Cool Mixer Brush Techniques for Photoshop Painting

[@makkon06]

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING

[@Zarilen]

For my fellow photoshop newbs who can't figure out how he sampled a section of the image; Alt+click. You may need to choose the down menu for the little window that shows the sampled colour(s) of the mixer brush and uncheck 'Load Solid Colors Only'.

[@alexeru6154]

Thank you so much! It was killing me!

[@MadPropzBaller]

You're a life saver!

[@davionwilliams4011]

Was feeling like a fool for not knowing. Take this like, you earned it

[@marciansean1918]

thank you..

[@FluxAnimations]

I love you,you saved a life today

[@Sycra]

Wow that's awesome! Thanks so much for sharing!

[@thunderbolt997]

haha there you are :D

[@leonk6950]

Sycra!!!!!!! did you use this tut for learing?? it helped me :D

[@TheSangson]

+Leon Kowarschick For a second, I was surprised as well! On the other hand...this is Rahll. Oh, and I've never heard of this neat trick anywhere else so I guess even Sycra didn't...it's quite funny to see a pro learn something exactly where we just learned it, too.

[@GS195]

When I saw this video, my eyes grew very big and shiny, like a person who discovered something revolutionary. I should have known about this method a long time ago, because it looks like an infinitely promising way to create abstract art from a photo. I have been looking for the perfect way to do it for a long time. Thank you for finally bringing me into the light.

[@soldierofyhvh5966]

I love how experienced artist look at their work and say it's no that great. Those quick examples are pretty realistic. I can only imagine what you're idea of finished is, lol. Really helpful!

[@VoidloniXaarii]

wow, i've been using photoshop for so long and i had no idea that was in there, and the puppet thing too, thanks a lot!

[@chelectonus]

I attempted this technique and it changed my workflow. Game Changer. Thank you for sharing this.

[@ArcTrooperRod-269]

This was so Useful

[@thefoxialbunny]

The best tuto video ever. It will changes all the world of digital painting for ever!

[@ArizonaTime182]

It is indeed "An interesting technique and very useful. At first I found this process daunting, but once I learned to use it, it quickly became one of my favorite tools. I learned that I can draw patterns, load them into the mixer-brush and while still using that "load", change the brush size, use a different brush and even work with the brush attributes to create many special effects. Thank you.

[@jumanafawmi3974]

how do i change brush size or use a different one while still working

[@ArizonaTime182]

There are several ways to do this but I will try to give you the most direct. After the selection is loaded into the Mixer-Brush press (F5) to open the brush panel. Photoshop's brush panel allows you to choose different brushes, change the brush size, and tweak the brush's attributes. Since the Mixer-Brush is still active and the brush is loaded you are able to continue working with the image you chose. Remember, if your brush is loaded at less than 100% your color fades, make sure to keep your brush loaded. I hope this helps you master this wonderful technique. Good luck and happy drawing. Greg

[@jumanafawmi3974]

Thank you for the help and it worked so well and it really is a wonderful technique.Happy creating

[@mariushagelskjr5452]

Dope underated tool, funny how this is getting recommended like 7 years later, was a kid back then, didn't even understand English

[@Prinsdam]

At long last, Photoshop finally supports the sort of instant opaque brush sampling capability DPaint had as far back as the 80s. Progress. I tried getting into TVPaint just to be able to do this, glad I can forget about that!

[@FallDownist]

Mind = blown The possibilities... this changes everything indeed. Thanks for sharing!!

[@littlehatlogan]

This is going to be a huge help for so many paintings I've been working on, thank you. (I may or may not be crying in joy here)

[@xMarrilliamsx]

Best video ever! Seriously, this video will make everything so much easier for any artist

[@FancyRedFox]

Very useful. I've seen a lot of references to the Mixer Brush before, but this is a great demonstration of its practical uses.

[@PauloDarkForce]

That part of the tree there's something cool about it. When I want to create foliage, specially for aerial view, I create a pattern just like you did using one layer, than I simply create another one on another layer and so on. On each layer I use a drop shadow effect, so we can control the shadow of each layer randomly and add depth to each part of the tree.

[@Loxaraz]

Saw you talk about this on facebook. I'm glad you made a video explaining things. Thanks!

[@Robertohanas]

I usually don't comment on videos but i just wanted to thank you for making this video! It is very useful

[@Sodylin]

For your robo tubing, I think you can turn angle jitter control to direction instead of doing puppet warp. It won't be 100% accurate, but it's just a little tidbit I think you should know :)

[@teravega]

I'm mind blown right now. I will use this technique.

[@foxorian]

I.... have never even noticed that there's a tool called Mixer Brush in CS6. I thought this was a Photoshop CC technique at first, but lo and behold --- Thanks Rahll, this is indeed quite the trick.

[@JBeestonian]

It's even in CS5, I'll be damned.

[@TheGoshkob]

Lol same here. At first I thought it is CC and thought maybe I should upgrade to windows 8 tto get CC. But wow this is amazing.

