The 55 best free Photoshop brushes
Guest Contribution
Photoshop brushes are a fantastic time-saver as they enable you to quickly create rich artwork without having to draw all the individual design elements.
So where to start? There’s a huge spectrum of brushes available, ranging from leaf designs to fabric textures, and cloud patterns to glass shatters. And while Photoshop CC does ship with a set of brushes pre-installed, they only scratch the surface of what’s possible with the brush engine.
We’ve split our collection into four categories: painterly brushes (for when you want to mimic a traditional art effect), natural brushes (everything from trees and grass to smoke, fire, and skin effects), grunge brushes (for when you want a distressed or aged effect) and finally fantasy and comic brushes (including halftone brushes and sparkle effects). Use the quick links above to jump to the section you need.
Whether you’re using an older version of Photoshop or have joined Creative Cloud, grab the free Photoshop brush downloads below and start adding amazing design flourishes to your work.
Painterly brushes
01. Spray paint
Creative Nerds is offering this spray paint effect Photoshop brush set completely free. The pack includes four high-res brushes (2500px each). Use them to add a distressed effect to your paintings.
Restrictions: No redistribution.
02. Furry watercolour brush
If you’re looking to create a soft, hazy aesthetic in your work, try this free Photoshop brush from Heygrey. It is described as a ‘furry watercolour brush’, and the creator suggests using it to create hazy backgrounds. We’re especially impressed with the realistic watercolour effect that has been achieved here.
Limitations: None
03. Real markers
Perfect for fashion illustrations, industrial design and storyboarding, this set of 12 free brushes by Eilert Janßen enables you to create lively imagery that looks like it’s been sketched out with marker pens. If you like what you see, Janßen sells a set of 300 marker brushes for just $9.
Limitations: none
04. Pencil brush
Create the effect of a soft pencil sketch, but without the grubby hands and smudged paper. This pencil-effect Photoshop brush is one of the most realistic we’ve seen, and you can download it for free on DeviantArt, courtesy of professional digital artist Jon Neimeister.
Limitations: none
05. Watercolour paint spray
This large-scale Photoshop brush is handy for creating a watercolour spray effect in your digital artwork. The creator has achieved an impressively authentic effect.
Restrictions: No redistribution
06. Watercolour shapes and splatters
If you’re going for a watercolour feel in your work then these shapes and splatters will help you get the look just right; just don’t overdo them.
Limitations: free for personal use; contact for commercial use
07. Dry brushes
Artist Kirk Wallace created these brushes at home using ink and paper, and offers them to all for free. Perfect for rough, harsh textures, Wallace uses them in his own fruit prints.
Limitations: none
08. Dripping paint brushes
Add realistic dribbles of paint to your digital designs with these free Photoshop brushes. They’re the work of DeviantArt user LilithDemoness and there are 14 in the set to choose from.
Limitations: Free for commercial use
09. Watercolour splatters
These watercolour splatters were created with the help of professional-quality watercolour paint on cold press watercolour paper. There are 32 high-res bushes in the pack, and you can download the lot for free and use them without attribution in your work.
Limitations: None
10. Artist brushes
Aaron Griffin is a self-taught illustrator and concept artist known especially for his figure paintings (his work even graced the cover of the Anatomy special of our very own ImagineFX magazine). He’s generously offering up the Photoshop brushes he uses to create his digital paintings, free of charge.
11. Dry brush strokes
A set of 12 excellent brushes from Chris Spooner. These high-resolution dry brushes are fantastically detailed, bristly and texture-rich.
Limitations: none
12. Thick acrylic paint strokes
Add an authentic acrylic paint effect to your work with this set of free Photoshop brushes. This is volume II – volume I proved so popular, the designers at Creative Nerds decided to expand their collection. Ideal for mimicking an impasto effect in your digital designs.
Restrictions: No redistribution
13. Technical brushes
A beautiful set of 10 illustrative brushes in a technical-drawing theme, including wonderfully detailed cross-sectional designs.
Limitations: none
14. Paint lines
These 24 very hi-res brushes will provide a real-media feel to your design work. Some brushes look like paint tin marks, while others are thicker, providing lots of options within the pack.
