I really like painting with the line tool. I set it at a low opacity and a size that is bigger than I am comfortable with...sometimes a lot bigger. At first it feels clunky and unruly, but after a while it forces me to think of masses over lines, and to see values in a more orchestrated way. Its very fast to get an idea down this way, and it tends to leave behind a lot more unpredictable happy accidents of overlapping tones that can really texture a piece of art. I just paint darks and lights until the basic form feels sculpted. I highly recommend trying it.

Ive been playing with strange brushes lately...

Painted with the line tool in PS.

 

this was originally made with a scatter brush, but then I worked it over using mostly the standard semi soft round brush.

 

this is just a fast sketch using the line tool in PS. I like that tool because I think it feels like painting.

 

this was made mostly with the line tool. I did not know what I would draw in the beginning. I just made a lot of random light marks, and a picture formed within that. I'm not sure what this is, but it sort of drew itself.

 

The dark ones were all drawn with the line tool. The blue girl is drawn from imagination.

 

This is a painting using a photo I saw on the internet as reference. All still hand painted though.

Life drawing in California. These poses were crazy fast, most between 10 seconds and a minute and none of them were over 5 minutes. It was a fun exercise, but I admit I wanted to catch my breath on a few of them.