some thoughts about custom brushes

[Stahr]

Hi there, lately, I have thought about the usage of custom brushes, and the whole thing is kind of tricky if you give it a thought.
the thing i'm thinking of is "when does a brush get yur work done too easy?"
I mean, lets think about brushes like, hair brushes, grass brushes.
Many complain about "the brushes are doing all the work" and in some cases i think I agree, but in some cases where the brush is used to get a texture and using the form as just texture, is that also "wrong?"
trying to make up an discussion here ;)
where is the point where brushes pass the border too "doing all the work"?
is there anything wrong in using downloaded brushes?

just questions for a debate, i'll hope someone can read it though my bad english ;)

[Inkfish]

imho there is nothing wrong using custom brushes to help create a texture, but the same rule applies to texture brushes as to filters; too much will really destroy the illusion of texture and look generic, but when aplied correctly (sparingly?) will help create the illusion.

Allthough i think it is more rewarding, and more lifelike, to learn to render material or trick the eye with values or somesuch...

my 2 cents

[Datameister]

Good question. And a tough one. In general, I think you can't go wrong if you're using custom brushes to simulate the feel of working with real materials. When you're using plain, flat, circular brushes, the workflow can feel a bit unnatural. You have to work hard to get the texture that is naturally part of traditional media. So if custom brushes are being used to prevent that plainness and give the art some grittiness, I'm all for it. I do that all the time.

But if brushes are being "stamped" onto the image to add ready-made textures, that's pushing it. ESPECIALLY if the brushes are downloaded. In my humble opinion, custom brushes should be low-key--just enough grit to give some sense of texture, not create the texture for you.