Sites to download brushes for Photoshop:
Adobe Photoshop is the most popular drawing program. It comes with many pre-packaged brushes, and there are plenty of online tutorials to help anyone learn.
However, even with numerous free tutorials and guides on drawing in Photoshop, you might still feel the need for some practice.
Sometimes, you might also want to try out some new brushes, which is why sites for downloading brushes for Photoshop are very important.
Digital artists around the world release their own brush sets online. Some are free, while others come with a small fee, but there is a vast amount of PS brushes specifically designed for artists available online.
I will organize the best options here for you to check out.
Best Sites to Download Brushes for Photoshop
1. AaronGriffinArt Brushes
To start, here’s a truly unique pack from AaronGriffinArt dedicated to Photoshop work.
These brushes are still attracting a lot of attention with comments that popped up recently this week, even though the pack was released years ago. Talk about quality.
All of these brushes are used in Aaron's work, so you can get an idea of what they will look like just by taking a quick glance at his artwork.
2. Sakimichan Pack
Here’s another pack you might like, which is also a bit older but still very relevant today.
The brushes from Sakimichan on DeviantArt are incredibly easy to use.
There are a total of 54 brushes here, offering a variety of scattered paint brushes, spray brushes, and general painting brushes.
This pack was designed with compatibility in mind, so it works in all versions of Photoshop from CS3 and above.
3. Real Pencil Brushes
If you want a simple pack to start with, check out this one from Soenanda. It's completely free and very small, but it comes with a few brushes that mimic different levels of softness.
Real Pencil Brushes are a great starting point for achieving more traditional marks in your art.
4. PS Pencil Brush
This is another pencil set aimed at more experienced artists. You can still achieve the same work as the previous set, but I prefer this one for more realistic materials.
It comes with a preview pack, and there are instructions on how to install the brushes right in the description.
If you’ve never used custom brushes before, these instructions will help you a lot. And if you’re more familiar with traditional work, you’ll enjoy trying this out.
5. Charcoal Brushes
There’s a big difference between graphite and charcoal pencils. They leave very different marks, are completely different, and have varying textures.
Not many artists venture into charcoal unless they do a lot of traditional work. However, charcoal can look amazing in digital work!
This brush set gives you everything you need to start using charcoal without having to buy anything. This way, you can experiment with some unique digital works.
6. Realistic Charcoal Brush
Another charcoal brush pack for good measure, this one is from DeviantArt user WojtekFus.
Both packs are completely free and designed for all modern versions of Photoshop. So I don’t think anyone should have trouble installing these.
The biggest challenge will be learning how to replicate that realistic feel in your digital work to create a believable style as if you were working in a traditional medium.
7. Sylar113 Pack
This pack is definitely a favorite as it comes with a lot of variety for digital artwork.
Creator Sylar113 released this pack a few years ago, and it’s still very relevant today. You’ll find over 70 brushes, all with different presets and styles.
Some are also combined with other free packs to create one "massive collection" of digital brushes for artists.
8. Pearlpencil Winter 2012
From chalky lines to double-ended pencil marks, this pack has a little bit of everything.
Its strength comes from the overall style of each brush, meaning you can coordinate the final output however you want. You can change the settings in the PS brush panel and get many amazing results.
This is what I love most about this collection: the ability to customize the final output to look great and fit your needs.
9. Mateu7’s Ink Brushes
How can I write about Photoshop brushes without mentioning ink?
In this free pack, you’ll find 10 custom ink brushes designed by Mateu7 on DeviantArt. These designs vary greatly from very loose and smudged marks to straighter or even scattered marks.
Ink can take many forms, which is why the variety in this pack can be very useful, especially for artists who prefer working with ink.
10. Concept Art Brush Pack
User DA SoldatNordsken released this pack as a free gift on his website Evenant.com.
It requires sending an email to get the pack, but it’s completely free, and you can always unsubscribe from the email right after that.
Inside the pack is a huge library of brushes for foliage, snow, atmospheric effects, and much more.
These are professional-quality brushes that can really help you create concept art at a professional level. Definitely worth checking out if you’re interested.
11. Environment Brushes
For another relevant pack, you can check out this environment collection from DA user TheEchoDragon.
They can also be used for background painting or layout design.
Ultimately, the brushes you have can’t replace weak skill sets. You should always strive to improve your digital work through practice.
Now that I’ve said that, if you want to do a lot of environment-related work, this pack is definitely worth a try.
12. TsaoShin Brushes
Although this pack is somewhat small, it’s big enough to handle some digital drawing projects and accomplish them very neatly.
TsaoShin released this set of 4 brushes as "essential brushes," all of which are used in her artwork. It’s fully designed for Photoshop and should support all major versions from CS5 and above.
You might be looking for something more versatile, but if you don’t want to clutter your brush panel, these four brushes are a great addition.
13. Colored Pencil Brush Set
Custom brushes styled like colored pencils. It sounds like a strong idea, but I had a hard time finding sets like this.
Fortunately, I found a free pack offered by Brusheezy and creator Jeremiah Shaw. You can download these brushes and use them however you like, assuming you credit any commercial work.
Brusheezy includes details about each license for their brush packs, so if you’re unsure whether something is free, just look for the "license details" link on the page.
14. Art Pack 1
I’m a huge fan of Gumroad for anything related to art. Tutorials, demo videos, brushes, plugins, you name it.
This pack from Sparth does not disappoint with 30 custom brushes designed specifically for all forms of digital drawing. They work best with realistic paintings.
The only downside here is the price, although the quality is very high, so if you love these styles, they’re worth the cost.
15. Basic Digital Paint Set
Creator ramstudioscomics released this brush set online for free as it was their first collection when starting digital drawing. This makes it an excellent choice for beginners who are hesitant to work with Photoshop's default settings.
There’s a little bit of everything here, from chalk effects to illustrated brushes and some hair and fur textures, blending brushes, and anything you might want.
16. Photoshop Essentials
Here’s another great free gift pack designed exclusively for contemporary Photoshop artists.
This comes with 22 brush presets designed for Photoshop CS6 and CC. Inside, you’ll find a massive collection of brushes, many of which can’t be listed here, but you can see the full list on the Gumroad page.
Most of these brushes attempt to replicate materials like pencils, watercolors, oils, pastels, and even some brushes used in comics and webcomics.
17. Ink & Tones
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