[@johnforshee1416]

Vary helpful thing to know. Thanks for sharing!!! If anyone is having trouble with (how to sample the original object that you are trying to copy) hold down the alt key or on a mac the option key then left click. I had a little trouble figuring that out.

[@Rifgat]

Jeez. You are Einstein to me! I've been in PS since 1998! You opened my eyes! Thanks a bunch! Russia

[@ekoi1995]

Sample: alt + left click Adjust Brush Size: alt + hold right click + drag left/right Adjust Brush Softness/Hardness: alt + hold right click + drag up/down

[@davebaer5699]

Awesome technique! Gonna have to utilize this brush more often. Thanks!

[@davebaer5699]

PS... Subscribed! :)

[@syrnobody1415]

dud this Technique is Amazing! Thank you so much for making a tutorial, it completely solves the problem i've been having painting trees!

[@clarameurer8523]

hey thanks for the video! you didnt miss the point or started chatting about your life, so I could really got to the end of it, also learning something. Great!

[@inJOYinn]

OH MY GOD THAT IS THE MOST USEFULL TUTORIAL I SAW for the past 3 yeasr! thank you so much!

[@AvereeChaloupka]

Awesome find. I usually only use one of the mixer brush settings, but it's nice to know some of the other things you can do with the other settings. Also, love your brush template layout.

[@cheekychops11978]

thanks so much for a great tutorial, even many years later still relevant for artistic guidance

[@Chromedbustop]

I'm not 100%, but I think I love you. What a great tutorial you've put together on something I really find that I need!

[@katriannaanderson2229]

Can't wait to go home and try this!!

[@picosdrivethru]

dayum, great tutorial. fast and precise too, no ramble. you da man!

[@silfredpalero]

hey dude.. can you share the brushes you use or at least tell where you get them? Please thanks :)

[@GeryNH]

you are absolutely amazing! i can't even put it in words how useful this video is! thank you! subscribed and looking forward to watching more of your videos!

[@Morte6669]

Weekly vids would be awesome. Good stuff on this Reid thanks a lot man!

[@FlickGraphics]

Man, thank you so much! Didn't even know there was a mixer brush, trees will never be so difficult again! :D

[@992macg]

Awesome tutorial tnx! Btw for those who are only getting the Eyedropper tool when pressing the Alt Key, you need to change the settings, go under Edit - Preferences - General - Cursors then under 'Other Cursors' click Precise.

[@DeviantRahll]

Thanks Marie! You don't actually have to change it to precise, I would personally recommend against that. What you actually just need to do is in the toolbar up top, where it has the swatch of color you've picked while using the Mixer Brush, click the arrow and make sure Load Solid Colors Only isn't checked. If that option is on, it will sample colors normally, rather than sampling the pixel information from your canvas :)

[@992macg]

Thanks for the reply. I tried this before and made sure the Load Solid Colors isn't checked, but it always ends up going back to the color sample tool, and only getting one color. The only solution I can get was switching the cursor settings. It was weird, and hopefully not everyone has this problem.

[@DeviantRahll]

Marie Anne Gonzales interesting, that seems like it might be some kind of bug.

[@charmn4peace]

Thank you soooo much! This was awesome knowing how to use another tool!

[@kakikukeko78]

Great technique! Thanks for sharing!

[@RuelDeguzman]

Thanks for sharing this technique. Amazing!

[@KSTNON]

some of the uses you gave to this technique remind me of Zbrush in 2.5D mode :D should come very in handy, thanks a lot!

[@jro1000]

looks great would love to play around with that tree brush.

[@EmilyMcDougallArt]

This has just saved me so so much time... thank you!!!!! I have been wasting my time for months...

[@bLaCkRoSs3]

Genius! The 'so it doesn't look like you cheated it' cracked me up. xD Thanks for sharing!!

[@Wolfdaughter]

Thank you. I'm sure I will use this technique to make some of my work faster.

[@Motiwaves2day]

I really enjoyed of puppet warp technique you mentioned. Thanks.

[@GunnarLarsenArt]

Watched like 90% of this video and then realized who made it. hahaha Thanks, Reid.

[@elfulano9110]

Really good tutorial! One of the best I've seen in a long time

[@snorky1828]

dude, you are da real MVP... thanks for sharing

[@renzopinedacabrera2903]

that is realy cool, never used this tool before, great tip thanks

[@jasonfella265]

Holy cow, this is very cool! Like a more advanced brush with color info intact. I'm gonna play with this some, especially for landscape stuff! And yah, it does remind me of the image hose in Painter.

[@slundy]

I'm guessing you're using a wacom or bamboo since i see the pressure changing. Also what is that menu that pops up around 3:35? Is that due to the stylus or is that a feature in PS that I've never seen. Also what version of PS are you using? CC or CC 2014? or? The menu shows "Save File" - C/P - Eraser - Brush, Edit - Rotate - Hide Selection. Or is it a custom menu ? I'm fully intrigued...

[@TheDarkman21]

i Stumbled to my solution , you sir ..... are awesome!

[@SCqb9wo]

Very much appreciate this tutorial!

[@izvarzone]

This is first time ever in my life youtube recommended video for me that I was actually interested in.

