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75 Sets of Unusual Photoshop Brushes

One of the reasons Photoshop brushes are so useful is because of their limitless use. Most of the brush packs that are available for free fall into one of several major categories, such as floral brushes, grunge brushes, splatter brushes, and of course a few others. However, there are also a number of unique and unusual brush packs that you may not be aware of. In some cases, these may prove to be very useful for a particular project.

Horror & Sci-Fi Movie Poster

movie posters

Urban Scrawl Brushes

urban scrawl

Keys

keys

Black Angel Wings

black angel wings

Barcode Brushes

barcodes

Bone Brushes

bones

Anatomy Brushes

anatomy brushes

Mythology Brushes

mythology

Grunge Street Signs

street sign grunge

Hats

hats

City Brushes

city brushes

Hair I

hair

Hair II

hair 2

Hair III

hair 3

Handprint Brushes

Handprints

Fingerprint Brushes

fingerprints

Fingerprint Brushes

fingerprints

Hazard Brushes

hazard brushes

Guns and Bullets Brushes

guns and bullets

Beards Brushes

beards brushes

Flies Brushes

flies

Guitar Brushes

guitar brushes

Car Brushes

car brushes

Puzzle Brushes

puzzle brushes

Symbols Brushes

symbols

Labels Brushes

labels brushes

Petroglyphs

prehistoric

Religious Brushes

religious brushes

Guns Brushes

guns

Office Brushes

office brushes

Transportation Brushes

transportation

JurassicLarge

JurassicLrage

Polaroids

polaroids

Musical Instruments

musical instruments

Unusual Cityscapes

cityscapes

Toolbox Brushes

toolbox brushes

Rock N Roll Brushes

rock n roll brushes

Feathers Brushes

feathers brushes

Black Parade Brushes

black parade

Vapor Trail Brushes

vapor trail

Primitive Art Brushes

primitive art

Cute Randomage

cute randomage

Cute Randomage 1

cute randomage

Snow Prints

snow prints

Liquid Drops

liquid drops

Blood Cell Brushes

blood cell brushes

Anime Eyes

anime eyes

Anime Hair

anime hair

Eyeshadow Brushes

eyeshadow

Eyelashes

eyelashes brushes

Pixie Brushes

pixie brushes

Polaroid Brushes

polaroids

Kanji Brushes

kanji brushes

Wound Brushes

wound brushes

Stitches and Sutures

stitches

Music Brushes

music brushes

Bat Demon Wings

bat demon

Label Brushes

label brushes

Chains Brushes

chains brushes

Spider Web Brushes

spider web

Veil Brushes

veil brushes

Anime and Manga Brushes

magna brushes

Band Aid Brushes

band aid brushes

Shattered Glass Brushes

shattered glass

Gears Brushes

gears vectors

Dice Brushes

dice

Bubble Brushes

bubbles

Urban Brushes

urban brushes

Bleeding Mascara

bleeding mascara

Masks Brushes

masks brushes

Sports Objects

sports objects

Soldier Brushes

soldier brushes

Lips Brushes

mouth brushes

Castle Brushes

castle brushes

Fence Brushes

fences

Dollar Bills

Dollar Bills

For more Photoshop brushes, please see:

24 Responses from Readers

Thomas May 14th, 2009

Great selection, Thanks Steven

Dan May 14th, 2009

I think brushes are really overdone in “design” communities like deviant art (where quite a few of these originated). They’re really not versatile at all. The gun brushes, for example, look nice in the preview, but how often are you going to use a monochrome gun in your art? Often enough that you want to install a whole set of gun brushes? Why not just use stock photos? The soldier brushes are great silhouettes, but what if you want to create a print-resolution poster with soldier silhouettes on it? Can’t use the brush, because it gets distorted at high resolutions. Brushes should be used for what they’re meant to do- paint. When it comes to placing images in photoshop, I think we’d all be better served to use custom shapes and stock images. If only the kids at deviantArt would figure that out, imagine the resources we’d have available. Thanks for the effort, but let’s get some .CSH files next time!

Steven Snell May 14th, 2009

Hi Dan,
I don’t completely disagree with you, but I do think there is a use for them, it just has to be in the right situation. Of course they are going to be used less frequently than the traditional styles of brushes, but that doesn’t mean they’re useless. Stock images aren’t always any more flexible than high res brushes. Maybe for the type of work you do they are no good, but that’s not the case for everyone.

Having said that, do I expect anyone to look through this list and find loads of new brushed that they’re going to use in the next few days? Definitely not. But I hope that many people will find one or a few sets of brushes that may work for a project at some point. But my point was mostly to show the diversity of what is available.

Dusan May 15th, 2009

Great collection! Urban Scrawl Brushes are definitely my favorite

Logo Designer May 15th, 2009

Thank you for this wonderful selection…

Squidge May 15th, 2009

Great selection, can’t wait to start using them. Thanks!

Dan May 20th, 2009

Hey Steven,
I might have come off a little too critical — I completely agree that there is a time and a place for brushes (if I’m artificially distressing an image or creating a textured background, custom brushes are my tool of choice). As far as your point, showing the diversity of what is available, you were definitely successful.

Steven Snell May 21st, 2009

Hi Dan,
Thanks for the follow up comment. Like I said, you do have a point, but I’m glad you can appreciate it even if you’re personally unlikely to use these brushes.

pancho June 13th, 2009

Photoshop brushes = cliches = grunge = cheap design

Polly June 13th, 2009

This is a really awesome collection.
Thanks for the heads up on these.

Web Design Hastings June 13th, 2009

Love the wound brushes. Going to PSD some of my mates and post on sites labelled the morning after the night before. Should be a laugh!

create own website June 28th, 2009

nice collection and really unusual.

Josh July 28th, 2009

Awsome brush sets!

Fird October 15th, 2009

The bone one is the most unusual IMHO, but the rest are interesting nonetheless, they can be handy for some use!

Thank you for sharing!

Valokuvaaja December 16th, 2009

Excellent collection and and even few that I have never seen before.

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