Brush and Pencil tools
To get the best from this application, you really need to be adept at drawing with the mouse or a graphics tablet. These devices are perfect for artists and designers because they substitute a pen for the mouse—the same size and shape as a real pen (see the section on graphics tablets in this chapter).
Elements has three types of brush tool—the Brush Tool, the Impressionist Brush Tool, and the Color Replacement Tool:
- The Brush Tool looks and works like an electronic version of a paint brush: choose a color from Color Picker, pick a brush tip from the 300+ on offer, set the size and opacity, and draw. Instead of using Normal, you can paint in a different Blend Mode, depending on how you'd like the brush pixels to blend into the layer pixels. With skill and the right brief, artists can create impressive-looking artworks.
- Impressionist Brush is fun because it (sort of) clones your image and turns it into large, fuzzy brush strokes...