Limitations: none
15. Realistic charcoal brush
Charcoal’s an essential part of any artist’s toolkit, but it’s undoubtedly the messiest as well. Get those soft charcoal lines – without getting charcoal all over your hands and everything else – with these excellent brushes.
Limitations: none
Next page: Natural brushes
16. Snow
Add a chill to your designs with a flurry of snow. This pack of free Photoshop brushes contains 15 effects, which you can mix up to create realistic variation in your scene.
17. Lightning strikes
Electrify your work with this collection of stunning lightning strikes. Tileable and available not only as Photoshop brushes but also as patterns and JPEG images, there are 18 to choose from in this set.
Limitations: none
18. Speedpainting set
Concept artist Darek Zabrocki has worked for some of the biggest projects and companies in the fantasy art world, including Assassin’s Creed, Magic: The Gathering and Halo Wars 2. He’s generously offering the set of Photoshop brushes he uses for his speedpaintings, free to download.
19. Nature silhouettes
This is a really useful set of 19 different silhouettes, each featuring a different plant, ranging from trees to grasses.
Limitations: none
20. Hair brush set
Create realistic hair effects with this set of free Photoshop brushes. Mix them together for extra variety and to create different effects. This set comes courtesy of digital artist Lee Alex Pearce.
Limitations: none
21. Blood stains
Add a splash of gore to your digital paintings with this free Photoshop brush set. It includes a range of different large-scale brushes you can use to incorporate realistic blood stains into your designs.
Limitations: Requires a social interaction (tweet, Facebook Like) to download. Cannot be redistributed.
22. Environment brushes
This massive set of free Photoshop brushes should have you covered for all your environment painting needs. All are high-res, and all are specifically suited for creating realistic natural environments in Photoshop.
Restrictions: None
23. Dust particle brushes
A really useful set of dust particle brushes from WeGraphics. These can be used to add instant dirt and richness to your designs, and are ideal for creating a vintage effect.
Limitations: Cannot be redistributed
24. Grass or fur brushes
This set of 10 brushes is ideal for adding grassy details to your Photoshop paintings. There’s a variety of styles to choose from, so you can create everything from scrubby dry patches of grass to lush meadows. A bonus tip from the creator is that if you switch up the colours, they also make great fur.
Limitations: Do not redistribute.
25. Hair brushes set 1
Great for providing touch-ups on model photography, this set of free brushes includes detailed textured hair in a variety of falling styles. As well as straight styles, there are brushes for creating wavy hair and tight ringlets.
Limitations: Credit required.
26. Tree borders brushes
A nice set of brushes that allow you to introduce tree and bush silhouettes to the edges of your composition.
Limitations: non-commercial use only
27. Water brushes vol. 4
20 large brushes that include splashes, spills, ripples and water drops. An excellent set for backgrounds as well as foreground design elements. The designer of these free Photoshop brushes has released – as you may have gathered – three other popular sets of water effect brushes, so if you can’t find what you want in this pack, check out the others.
Limitations: None
28. Simple fabric brushes
Straightforward fabric textures, great for backgrounds in both print and web designs as they’re high resolution.
Limitations: none
29. Clouds
This is a really useful set of 17 brushes, each of which features a different cloud design that can easily be used to add interest to your images.
Limitations: none
30. Cloud brushes
This pack contains eight different cloud brushes, all high-res. Use them to add some weather effects to your digital artworks. There’s a commercial licence included so you can use them in your marketing materials if you so wish.
Limitations: None
31. Leaf brushes
Great for creating organic textured background, this set features seven isolated leaf images with intricate details and textures.
Limitations: none
32. Feathers and birds
A total of 12 individual brushes, each of which includes a stand-alone piece of artwork ranging from detailed feather illustrations, to whimsical birds-on-a-branch.
Limitations: attribution under some circumstances
33. Fire brushes
Digital artist Niño Batitis has been very kind in releasing 13 high-quality Photoshop fire brushes for free. Perfect for your design projects, these will allow you to experiment with flames, characters and landscapes.
Limitations: none
34. Skin brushes
Marta Dahlig has been creating digital brushes for years now, and as she specialises in portraits, her set of skin brushes is an amazing boost to any digital artist’s armory.
