Abstract Brushing

This tutorial will help you to advance your signature brushing.

Step 1

Create a new document I chose 340 x 120 for my sig but you can use what you want.

Step 2

Duplicate the layer you have at the moment (Ctrl + J) three times. So you now have 4 layers.

Right click on the bottom layer go to layer properties and call it Grunge. The next layer up, call it Abstract1 the one above that Abstract 2 and the top layer Abstract3. Fill all 4 layers in black.

Step 3

Download some grunge brushes from here if you don’t have any of your own. Select the Grunge layer and make sure the foreground color is selected to white. Take the bottom brush from the linked pack or a plain brush if you’re using your own and click a couple of times on the canvas.

Ok once you've brushed, press Ctrl + U select the colorize box and choose 215 for the hue and leave the rest as default.

Step 4

Download some abstract brushes from here if you don’t have any of your own. Select the Abstract1 layer and use different brushes from the pack across the canvas. Try to get quite a flat smooth layer like so.

Now press Ctrl + B and use these settings:

Midtones : Blue 30 Cyan -30
Highlights : Cyan -20
Shadows : Blue 20

Step 5

Select Abstract2 layer and brush like you did before but don’t use any of the same brushes from the Abstract1 layer.

Now press Ctrl + B with these settings:

Midtones : Yellow -30 Red 30
Highlights : Red 20
Shadows : Yellow -20

Step 6

Select Abstract3 layer and brush like you did before but don’t use any of the same brushes from the Abstract1 or 2 layers.

Press Ctrl + B and use these settings:

Midtones : Blue 30 Cyan -30
Highlights : Cyan -20
Shadows : Blue 20

Step 7

Set the blending mode for Abstract1 to Lighten

Set the blending mode for Abstract2 to Linear Dodge

Set the blending mode for Abstract3 to Linear Light

You can vary these if it does not look right. I only chose these setting because it went well with the brushes i had used. Please vary them to get the best effect for your sig.

This is what I have :

Step 8

Ok, now create another new layer (Layer>New>Layer..). Select this brush (it’s included in Photoshop’s default brushes.)

Now click on the brush tab in the top right hand side of your screen.

Select "Shape Dynamics" and "Scattering" and use the settings below.

Step 9

Just brush across the layer and then set the blending mode to soft light.

Step 10

Ok, now create another new layer. Then go to Edit>Fill and select this pattern.

Set the layer opacity to 10% and the blending mode to Soft Light.

This is my final product with a quick border added.

You can vary the settings and colors in this tutorial to suit your look. Add text, a render or a border.

Brushes

Abstract Brushes from here.

Grunge brushes from here.