Smoke Brushes for Photoshop CS5

Preparing the Smoke

• 1
  Launch Photoshop. Click the “Foreground Color” icon in the Toolbox and select white from the Color Picker. Click the “Background Color” icon and select black from the Color Picker.
• 2
  Create a new document by clicking “New” under the “File” menu. Set the “Width” at “1000” pixels and “Height” at “800” pixels. Select “RGB Color” as the Color Mode and select “Background Color” in the “Background Contents” menu.
• 3
  Add a new transparent layer above the black layer by clicking the “Layer” menu and selecting “New” then “Layer.”
• 4
  Select the “Paintbrush Tool” from the Toolbox and select a brush size of “20” pixels in the Options Bar, using “Normal Mode” and an “Opacity and “Flow” of “100” percent.
• 5
  Drag the paintbrush in jagged, curling vertical strokes across the canvas, as if you were drawing old knotted sticks. Reduce the brush size to “10” in the Options Bar and draw shorter lines between the sticks, as well as branches coming up from the sticks. This is the basis for the smoke.

Applying Filters

• 6
  Click the “Filter” menu, select “Blur” and click “Gaussian” blur. Type “9” in the “Radius” field and click “OK.”
• 7
  Click the “Filter” menu again and select “Other” then “Maximum.” Type “9” in the “Radius” field and click “OK.”
• 8
  Click the “Filter” menu and select “Distort” then “Twirl.” Type “80” in the “Angle” field and click “OK.”
• 9
  Click the “Edit” menu and click “Fade Twirl.” Type “70” in the “Opacity” field and click “OK.”
• 10
  Add a new layer from the "Layer" menu and repeat the steps to add another layer of smoke to your design. Experiment with the Filter settings to achieve different smoke effects.