Limitations: None
Next page: Grunge, sci-fi and comic brushes
35. Rough paint strokes
These rough paint strokes are ideal for suggesting a rundown building or half-finished paint job. This high-res Photoshop brush is free to download and can be used for personal and commercial work.
Limitations: Do not redistribute
36. Shattered glass
This set consists of 12 free, high-resolution and high-quality Photoshop brushes. They’re easy to customise – edit the opacity, blending modes or mask out different parts of the brushes to suit your particular needs.
Limitations: None
37. Distressed halftone brush strokes
If you can’t decide between a distressed brush stroke and a halftone brush stroke, why not have both? This set of 21 brushes is perfect for adding a vintage, worn or retro effect to your work.
Limitations: none
38. Mixergraph Grunge Brushes
Handmade, digitised and individually edited by Marc Pallàs, this set of five grunge brushes will transform your illustrations and designs with a gloriously rough-and-ready look, making them seem like they’re hot off the photocopier.
Limitations: none
39. Grimey brushes
Useful for adding a bit of dirt to your images, this collection of five brushes from Mattox Shuler is understated but incredibly versatile.
Limitations: none
40. Sponge party
Some beautiful textures make up this collection of eight high-quality brushes, including some excellent sponge brush marks, great for adding timbre to collage work.
Limitations: none
41. Scorched and burned
Another great set of brushes from WeGraphics that feature realistic scorch and burn effects in 10 different designs.
Limitations: cannot be redistributed
42. Scar face
Ideal if you want to introduce some scarring to portraits or simply generate beautifully textured background elements.
Limitations: none
43. Grunge and smooth floral brushes
A great set of mixed media brushes along a grunge and floral theme, ranging in size from 800px to 100px wide.
Limitations: non-commercial use only
44. Bokeh brushes
The term Bokeh is of Japanese origin and refers to the appearance or feel of the out-of-focus areas of a photograph. Add this cool effect to your imagery with this free set of high quality Bokeh brushes
Limitations: None
45. Antique postcards
This wonderful collection of six antique postcard designs provides an excellent background for further design work. Each card brush features text and a delightful patina.
Limitations: none
46. Spray splatter
A lovely collection of 12 brushes covering up to 2500px each. This set features a range of spray patterns suitable for generating dirty backgrounds and textures, or highlighting typography.
Limitations: none
Next page: Sci-fi and comic brushes
47. Circular halftone brush set
If you’re painting comic art, this free halftone brush set will come in handy. Use it for comic-style shading in your designs. This high-res brush collection can be used for commercial and personal projects.
Restrictions: Do not redistribute
48. Sketchy cartography brushes
Create a Hobbit-style map with these sketchy cartography brushes from DeviantArt user StarRaven. The pack includes mountains, buildings, trees, grasses and a range of symbols. As well as a brush file, the download includes a transparent PNG file containing all the images.
Restrictions: Ask permission for commercial use
49. Star brushes
Here are six high-resolution star brushes from artist Austin Pickrell. “Just have fun,” says the artist. “I would love to see what people do with them… and if you make millions from your piece, I want a helicopter.”
Limitations: none
50. Magic spells
A quirky set of 21 brushes, each related to the overall moon theme, and featuring a mythological bias. Great for adding some whimsy, or accenting original illustrations.
Limitations: none
51. Fairy tales brush set
A useful collection of fractal renders at up to 2500px, gathered together under the theme of fairy tales due to their other-worldly appearance.
Limitations: none
52. Dynamic light brushes
Create special lighting effects by using these brushes in combination with layer blending modes such as screen or vivid light.
Limitations: none
53. Night sky brushes
This set of brushes includes 13 different night sky elements, including space dust, stars and moons.
Limitations: none
54. Stardust brushes
A set of 20 Photoshop brushes that add a sprinkle of diffused light orbs to bring a Disney-esque magic sparkle to your work. These high-res brushes can be used for personal and commercial work, with a credit.
Limitations: Credit for commercial work.
55. Starfield
Four brushes, each at 2500px square, allowing you to quickly create detailed star patterns and celestial dust clouds.
Limitations: personal use only; cannot be redistributed
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