Advanced Techniques with Brushes in Photoshop CC with Lisa Carney

This is an outstanding, in depth course on brushes in Photoshop. It is geared to the advanced user who is familiar with Photoshop tools and settings. Lisa present information that is not easily available elsewhere. Her teaching style is enthusiastic, energetic and exciting. I highly recommend this course for those who have a firm grasp of Photoshop CC.

Lisa's has great energy! This was a wonderful class for someone with knowledge in photoshop already. If you are a beginner, it might go over your head, but I still recommend it for everyone, because she has so many great tips that you can come back to after your understanding of the program increases! As someone that uses photoshop to paint in, I was thrilled by the amount of information she accumulated and shared. thanks to all that helped get this class out to us:-)

Really great class! Expect to go in-depth with a lot of advanced topics, such as analyzing various brushes to see how they work. As other reviewers have already noted, Lisa jumps right in and she assumes the viewer already has a solid foundation of PS (and brush basics). Yes, she does sometimes skim over steps rather than breaking things down, but I was able to follow along by reviewing her process and watching the screen to see what she was doing. I loved seeing her work flow and some of the creative ways brushes can be used. I also plan to watch some sections again after I've practiced a bit and read the packet. This was my first class with this presenter and I will definitely look for more of her videos.

Like some other reviewers I found the instructor's teaching technique scattered, too fast and lacking in detail where I needed it. I think I now have only a general introduction to brushes in PS CC, but lack some introductory general information about when I might want to use brushes. In the end I think the attached printout booklet might be the real value of the class. In the end this might be just the right class for some, but just not for me.

Lisa is the BEST teacher!!!!! Everyone should take this class!!!!!!! This class is utterly phenomenal!!!! Lisa is so knowledgable and so very talented. She is incredibly smart, super funny and so very helpful. This class contains so much valuable information, and at this price it's a complete steal. This class has forever changed my life!!! I'm so happy to have a new skill set. Thank you Lisa from the bottom of all of our hearts you are completely incredible and have touched all of our editing in photoshop lives forever!!!!! You are so very talented thank you so much for sharing your incredible skills and knowledge with us, you are a true beautiful talented soul. xoxo, Skye

Pros: 1. Tons of info on how to create your own brush. 2. Very Detailed steps, she points out important issues that arise when creating your own brush. 3. She reveals need to know details that allow you to create a similar brush that someone is using. 4. she provides links to areas for Kyles free brushes on adobe. 5. she encourages lots of "play" to be creative. Cons: 1. Too much data to cover in one class thus, the last class ends with mentioning things not covered. 2. If you're a beginner like me you'll need to spend time practicing to understand the small steps (shortcuts, layer selection, etc.) to be able to use these skills first. However, it's follow able and doable . 3. There's a lot of info in this class, if you finish it I expect you'll have to watch it over again a handful of times till you memorize the important things.

Love this class! I have all of Lisa's classes and find them invaluable. Her teaching style is more of a "gourmet's cookbook". You have to have a basic knowledge to get the most out of it. I relish her tips and commentary. Can't recommend it too highly

Wonderful class - Lisa put a huge amount of work into this material. She breaks everything down and makes it all easy to understand and provides concrete examples. I especially love the way she doesn't just skip over a point, she'll take a moment and dive in quickly then move on. I have learned so much stuff from this course! Brushes in photoshop is a pretty deep subject and I've learned a ton here.

Don't be dissuaded by some of the negative reviews, This is a great course. Lisa's presentation is engaging and provides an excellent overview of what brushes are capable of in Photoshop. At the cost of glossing over some of the more minor details, she provides an expansive bird's eye view of the artistic potential of PS brushes. If you are a beginner you might feel that she didn't explain every little detail, but I feel competent enough in my skills to fill in the blanks with her meticulously prepared 92 page companion guide. This is a huge topic and Lisa has obviously opted to side step some of the minutiae for the sake of covering more ground. As a photographer with PS experience this is just the course I needed.

I’ve learned a lot already from the first view. Now I know that I will enjoy start playing with the brush tool.

Lisa's energy is terrific and (as someone else suggested) contagious. She reminds me of my favorite college professors teaching the material in their areas of expertise. I am beyond excited to consider all the possibilities offered by the brushes now. Great instructor and worthwhile class for intermediate PS users who crave more artistry in their use of PS.

Knowledgeable Lisa is the best teacher. She makes learning Photoshop fun. Great course. Lisa has a great teaching style. She mixes in a great speech cadence, great voice up and down and pausing, jokes, and is extremely knowledgeable and fun to watch. Awesome course. Really helpful course for getting my feet wet with brushes.

