tools with people, as well as share the artwork that people have sent me that was made with my tools (as well as my own artwork).

Here's how it's gonna work out:

1) I post fun and inspiring tools that I create with various platforms (mostly Photoshop).
2) I don't provide any technical support so you're on your own there.
3) You return the favor by sending me artwork you created using these tools.
4) I pull the best submissions and post them on the blog (with full credit of course).

Pretty much all of this stuff is for use with a Wacom tablet. I use a Cintiq 21UX.

So this is the official re-launch of the Stumpy Pencil blog. Download the tools. Send me illustrations and I'll post them. Enjoy!

September 11th, 2001 from the Brooklyn Promenade

2006-09-10T11:38:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted on this blog in ages, and I promise I will soon. But before I do I want to let you all know that I have posted the photos I took from the Brooklyn Promenade when the Twin Towers were attacked. I've posted an account with some photos here and a Flickr set with all the photos here.

2006-06-05T20:19:00.000-07:00

I'm very glad to see that the DVD set for the Venture Bros. Season One has been released. I've been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work on this excellent show. It's not often I get a chance to work on a really great project and I really do think it's in a class all it's own. Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer are some of the sharpest writers in the business right now, and Chris McCulloch's snappy direction always pushes the envelope.

If you aren't familiar with the show (which, considering you are at my well hidden blog, I doubt) then I highly recommend you navigate on over to Amazon and git yerself one.

Mom's 60th birthday

2006-03-24T12:57:00.000-08:00

A while back I made a short film celebrating my mother's birthday. My sister and I scanned over 600 photographs from the family albums. I rotated and scaled each one so that Mom's head was the central point of the frame, then played them in sequence.

YouTube really compressed the hell out of it, which kills quite a bit of the impact.

Little Truck

2006-03-17T06:44:00.000-08:00

Mr. UFO

2006-03-15T04:09:00.000-08:00

Slow week. Here's a doodle. I might do something with this guy...

Gorilla 2

2006-03-08T20:18:00.000-08:00

Here's another gorilla from the same session...

Kong

2006-03-07T12:24:00.000-08:00

We were discussing a King Kong project at work the other day and during the meeting I drew this Kong. This is drawn with a real stumpy pencil- not the virtual one I posted a few days ago.

Prairie Belt Sausage

2006-03-07T12:23:00.000-08:00

My local grocery store, The Four Season's at C-Town (and yes, the bizarre grammar is verbatim), sometimes stocks items that just feel like they come from a different time and place. Occasionally I buy them simply because they are too interesting to pass up. This past weekend I came upon this wonderful can of Prairie Belt Smoked Sausages.

So wonderful. The hearty innocent american child so happy with his plate of tiny sausages. The illustration looks like it was painted in the 50's.

Turning the can around reveals some oddly specific ingredients. Mechanically Separated Chicken!? Mmmmmmm. Do I really need to know that the meat was handled by machines? It gets better: Chicken Skins, Pork Skins... Pork Spleens... Pork Stomachs.. Couldn't they just say "Pork" and be done with it? I haven't actually opened the can yet.

Stumpy Pencil Photoshop Brush

2006-03-07T12:22:00.000-08:00

Beyond a doubt, my favorite drawing implement is a cheap number 2 pencil - hand shaved with a sharp blade so the pencil tip is stumpy and irregular. It creates a beautiful line – fat or thin with a simple twist of the pencil... light or dark with the slightest variation in pressure… and it’s so soft it hardly takes anything to get a mark on the page. It’s like a seamless progression from brain to paper. And when you sharpen the pencil with a blade, it lasts seemingly forever! Pencil sharpeners, particularly the mechanical kind, devour pencils.

Recreating the experience of a cheap number 2 pencil on the computer has been a bit of a Holy Grail for me. I have built a Photoshop brush that gets some of it right. It has a nice grain quality, it’s fast and fun to use. Of course it’s missing the tactile sensation of rubbing graphite against paper grain. And Photoshop doesn’t give the right options to do the variety of line. But after a lot of experimentation I think it’s close.

I’m not going to talk about the cost differential between the two instruments.

Get it here: (this tool has been updated and is now available from this post)

Import this tool from the Photoshop Tools palette. I made it on CS2, but it might work in CS1, or even earlier.

Here's a Frankenstein drawing I made in Photoshop with the Stumpy Pencil.

Awww, he's so sad.

Click the image to get a higher rez version. It shows the "grain" a little better.

Here's another brush I built recently. It's a high contrast grainy brush which I have become kind of addicted to. It's fast and sometimes a bit unpredictable, particularly when turning corners. It creates a nice rough line that tapers nicely. It's just fun to use. Thus the name.

Here tis: Fun_Sketchin_Brush.zip http://www.monkeysuit.com/Fun_Sketchin_Brush.zip

Here is a celebration of my new Fun Sketchin' Brush

Well the line quality doesn't really come through at this size. Click the image to see a higher-rez version. Or just download the brush and try it for yourself.

-mike