Here is a quick tip for Adobe Photoshop. When painting with a soft brush, the key combination “Shift-[” will soften the brush on the fly. The combination “Shift-]” will sharpen the edges of the brush. Combining a very soft brush and reducing the flow rate will allow very subtle airbrush painting.

When using Painter, the media and brush selector appear in the upper right hand corner of the screen. Selecting different brushes using this palette can be a little inconvenient. A quicker method, which does not interrupt your work flow, is to right click your input device. This calls up an onscreen display of all brushes in the current category. When creativity is flowing, easier brush selection can make a huge difference in your work.