Used to obsess over brush packs, now I just use one brush for everything

For about 3 years I collected like 200 custom Procreate brushes. Thought I needed a different texture for every piece. Then around last spring I did a commission for a client in Austin and for some reason my iPad glitched and I could only use the basic round brush for 2 days. That piece ended up being the best thing I made all year. Now I pretty much only use a modified version of that one brush with some opacity tweaks. Makes my workflow faster and my art looks more consistent. Anyone else go through a brush hoarding phase and come out the other side?

2 comments

2 Comments

valh3215d agoMost Upvoted

200 brushes is a lot... I only got to like 80 before I gave up.

loganl2215d ago

My collection sits at 312 brushes as of this morning, @valh32, and 80 sounds like you barely got started. I swap between 15 different brushes on every single piece because variety keeps my style from going stale. People say consistency matters but I see it the other way around - having one brush makes everything look like it was cranked out in an assembly line. For the client work I do in Chicago, clients actually ask for different textures and finishes across their campaigns. If I used one brush for a gritty urban scene and then a soft botanical illustration, both pieces would feel hollow and samey.