# Procreate Brush Library This isn't a catalogue. It's a system for keeping your tools from becoming the thing you stare at instead of painting. The overwhelm of hundreds of brushes is a friction problem — too many choices between impulse and mark. The aim is to design a library that regulates itself so you reach for what generates, not what impresses. --- ## Active Set The brushes I actually reach for. If it's not here, it's not in use. ### ✏️ Pencil & Drawing | Brush Name | Why It Stays | Mode | | -------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------- | ------------------- | | Kyle's Paintbox - Palette Bonus Opacity J_original | Felt tip, child like fun pen. | Subject/Object/Tool | | | | | | | | | ### 🖌️ Paint & Wash | Brush Name | Why It Stays | Mode | | ---------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------- | | Lenah | interesting line and mark maker, painterly. | Subject/Object/Tool | | She Oak | Good for blending and nice narurallt blending when painting too it seems | | ### 🖍️ Ink & Line | Brush Name | Why It Stays | Mode | |---|---|---| | | | Subject/Object/Tool | ### 🎨 Texture & Blend | Brush Name | Why It Stays | Mode | |---|---|---| | | | Subject/Object/Tool | ### ✂️ Eraser & Mask | Brush Name | Why It Stays | Mode | |---|---|---| | | | Subject/Object/Tool | --- ## Quick Sets Pre-made combinations for specific moods or modes of making. Instead of choosing from scratch each time, pick a set and start. | Set Name | Brushes | Mode of Making | |---|---|---| | | | Subject-led / Object-led / Tool-led | --- ## Experimental Bench New brushes go here first. They prove themselves through use before graduating to the Active Set. If a brush doesn't generate anything worth keeping after three sessions, it gets deleted — not archived, deleted. Archives are just procrastination with better branding. | Brush Name | Source | Sessions Tested | Result | |---|---|---|---| | | | | Keep / Graduate / Delete | --- ## Archived Brushes moved out of rotation. Revisit only if a piece actively calls for something you can't find in the Active Set. | Brush Name | Why Archived | Date Moved | |---|---|---| | | | | --- ## The Principle: Tool-Led Selection From [[Artist's Method]] — when the **tool leads** (tool → subject → object), the behaviour of the material becomes the subject. A brush you don't know intimately can't lead you somewhere unexpected. So this library works backwards from practice: 1. **Use first, name later.** Pick up a brush and make marks. If it generates something interesting, it earns a place. If it sits untouched for a month, it goes to Archived. Practice precedes organisation. 2. **Keep the active set small.** Aim for 15–20 brushes in daily rotation. Everything else is noise. You're not building an encyclopaedia; you're building a toolkit. 3. **Stress-test regularly.** Every few weeks, deliberately pair two brushes you've never used together. Comfort breeds repetition; controlled disruption breeds variation. This is the same principle as stress-testing your practice — perturb the system so it stays adaptive. 4. **Close the feedback loop.** After each painting session, note which brushes served and which fought you. One sentence is enough. Over time, patterns emerge and the library trims itself. --- ## Maintenance Rhythm - **After each session:** one-sentence note on which brushes worked or didn't. - **Weekly:** check the Experimental Bench — graduate or delete. - **Monthly:** review the Active Set. If a brush hasn't been touched, move it. Replace it with something from the Bench or import something new. - **Every few months:** stress-test — pair two brushes randomly and paint for ten minutes with no goal. See what emerges. The library should feel lighter over time, not heavier. If it's growing, you're collecting instead of pruning.