Dificulty -Intermediate / Advanced
Writen by: Sicloan

Objective:
To create custom light brushes we can use on a render or by itself to create an awsome trendwhore image.

Step 1:

Create a new document 500px By 500px in photoshop.
Press D to reset your colors.
Using the fill tool (paint bucket) fill the first layer will black.

Step 2:

Grab your brush tool


Use these settings:



And using WHITE (#ffffff) as your foreground color, on a NEW layer make some dots on your screen in a row.



Step 3:

Now we want to make it a little more seemless. So grab your smudge tool with a strength of 50 and a size of about 50,



We want to smudge the dots together to form one giant blob.



Step 4:

Next grab your smudge tool again, but this time with a smaller brush size, like 15px, and start from the inside of your blob and stroke outward to create a spikey effect. Do not go to far here, but make it look good.



Step 5:

Grab your smudge tool again, but this time use these settings:



Using this brush, you now want to pull parts of your light burst inward. Start in the black area and smudge inward toward the center of the white thing. Pull parts of it inward to create alot of variation. You can also pull parts of it outward if you like.



Step 6:


The next thing we need to do is to give it more depth. We do this by erasing parts of it. So grab your eraser tool, Change your opacity to 10, and using the same brush you just used, start making small strokes on the outside border. Expirimenting is the key here. If you dont like the brush for the eraser, change it.



Step 7:


Note: This step does not need to be preformed, if you dont like it go to step 8.

Dupilcate your brushing layer and then go to EDIT > Transform > rotate 180 degrees. This will give your brushing alot better look if it looked a little to heavy on one side.
Now press CNTRL + E on your duplicated layer to merge it to the first brushing layer.
Now go to filter > Distort > polar coordinates and use the default settings. Your brushing should now look like this:



Step 8:


Hide your black layer by clicking the EYE icon. And go to Image > Trim > Check transparent pixels and click OK.
Now press Ctrl + I to invert your brush (necessary to use as a brush)
Now go to Edit > Define Brush

You now have yourself a custom brush you can use. When using this brush it is a good idea to keep the opacity very low if you plan on using it alot. Fliping and roating your brush will give you the best effect in the end.