Official GIMP brushes redesign
Background motivations and around
Some ideas to improving the GIMP brushes together with concepts more linked with digital and traditional painting. The redesigning proposed was based in many discussions with digital artists using GIMP.
1. A short history around this redesign
I’m interested to build my own brushes on GIMP since 2007 circa, when I began to use Gimp for my professional illustration works. I had also an collaboration with Ramon Miranda about this topic and some of my brushes are in the current set (2 brushes to emulate pencils).
In 2011 and 2012 I had an important collaboration with Mozart Couto to debug my brush collection. Now this collection is in the code.google.com.
In 2012 ~ 2013 I had a collaboration with L’ubomir Zabadal, an Art Adjunct Professor on Nitra University in Slovakia. With he, I had many thread emails about:
- Howto design and build good brushes on gimp;
- Emulation questions;
Wet and Impasto
Printmaking techniques: lithography, woodcut,etching, etc…
Dry media - Modeling and Chiaroscuro;
Better shape form
Sharpness and Softness;
Paint Dynamics and around.
Nowadays I’m collaborating with Gustavo Deveze for the restyling and redesign of the official gimp brushes set.
Also I’m working with they on the new paint dynamics for impasto and wet with focuses to increase the sharpness of stains [1] . Another branch is to use these dynamics on parametric brushes [2] . [1], [2]
Recently I’ve began a interesting thread with Mozart Couto about brush texture emulation with layer mask… and old idea that I’ve tested in 2008. Some images of this work can be seen here and there.
2. The Basis of Redesign
The main idea or concept is to have a guide of the process of the redesign. For me is clear that many brushes need only a small restyling or few corrections… another, need more time and probably a complete redesign, as I’m proposing on Sand Dunes and on Vine brushes.
During 2013 with L’ubomir Zabadal, we talked about to brush design… how to make with efficacy and very focused on the current GIMP features. The summary, of these conclusions, can be appears a bit old or known:
- The round brush is better to make modeling and chiaroscuro. The border need is more soft or a bit undefined also in the more sharpest stains.
- The brushes needs to have good sharpness within… is impossible to increase this quality… only lost it.
- To have a median stain opacity over 70%… if you need soft brush is easy to control this in the Tool Options features or with Paint Dynamics.
- With point 2 and 3, is clear that is possible have brushes more sharpest and darkest and this doesn’t changes anything for all painting workflows or not.
- To have a good stain quality with a ‘comfortable’ dimension is fundamental to scale up and down the brush. I have thought the standardization for the sizes: 64, 128, 256 and 512 pixels, each dimension is thought for a kind technique, e.g., 64 pixels for pen, pencils, crayon, color pencils, etc … But is possible to use, also many, brushes thought to specific techniques in another techniques… the paint dynamics and down or up brush scaling can be used for this scope (for instance, I did some samples to wet effects using small brushes to pencils simply scaling up the size brush absurdly).
- To think a set brushes, (for family or scope, e.g., drawing, pencil, pen, etc.). Where we have always different behavior’s patterns and stains (min 5 and max 10 — draft proposal). With paint dynamics is possible, also, increase different behaviors with the same brush… e.g., use the same brush to sketch and coloring (simply scaling up or down the size brush with a different paint dynamics).To
- To have a good equilibrium between raster and parametric brushes. Many times is possible to increase the performance using parametric brushes with specific paint dynamics.
- To have a good equilibrium between dynamic (normally know as animated brush ;) and static brushes based on rasters (.gbr and .gih respectively).
- To have on .gih brushes a maximum of 2 dimensions and 8 layers, optimal in many cases 1 dimension with only 3-4 layers.
- To organize the sets on different folders thought for permanent tags. To think a new tag named ‘Default’ to filter the gimp default set of others installed by user.
3. Redesign Brushes
3.1 — First redesigned brush | Sand Dunes Legacy
Some samples of Sand Dunes [legacy #Gimp #Brush] redesigned with the same or almost characteristics, but more large, 128 pixels, with static (.gbr) and dynamic (.gih) versions. The stains are made with new paint dynamic dedicated to impasto and wet.
The first line samples are made with default size, 128 pixels; the line below with 32 px except the first stain that is the original Sand Dunes restyled with the stain a bit more sharpest… I’ve applied a threshold simply.
3.1.a — Deveze impressions
Americo: I need a short note of these redesign… is better, indifferent, when you make a comparison the before and the after. Your impressions and suggestions… be realist and sincere 😉
Deveze: En general, los resultados fueron distintos, ni mejores ni peores. Yo creo que a pesar de ser parecidos a los legacy, con su utilización se obtienen resultados distintos.
Americo: my focus on these redesign is to improve the stain mark, p.e., the sharpness.
Deveze: ok, en ese caso son más nítidos que los anteriores; pero yo particularmente prefiero los pinceles blandos, menos nítidos. Para la línea nítida me gusta usar la herramienta tinta. Sin embargo, me parecieron utiles para rellenar con textura dura, como si se tratase de tinta y papel real, y cubriese una superficie con tramas de pluma.
3.2 — The in-progress and impressions while 2nd Brush is Redesigned — the Vine Legacy
My impressions around the legacy brushes and other ‘interesting’ brushes on the Gimp Official Set are a bit changed… after some talks with Gustavo Deveze.
