ILLUSTRATION • FREE RESOURCES

Fresco Tips: Make a brush out of anything.

Use the Eyedropper tool to quickly make wild, multi-dimensional brushes.

Make your brush tip.

Create a new file in Fresco, and then draw what you want to use as a brush tip. You can also import an image. What would a cut out of your face look like as a brush? Or your favorite emoji? Whatever you import, just make sure it’s saved on a transparent background. (If you want to get started right away, use the ‘Add library’ button to get five custom brush tips designed by Kohl.)  

Drop it.

Tap on the Eyedropper tool and select the Multicolor option from the very bottom of the left toolbar and drag it over your drawing.

Grab a brush.

Select the Hard Round Brush located under the Basic brush collection. Start drawing!

Take it to the next level.

Watch Kohl create a brush in Fresco.

Go 3D.

You can make a multi-dimensional brush by adding shading. Open a new doc and draw a short, straight line using the Hard Round brush in a color of your choosing. (To make a straight line, just draw a stroke, and then hold your pencil for a moment at the end—the line will snap straight. If you don’t have this option turned on, go to Settings > Input > Touch and toggle on Snapline.) Make two more layers, and draw a diagonal line on each, in the colors of your choosing, creating a star shape.

Make a Clipping mask.

Tap back into your first layer. Then add a new layer above it by tapping the Add Layer button. Clip the new layer to the one below it by tapping the Clipping mask icon in the right hand toolbar. 

Add shadow.

Tap on the Color Chip, select the base color used in this layer, and lower the brightness a few degrees. Select the Soft Round Opacity brush. Making sure you’ve got the Clipping mask layer selected, draw your brush along the top of the line and around the middle, creating a soft shadow effect. 

Add highlights.

Add a new layer and clip it to the ‘shadow’ mask below it. Select your base shade color again, and with the Soft Round Opacity brush, draw in some highlights on each end of the line. Repeat on the other two lines.

Move it.

Now repeat the steps from Put it in motion, centering the Multicolor eyedropper over your creation. (You can also use your fingers to pinch the document until your drawing is small enough to fit inside the circle.) Start drawing! 

Get custom brushes. 

Get five free brush tips designed by Benjamin Kohl. Just use the Add to Library button at the top of this story, download and save to your files, and open in Fresco.