This is a comprehensive overview of Ps CC Brushes, what they do, how they work and how to control, manage & modify them. I found it extremely useful to learn about the functionality/features that Ps CC brushes can provide even though I'm a photographer and not an illustrator or painter. I will never ever be able to employ everything Lisa explained & demo'd in the class - she covered a wide gamut of info. But she served the purpose, in this class, of being essentially what I'd call an 'idea sparker'. Once you see how she works with brushes and you find out how you can adapt (or create) brush tools to suit your personal artistic style the options for creativity are unlimited. I might re-title this class "Oh the Places Brushes Can Go" (apologies to Dr Seuss and his classic graduation gift book 'Oh, the Places You'll Go...'). Keep in mind a few things about this class (& back away from it and your credit card if you don't note a few key facts...): (1) It is called 'Advanced Techniques' - it is for intermediate to advanced Ps users, not newbies unless you're a child prodigy who picks things up really fast, (2) This is not a 'Paint with Lisa' class - we don't all paint a butterfly like a color by numbers together. Rather we learn about Ps brushes, how they work, what they look like and how to modify them and change their dynamics for different types of artistic/retouching/post-processing uses. Each person will have to experiment - there's no one 'this is it' formula that can be provided, (3) Lisa talks and thinks fast and has a pretty amusing patter too (she's clearly very intelligent!) - so be prepared to hit the Pause button. She repeatedly advises during the class, don't overload your brain with all there is to absorb with regard to Ps Brushes. Take breaks to try the info she shares & see what works for you before going on to a different section of the class. Don't buy this class thinking you'll whizz through it in 15 minutes & figure out how to complete a job you've committed to deliver in 2 hours, (4) There's a large packet of material that comes with a purchase of the class (descriptions, definitions, brush settings, drawing examples, etc.). Item #4 is the only thing I'd ding this class on. While the handout material contains lots of really really useful info it is - sadly - microscopic print. The text is exceedingly difficult for my poor old eyes to read. I value that there's plenty of white space on the pages to write notes as Lisa talks - I've done so prodigiously. But the print in that accompanying brushes class guide needs to be larger. I honestly wish I could enlarge the print in some way (unless it is a PDF that I can alter & I haven't figured it out). If there is a way to re-print with larger type font sizes someone please let me know! Bottom line: I highly recommend this class to more advanced Ps users who want a comprehensive overview of Brushes and working with them. It's definitely not a class for someone who wants a linear, step x step, "do this then do that" type of recipe class. As I've noted above, it's best as a way to learn about richly varied Ps tools you may have only had superficial exposure to previously; and get enough new knowledge to make you dangerous (and, dare I say it, boldly creative!).

I found this class so informative, Lisa's energy is contagious, her vast knowledge of brushes is impressive. For the past couple of years, I have had an image in my head of where I wanted to go with my photography, this course gave me the tools and knowledge to change my photography! I would highly recommend this course, in fact, I plan on watching it a second time as there is just so much to learn!

No idea why I bought another of this lady’s classes except I am interested in brushes. She really needs to slow down and stop drifting from one subject to another. I have taught IT for many years and am sure I would have been asked to leave if I taught in this manner. She knows so much but has no idea how to teach a subject. Lots of handouts, which I do not want - I would have bought a book if I had wanted to read how it is done. Ended up watching a course on YouTube.

Absolutely loved this class. I learn so much more when an instructor shows the basics (however detailed) and says 'no go off and play'. It is the tools behind the brushes that are so amazing - I had no idea that is what most of them did and that is the beauty of this class. Not how to use them, although there ideas for that, but what they do so you can try all these ideas out for yourself. An excellent teaching strategy. Make the student think for themselves. If some of the instruction passes you by - rewind and watch again. Perfect! Thank you.

The pace may seem a bit too fast but that is just on the way the instructor moves within the software, which is obviously due to the fact that the viewer should know the basics of Photoshop. I particularly have followed the complete course of Bill Wilmore and i have not experienced the issues that appear in some of the comments. I am finding the content very useful as I had no idea of the big potential of this single tool.

I appreciated Lisa's vast knowledge on a subject I didn't know there was so much to learn. I love her fun playful and light teaching style. And I also appreciated how she would reiterate important points to save us from frustration when we are on our own. A very informative course!!! I highly recommend.

I thoroughly enjoyed the course. The course contained all sorts of good information and was easy to follow. The course was well organized and I appreciated the handouts which helped in learning the material contained in the course. I am part of a photography interest group in PA and we spend time teaching each other. I learn and then share with the group. During our last meeting I showed how to paint on a path based on Lisa's last session in these classes. Lisa is upbeat and enthusiastic and it shows in her teaching. Would recommend the course if you want to learn more about brushes and incorporate it in your creative endeavors.

I love this class! Lisa is very energetic and fun to learn from. I learned a lot about brushes in general as well as Photoshop's new and improved brush tool.

I cannot FATHOM why there are negative reviews for this course. Lisa Carney has a fun, breezy, relaxed way of teaching; it’s conversational, but it’s clear, easy-to-follow, and the supporting documentation provided with the class covers everything. This is my third class of hers to take; I learn so freaking much from her, and I love her style.

I had so many "ah ha" moments with this course. It is a great course if you know what you are doing in Photoshop. This is not for beginners and is geared towards the more advanced user. Very happy Creative Live has some advanced user courses like this one!

Lisa Carney offers so much great information in this class, but I prefer a more linear presentation style. She skips and hops around, and I found her thought processes hard to follow. In general, artists AREN'T linear thinkers, so I can't complain. I was just hoping for some quick and easy techniques to add to my skills, but I'm finding that I have to listen to each and every lesson several times in order to try her suggested techniques. If you're already a master of PS, you'll have an easier time. If you're an intermediate user like me, be prepared for a steeper learning curve and harder work.

I enjoyed the class. It is advanced! It is very technical so if you aren't into that then you won't like it. Opens up a whole new world of possibilities with photoshop brushes.

I guess Lisa's presenting style is not for everyone. She's not a step by step presenter. But what comes across is her enthusiasm as well as a deep understanding of how a professional works with the tools. There's tons of information here, but it might take a bit of effort in repeating the lessons to really grasp her teaching.