Oil Painting Effect in Photoshop – Mixer Brush Technique
319K views 9,189 likes 166 comments
Your choices stick across every tutorial on this device.
The oil painting effect in Photoshop uses the Mixer Brush Tool to paint over a photo, blending its own colors into loose brushstrokes that look hand painted.
In this 90-Second Tip, I’m going to show you how to easily create the Oil Painting Effect in Photoshop!
You will learn powerful Photoshop tools and techniques to create this awesome effect.
We may not all be gifted with the talent of Da Vinci and Picasso, but with Photoshop, anything is possible. You can also turn a photo into a pencil drawing or a comic book panel.
Once again, I am welcoming you back for another 90-Second Photoshop Tip!
For this tutorial, our creative juices will be flowing freely as we learn how to boost mundane photos into classical oil paintings. The result is worth the space on your wall as an art exhibit.
Ready to paint? Let’s go!
Key Takeaways
- The Mixer Brush Tool hides under the regular Brush Tool in the toolbar, and it mixes colors the way a real brush blends paint.
- The Moist preset gives the most realistic paint texture for this technique.
- Sample All Layers has to stay enabled, or the Mixer Brush has no color to pick up.
- Painting on a separate layer set to 75% opacity keeps your original photo intact underneath.
- A pen tablet with pressure sensitivity turned on gives more natural, varied brush strokes, but it is not required.
Table of contents
What You Will Learn
- How to set up the Mixer Brush Tool with the right preset and options.
- How to prepare a new layer so your original photo stays untouched.
- How to paint a photo into a hand-painted look with the Mixer Brush.
- What to check first if you are painting with a pen tablet.
Requirements
Before you start
- Photoshop 2019 (version 20.0 or later) or the current version
Preparing Your Brush For The Oil Painting Effect In Photoshop
Open your selected image file.
On your Toolbar, select the Mixer Brush Tool, nested under the Brush Tool.
On the Options bar, click on the downward arrow to reveal the drop-down menu. Under General Brushes, select Soft Round and set the Hardness to 80%.
Also in the Options bar, you’ll see two brush icons that represent the Load Brush and the Clean Brush. The Load Brush fills the brush with reservoir color, and the Clean Brush removes the paint from the brush. For this tutorial, select the Clean Brush option.
Adjust the settings of the brush by clicking the drop-down menu. In this example, I find that the Moist option works perfectly, although you are free to experiment as you’d like.
On the right-most side of the Options bar, make sure you enable the Sample All Layers checkbox.
If you are using a pen tablet, also click on the Enable Pressure Sensitivity icon.
Setting Up the Canvas
Next, go to the Layers panel and create a New Layer and rename it as “Painting Effect.”
To make the image easier to see through the new layer, set the layer opacity to 75%.
Time to Paint!
With the Mixer Brush, start painting on the blank layer. This tool works by picking up the colors from the previous layer and reveals it onto your new layer. The effect that this makes achieves the oil painting effect.
That’s it for this series’ 90-second Photoshop Tip #20: How to Apply Oil Painting Effect in Photoshop!
I hope this tutorial will inspire you to transform your photos and create a new masterpiece out of it.
Frequently Asked Questions
The oil painting effect in Photoshop makes an ordinary photo look like a hand-painted canvas. You create it with the Mixer Brush Tool, which mixes and smears color the way a real paintbrush does.
The Mixer Brush Tool creates the effect. It hides in the toolbar under the regular Brush Tool, and it simulates real painting techniques like mixing colors on the canvas.
The Moist preset, found in the brush preset drop-down menu, gives the most realistic paint texture for this technique. You can experiment with other presets once you understand the basics.
Sample All Layers lets the Mixer Brush Tool pick up color from the photo layer below, even though you are painting on a separate, empty layer. Without it, the brush has no color to mix.
No, a mouse works fine. A pen tablet with Enable Pressure Sensitivity turned on just gives you more natural, varied brush strokes.
A new layer set to 75% opacity lets you see the photo underneath as a painting guide. It also keeps your original photo untouched in case you want to start over.
Yes. The Mixer Brush Tool and its Options bar controls work the same way in the current version of Photoshop as they did when this tutorial was recorded in Photoshop 2019.
Conclusion
The Mixer Brush Tool turns an ordinary photo into something that looks hand-painted, without opening a real canvas or a paintbrush.
Pick the right preset, keep Sample All Layers on, and paint on a separate layer so you can always start over.
Comment on the video with any question.
Selections and Masking Mastery
Complete course includes 2.5 hours of step-by-step lessons, 6 structured modules, downloadable practice files, and custom Photoshop brushes. Everything you need to master selections and masks in one place.
Keep going
Next, learn how to turn a photo into a pencil drawing instead.
Related Links
Final Image
Drag the slider to see before and after
