V1
09.29.26

Brushes From Your Own Marks
ART 220 · Digital Illustration · Session 11

Workhorse Collective

NameAbraham GarciaEmailabe@wrkhrs.co

ART 220 · Fall 2026

Today09.29.2026TopicTurning the marks on your mark sheet into brushes in Photoshop and Illustrator, then using them on your poster.
Workhorse wrkhrs.co
Session 11
Workhorse

Today your mark sheet turns into brushes.

01 · Why

Thursday we did shadows, and a box from your mark sheet clipped into a shape. Today that mark becomes a brush you can paint with. A brush from your own marks matches the line you inked, and the ones that come with Photoshop never will.

02 · Three illustrators

Pictures only. Look at the texture and where it sits.

03 · How

A brush in Photoshop, then Art and Scatter brushes in Illustrator. Demo first, then you do it.

04 · Exercise 4

Three brushes from your mark sheet, a test sheet, and one brush used on your poster. Then drawing time. The drawing is due finished Thursday.

Three illustratorsEach one's texture comes from their own hand.
JON KLASSEN · OWEN DAVEY · TOM HAUGOMAT Workhorse
02 · Jon Klassen
Jon Klassen.
Jon Klassen, The Rock from the Sky, Turtle and Armadillo on the rock
The Rock from the SkyCandlewick, 2021
Jon Klassen, The Rock from the Sky, Far apart, under a gray sky
The Rock from the SkyCandlewick, 2021
Jon Klassen, The Rock from the Sky, Hello. Hello. What happened?
The Rock from the SkyCandlewick, 2021
02 · Owen Davey
Owen Davey.
Owen Davey, Mad About Monkeys, Japanese macaques spread
Mad About MonkeysFlying Eye Books, 2015
Owen Davey, Mad About Monkeys, monkeys on a blue ground
Mad About MonkeysFlying Eye Books, 2015
Owen Davey, Mad About Monkeys, marmoset
Mad About MonkeysFlying Eye Books, 2015
02 · Tom Haugomat
Tom Haugomat.
Tom Haugomat, figure on a pier at sunset
UntitledFigure on a pier
Tom Haugomat, red room with a child at the window
UntitledRed room, 2018
Tom Haugomat, wildfire
UntitledWildfire
Making the brushesScan one or two boxes from your mark sheet at 600 ppi, grayscale. That is all the scanning today.
WATCH THE DEMO FIRST, THEN DO IT ON YOUR OWN MARKS. Workhorse
03 · Photoshop · 1 of 3
Make the brush tip.
1 · Open the scanFile › Open
If it opened in color: Image › Mode › Grayscale. A brush tip is gray values only, so color does nothing.
2 · Clean itImage › Adjustments › Levels · Cmd L
Drag the black input slider right until the ink is solid. Drag the white input slider left until the paper is pure white. White becomes empty in the brush, black becomes full paint, and any gray left in the paper becomes a box around every stamp.
3 · Check the sizeImage › Image Size
If the scan is 600 ppi, set Resolution to 300 with Resample on. A mark over about 1000 pixels across makes the brush lag.
4 · Select one markRectangular Marquee · M
Drag a box around one mark with a little white around it. Only one mark per brush.
5 · Define itEdit › Define Brush Preset
Name it after the box it came from, like 04 hatch. Click OK. It appears at the bottom of Window › Brushes and is already selected.
6 · RepeatCmd D to deselect
Deselect, marquee the next mark, Define Brush Preset again. Three marks: one for a line, one for tone, one for texture.
03 · Photoshop · 2 of 3
Set it up for the job.
SettingLine brushTone brushTexture brush
Brush Tip ShapeSpacing sliderSpacing 5 to 10%, so the stamps run together into one strokeSpacing 40 to 70%Spacing 100% or more, so each mark stands alone
Shape Dynamicstick the box, then click its nameAngle Jitter 0, Angle Control Direction, so the mark turns with the stroke. Size Jitter Control Pen Pressure with a tabletAngle Jitter 10 to 20%, Size Jitter 10%Angle Jitter 100%, Size Jitter 30 to 50%
ScatteringOffOff, or Scatter 30%Scatter 150 to 300%, Both Axes on, Count 2
TransferOpacity Jitter Control Pen Pressure with a tabletOpacity Jitter 20%Opacity Jitter 30 to 50%
Keep iteasy to missThese settings are lost when you pick another brush. Click the Create new brush icon at the bottom right of the Brush Settings panel (the square with a plus), name it, OK. That saves the brush with its settings.
WINDOW › BRUSH SETTINGS. NO TABLET? PEN PRESSURE DOES NOTHING. USE THE JITTER NUMBERS, AND CLICK TO STAMP INSTEAD OF DRAGGING.
03 · Photoshop · 3 of 3
Use it on your poster, then save it.
1 · New layerCmd Shift N
Every brush goes on its own layer, never on the scan. Name it, like shadow tone.
2 · Keep it insideAlt-click between the two layers
Put the new layer right above the shape it shades and Alt-click the line between them. It is now clipped: you can paint over the edge and nothing spills out.