Is true that many brushes on Legacy and not Legacy are historically on Gimp… Is very difficult to redesign or increase the quality of these brushes without a complete remake… and in these cases could be understood as another brush, similar but, also could be appears for many artists another brush. For me, could be useful to maintain the original design, but as an optional set and not on the official set.
So, is useful to ask ourselves, Is correct to redesign a legacy brush with this approach? Could be correct but could be wrong too!
3.2.a — The Obsolete brushes and the Basis of Redesign
Another important topic is the brushes tagged as ‘obsolete’… for me someone can be tagged in this way, per example, the ‘pepper’, the ‘square series’. Also to parametric brushes… where many similar brushes could be eliminated or simplified [see The Basis of Redesign, point 6.]. In The Basis of Redesign this question is approached simplifying the stain set to a minimal denominator common or the main characteristics, for instance, the parametric calligraphic set perhaps needs only a brush… for general proposes… and to advice the usage of Ink Tool as default and classical approach to inking and calligraphy.
3.2.b — My Vine brush tests
To redesign the Vine Brush, I have used the same approach of the Sand Dunes… the stains of the vine leaves are redraw completely using the Pencil Tool.
The dimensions of my tests were with 256 and 512 pixels, with the spacing 64% (the best results).
In this test, I have used the Gimp airbrush tool, with a big flow rate and a bit of noise (the best way to make the informal pattern), without paint dynamics… and I increase the sharp with the filter Enhance > Sharp with 40 on value. I have cut the form with free selection and save as .ora. On MyPaint is used only to draw the lines around the form.
3.2.c — Mozart Couto Talks about Vine Brush Redesigned
This sample that is shared on google+ was commented by Mozart Couto and me:
Mozart Couto: Gostei muito do resultado!
Americo Gobbo: Este pincel, está sendo complicado de re-interpretar… O original não rende a ideia da trama e das folhas. Aí eu pensei de redesenhar as folhas da videira em modo precário e aproximado… as nervuras são rabiscadas meio ao acaso com traços duplos e triplos usando um lápis com pincel tipo pixel. Acho que dá pra melhorar… vou dormir pensando nas videiras…
Mozart Couto: Agora o efeito das pinceladas ficaram mais apropriados para a aplicação nas ilustrações. Antes, o efeito muito realista limitava o uso em fotos, ou como ornamentos, ou coisas parecidas.
3.2.d— Deveze Talks and Samples With Vine Brush
Hola Américo.
Te envìo una imagen en xcf y png, hecha con tus pinceles vine.
Me cuesta trabajar con esos pinceles, porque no me gusta que se vean las hojas; me empieza a gustar cuando por dynamics las hojas se vuelven borrosas y sólo son manchas.
Pero para usar manchas, prefiero ‘manchas’ antes que ‘hojas’. ¿Se entiende lo que digo? Yo no encuentro la necesidad de rediseñar esos pinceles, cualquier otro pincel es mejor. Me parece muy valioso tu trabajo sobre los pinceles, y debo agradecerte haberme contactado porque gracias a eso, pude entender mejor el funcionamiento de los pinceles en gimp 2.8.
Americo: I understand your view point… for me is very hard to redesign these brushes… but is useful to test my concepts about brush design… and is more clear when the brush is bad or has an oldest concept.
Sinceramente, yo no invertiría más tiempo en rediseñar los ‘vines’.
Americo: I’ve wrote in January of this year a document about the official gimp set, many ideas about redesign were based on my studies and conversations with Zabadal… so I was very curious to understand if was possible to transform in better many brushes of the gimp official set.
I’ve been studying for years the pattern design on Gimp and MyPaint… and for me, is useful to have good design concepts on textured or pattern brushes on Gimp too.
For me, the pattern or textured brushes are interesting to use to build natural or abstract patterns in many subjects, a classical example, perhaps could be to clothes and sartorial.
Si logro darle otro enfoque al uso de estos pinceles, te envío una nueva muestra; pero no creo que encuentre un mejor modo de usarlos.
Américo, segun lo que llego a entender, este pincel podría ser util a un arquitecto que necestia simular vegetación en una presentacion, o este principio podría ser util si fuese simple cambiar el patrón que se imprime. Pero en lo que a mí respecta y según entiendo como hacer las cosas, no es útil. No creo que haya buenas o malos diseños en abstracto, creo que funcionan o no segun la necesidad de quien lo usa. Que para mi no sirvan sólo es éso, mi opinión individual. Otra opinion individual puede afirmar lo contrario, y tambien sería la opinion correcta.
Bueno, no se si se entiende.
Hi Gustavo,
I understood perfectly, don’t worry ;-) I’m working in this legacy brushes… because for me they are a bit kitsch ;)
Only to say that is possible to find other ways to resolve the design of these objects :) When I make a comparison between the old and new version is possible to find other qualities and the new possibilities. But I understand perfectly that you don’t like of these resources within your style… and I agree.
In my case, the pattern or textured brushes are only a way to fill painting areas with style and elegance, but I agree that exists other ways… per example, using the clipboard as brush on the fly… and is interesting to know better this feature, essentially this work as a gbr brush… but with paint dynamics is possible to find many effects.
For me, the legacy brushes doesn’t must be part of official set… but that is another story :) Redesign these brushes, for me, is only an exercise… I think useful to understand better the tools, features and concepts that I’m using to build the my own brushes… but I agree is a bit tiresome way do this :)
