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  • Writer's pictureDylan Nordhagen

5 Underutilized FireAlpaca Brushes And Their Applications In Your Art

Working with art creation software can be overwhelming at times due to the sheer number of options on display. How do you know what everything does? And where do you begin when learning what tools serve what purposes? This intimidation factor might be amplified if you’ve recently switched to a new art program, as you have to deal with a large change in user interface and organization.


I’ve been using my current art program, FireAlpaca, for just over a year now. I’m grateful that I made the switch because it has definitely improved my artistic skills! However, even after a year of learning, there are still several options and settings I’ve barely tinkered with. Only recently have I looked into FireAlpaca’s extensive brush catalog, and it has been a tremendous help to me! Here are some of the more interesting brushes in FireAlpaca and their potential applications in your drawings.


Symmetry Rotate 2 Brush

An example of the Symmetry Rotate 2 brush.

Not to be confused with the similarly named Symmetry and Symmetry Rotate brushes, the Symmetry Rotate 2 brush is in a class of its own. The reason it’s being highlighted is because it has more options than the other symmetry brushes. Both of the Symmetry Rotate brushes let you choose the number of symmetrical lines to include, as well as the ability to specify the exact point of symmetry that should be applied.


The difference between the two Symmetry Rotate brushes is how they orient their line of symmetry; Symmetry Rotate orients it diagonally, while Symmetry Rotate 2 orients it vertically. Both of these brushes, but especially Symmetry Rotate 2, can be used to create intricate and complex patterns or symbols depending on how you adjust their settings.


Thorn Brush



The thorn brush is used to create a series of sharp, thin strokes that fade out at the edges. They are randomly rotated as you drag the brush around the canvas, and unlike the star brushes, there isn’t any way to adjust how scattered these strokes are. So what is the thorn brush good at? Well, as the name obviously implies, it probably works well if you want to draw some sharp barbs, but I recently found a completely unexpected use for this brush that has served me well: blades of grass.

The thorn brush comes with a setting to increase the variety of colors in a single stroke of the brush. If you maximize this setting, and select a color of your choice, you could create a believable field of seasonal grass. I used this tactic to create the grassy garden backdrop in my website animation Bird Watching, and combined it with a soft blur to create the fuzzy grass patches you spot in the intro to Unflinchable Courage. If you struggle with capturing outdoor backdrops, consider using this brush to make the process a little easier.


Flower Brush

The Flower brush is designed to let you create your own patch of flowers, but unfortunately I’ve found that it’s not particularly useful for drawing large bunches of them. The design of the flower is incredibly minimalistic, and I think it works better to place singular flowers over a designated radius. However, this brush works wonders for items that are supposed to have a floral pattern on them; consider using it if you ever need to draw a Hawaiian shirt!


Leaf 1 and Leaf 2 Brushes

I’m grouping these two brushes together because they are fundamentally similar. The Leaf 1 and Leaf 2 brushes are used for making groups of leaves, only differentiated by the actual shapes of their imprints. So, given that these brushes are alike in concept and function, how can they be used differently?

Those who are looking for more realistic leaves will probably find themselves using the Leaf 2 brush more often. The familiar shape is sure to be more recognizable than Leaf 1’s more abstract pattern for its brush. Just like how the Thorn brush was useful for grass in Bird Watching, the Leaf 2 brush was my go-to for putting leaves on trees. I also used it in one of my most recent art pieces, Dual Blades, in conjunction with a bright pink color to recreate the look of cherry blossom petals.


In comparison, Leaf 1’s brush shape looks, at first glance, like it would be more useful to represent different weeds or plants in a garden. You could combine it with the Flower brush to create an entire plant, for example, with Leaf 1’s shape creating the leaves and stem and the Flower brush used to place the bud on top. However, you could get more creative with the shape as well, like adjusting the rotation angle and scatter strength to put together a line of footprints in a trail!

These are just a small selection of the many default brushes that FireAlpaca comes with. Even then, it doesn’t scratch the surface of your options when you consider downloading additional brush packs! If you use FireAlpaca as your art program of choice, I hope this gave you some insight into how to make the best use out of the brushes you are given. If you use a different medium for art, consider exploring your tools and options more to see what you can create!


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