[@thenar]

This was very well presented and useful. Thank you for taking the time R

[@R.Carnie]

Amazing! The tree demo was excellent, thank you! That's going to save a lot of time in environment painting. :D

[@garyandmickie]

I'm stuck on how you sampled the blue ball at the first of the video so you can use mixer brush to make copies. In the tool bar my current brush load just shows one solid color ( whatever I used the eyedropper to sample) not the whole ball. How do I do this? Thanks

[@breakingbeatz]

Hi do you have the solution for this? Same problem here

[@resh7521]

@@breakingbeatz he commented that 6 years ago bruh

[@brokencreationlordmegatrol3037]

This will be amazingly useful

[@janeelliott9297]

so this has totally blown me out of the water - and so to see what else I could do I made a small cube and sampled that - and then I made a curvy path with the pen tool - and then I stroked the path with the mixer brush - and then I had to pick up my jaw from the floor

[@MannyM91]

really appreciate this video ive been trying to get a handle on this for a while now

[@philmaron.3diot]

Daily Spitpaint just came one step closer

[@tehs3raph1m]

Mixer tool and puppet warp... Two tools I did not know what they were... Thanjs

[@rickymartinez4457]

epic. good shit Reid, thanks, i'm gonna try this right meow!

[@ketimporta7799]

Wow, that was awesome!!!!!!!!

[@dianeoffthewall]

Incredible! Thanks for sharing

[@leeroyvanilla8475]

Pretty interesting thanks for sharing!

[@Mitgardxxl]

Nice Ideas. Thanks for sharing that !

[@EricWuDesign]

Rahll would you share the brush set you use in this video? I've download your brush set on davientart, but I can't find that leaf brush you use at 07:50 . Please and thanks! :)

[@RJClarke]

Seconded!

[@customanimation4u]

this TUT earned you a sub, my sub looking forward to more interesting techniques

[@MacSmithVideo]

wow. I had no idea PS had a color hose type tool now. thanks!

[@eurossocial]

Wow! This demonstration is Awesomely Unique!! Thanks for creating this video. I have also subscribed to your channel.

[@bboylilizzi]

This was great, amazing new skills learnt, thank you!!!

[@RanPeleg]

Wow this is pretty awsome Rahll , thanks for showing it

[@carmenmoreno9241]

This is great, thank you so much for sharing!

[@milhouse777]

Real pro tip, thanks for upload

[@heihowl]

Where were you when i was working on my Doctor octopus art? i could have made the claws so much better and faster. Awesome video. Thanks

[@supremowildhack]

Thanks I get it now no problem at all you have to click on the Window button on the top and then click Brush if it's already checked don't do that next go to the right panel and click on the icon that has brushes and then press Alt and now it will sample things.

[@Xvyrk]

+Moglin Mp (MoglinProductions) Just a follow up to that but in actual English that makes sense (sorry for the angry comment pal but what you wrote makes no sense). The problem if you're getting only colors when you sample is that you are in "solid color" mode. Right at the top where you have your mixture options (dry heavy etc) you will see your solid color in a box and next to it a small arrow, click on it and deselect solid colors, voilà.

[@goku21youtub]

this tutorial is different and cool and awesome !

[@Justinspice]

Its just pulling color from the pixel I hover over. How do I pull a sample as big as the brush i'm currency using? some setting im missing?

[@MyShadowOwner]

when in mixer brush hold alt to sample a bit late answear :D

[@creativitySaves]

Wow... I feel like my whole painting life was a lie.... Thank you very much!

[@admiralevan]

Looks great man, cool stuff!

[@AlexLusth]

that is super cool, have to try this out!

[@marbu992]

Amazing Video! Thank you very much!

[@manglarttechner5110]

great man thanks!! tip: for resizing layers without quality lost, convert to smart object!!

[@edsfoxart]

Thank you so much for this!!! :)

[@rabbitchmccurry538]

The new cc. Fill layer has tree and shrubs automation with bare stock to summer full blossom it is very cool. As well it has global 3rd directions.

[@porywisty]

Great tutorial!. Thank You!

[@HappyBroccoliGames]

wow... i would've never discovered that on my own, thanks so much :D

[@erezkz]

that's great thank you! i dont know if anyone else mentioned it yet but about the tube thingy you did, it might work if you set the angle jitter (under shape dynamics) to direction... anyways, thanks for this trick its very useful :)

[@doodle_dave_]

This is amazing. Thank you for sharing!!

[@Ryzawing]

Where do you get this leaf brush good sir?

[@georgesdahdouh2790]

Woooow, this is amazing, thanx for sharing

[@InPursuitOfArt]

This is awesome dude, thank you!

[@iliev93]

WHAT THIS IS AWESOME! Thanks!

[@SasukeUchiha723]

I'm gonna up my game with this...... thanks

[@-rvn]

this is awesome, thanks for sharing man!

[@FireartFX]

hey nice video! can you tell me what kind of leaf brushes do you have when you chose that leaf brush? or can you tell me where to get those leaf brushes ? the mix brush is giving me diffrent result and not like what you showed me...help.