Default Digital Art Brushes Sometimes Aren't Great

For some reason I’ve felt weird whenever I wanted to customize some of the default brushes in the art apps I use. Like I’d open the brush up, start tuning settings, try it out, and then… feel guilty for having to change it? And then struggle and try to use the original brush as is was?

I had my own little feelings of imposter syndrome around this. Then I tried some brushes in another painting app and, oh my dog, they work much better. The pencil brushes work like a pencil, not like a paint bucket that sometimes has a pencil texture. I then felt kinda dumb: it wasn’t necessarily me. I figured I might not be the only person who felt this way, so… here we are.

It turns out that the default brushes in some art apps, even highly regarded ones, can be kinda… bad. I took a step back, thought about why I felt guilty about these brushes, and then realized that my thinking was a little silly. Me feeling like an imposter was because I was fooled into thinking that the stock brushes were the good ones. I shouldn’t have to use default brushes to make great things though! I’m going to customize my own. Brushes that actually have a good pressure curve and flow how I want them. Sketching brushes that actually let me sketch instead of splatting out dark marks even on the slightest touch. A lineart brush that doesn’t suck at taper.

I know some of these opinions about brushes are just me. But, gosh, does it feel like some art apps really have their shit figured out compared to others that feel like they’re all talk and no update. But I’m not here to rant about specific art apps, that’s not the point. I want to encourage you to YES, customize those brushes! Break free from the defaults if you don’t like them, you don’t need them! Save your own brush packs and share them if you want! Back them up so you can re-import them if you ever have to re-install your art app. They’re yours. Find your own secret sauce that works for you, and don’t worry if you don’t know what all of the brush settings are for. The important thing is that the brush does what YOU want and works how you expect.

You’re naturally going to keep using brushes that you like, and the brushes that you’ll like the most are the ones that you’ve made to fit you. I’ve finally started to find and change brushes for different situations that really work for me, and I hope that you can too. But if you really do like default brushes, that’s OK too! Just don’t be afraid to change things to make them yours. Now get outta here and go get some art done! See ya!