3 · PaintBrush · B
Paint in black or your darkest color. [ and ] change the size. Shift-click draws a straight stroke between two clicks. Set the layer to Multiply so the paper and color show through.
4 · Export the brushesWindow › Brushes › panel menu ☰
Cmd-click your three brushes to select them, then Export Selected Brushes. Save as lastname-brushes.abr. Brushes live in the app, not in your file, so this is the only way they reach another computer.
5 · Bring them backBrushes panel menu › Import Brushes
On any other computer, Import Brushes and pick your .abr. Or double-click the .abr file.
03 · Illustrator · 1 of 3
Turn the mark into a shape.
1 · Place the clean scanFile › Place · Cmd Shift P
Use the scan you already cleaned with Levels in Photoshop. Click once to drop it in.
2 · Crop to one markProperties panel › Crop Image
With the image selected, click Crop Image, drag the handles in to one mark, and press Enter.
3 · Trace itWindow › Image Trace
Preset Black and White Logo. Open Advanced and tick Ignore White. Move Threshold up if thin strokes break, down if the marks fill in. Click Trace.
4 · ExpandObject › Expand
The trace becomes plain vector shapes. Zoom in: if the edge has lost its roughness, undo, raise Paths toward 100% and lower Noise, and trace again.
5 · Check itView › Outline · Cmd Y
One mark, no white box behind it. If there is a white shape, select it with the Direct Selection tool (A) and delete it.
03 · Illustrator · 2 of 3
Make the brush.
Art Brush · for a lineScatter Brush · for tone and texture
What it doesStretches one mark along the whole path, start to end. Use a long mark: a dry stroke, a wobbly line.Stamps copies of the mark along the path. Use a small mark: a speck, a dot, a short hatch.
SizeWidth Fixed 100%, or Pressure with a tabletSize Random, 50% to 120%
Length and spacingStretch to Fit Stroke Length. Set the Direction arrow to point the way you drawSpacing Random, 60% to 150%. Scatter Random, −40% to 40%
RotationFollows the path on its ownRotation Random, −180° to 180°, Rotation relative to Path
ColorizationMethod menu, both kindsTints. The brush then takes the stroke color, so one black brush works in all three of your colors. Left on None, it stays black forever.
WINDOW › BRUSHES. DRAG THE EXPANDED SHAPE INTO THE PANEL, PICK ART OR SCATTER, SET THE OPTIONS BELOW, NAME IT AFTER ITS BOX, OK.
03 · Illustrator · 3 of 3
Use it on your poster, then save it.
1 · Draw with itPaintbrush · B
Pick your brush in the Brushes panel and draw. Or select any path you already have and click the brush to apply it.
2 · Size and colorStroke panel · stroke color
Stroke weight scales the brush: 1 pt is the mark at its own size, 0.5 pt is half. The stroke color is the brush color, if you set Tints.
3 · Keep it insideDraw Inside · Shift D
Select the shape it shades, press Shift D, and draw. The strokes stay inside the shape. Shift D again to go back to Draw Normal.
4 · Save the brushesBrushes panel menu ☰ › Save Brush Library
First Select All Unused from the same menu and delete, so only yours are left. Then Save Brush Library as lastname-brushes.ai.
5 · Before printObject › Expand Appearance
Not today. For the separations later, brush strokes become plain shapes so every screen gets exactly what you see.
04 · Exercise 4
Workhorse

Three brushes, one test sheet, one use on your poster.

01 · Three brushes

From your own mark sheet: one that draws a line, one that lays down tone (a hatch, a scrub, a stipple), and one texture (a speck, a spray, a grain). Photoshop, Illustrator, or both.

02 · A test sheet

A letter-size file with each brush drawn three ways: a straight stroke, a curve, and a patch filled in. Label each with its name and the box it came from.

03 · On your poster

Photograph or scan your drawing as it stands, and use one brush on one shadow or one background area. It does not have to be final.

04 · Hand in

The brush file (.abr or .ai) and the test sheet as a PDF, plus the poster try as a JPEG. Before the break.

After the break
Then back to the drawing.
Todayafter the break
Drawing time on your poster, with desk visits.
Thursday Oct 1check-in 2
The drawing is due finished at the start. We scan it in class, clean it, and separate the line, then color goes under it. Your brushes come back for shading and texture.
Tuesday Oct 6color and words
Three color plans, the words, and texture on your own poster. Bring the brushes.
KEEP YOUR .ABR OR .AI FILE. IT GOES ON EVERY COMPUTER YOU WORK ON FOR THE REST OF THE PROJECT.