Creating a custom Brush in Sketchbook Pro 2011

Sketchbook Pro 2011 is a fantastic creative tool. If you are serious about digital art, it’s an application that deserves to be in your arsenal. While the default brush sets are very good to start out with,
over time you’ll want to make your own custom brushes to suit your own artistic taste. It’s very easy to do.

With the application open, you’ll want to select Window > Brush Palette. Then click on the Set of Circles icon (circled in red below)

At which point you’ll see a dialog box asking you to choose your new Do-It-Yourself Brush:

Once you click Create, you’ll be presented with a multitude of options to configure. Here’s a custom brush I created for inking:

Once you’re satisfied with your brush settings, you can save it or export it out for later use.

Sketchbook Pro 2011 includes Copic marker sets (available when you update the app to the latest service pack). These Copic brushes work exactly like their traditional brethren – albeit with unlimited refills. ;)

Here’s a quick sketch using my custom brush setting and Copic markers. I’m really liking the look and hope to incorporate more elements of Sketchbook Pro into my workflow, particularly because it can save layered files directly as Photoshop PSD files.

-Krishna