Just a quick brush / texture I put together to learn how to make Sai brushes. Here's the newest (and somewhat improved) version of my Paint Tool SAI!
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. That means if you buy something we get a small commission at no extra cost to you If you’ve looked into the options you’ve probably seen. This is a digital drawing & painting program for Windows originally developed back in 2004. It was first released in Japan with a full Japanese interface but has been translated to English(and a few other languages).
It’s quite popular with anime & manga artists due to its Japanese roots, but you can use this for practically any type of art projects. Only problem is learning the SAI interface. All of these tutorials are here to help you learn and they’re totally free. Perfect for anyone new to the software who wants to start painting fast.
You’ll find a huge variety of topics here and these tutorials should help you move from novice to confident artist in no time. Paint Tool SAI Tutorial for Beginners. The very popular channel on YouTube put together on Paint Tool SAI for beginners. It’s probably the best place to start because it covers a lot of what you’d need to know for getting started drawing and painting., selection tools, managing document sizes, changing colors, everything like that. If you’ve ever painted in other software like Photoshop or Krita you can probably learn the SAI interface fast. Still, it helps to have a guide and JelArts put together one incredible guide with this video.
As a follow-up to the tutorial above I also recommend for learning a few semi-advanced tips. This video pushes beyond the absolute basics and forces you to think about what you’re doing as a workflow in SAI. All of these tips again come from JelArts who has a lot to share in the way of digital painting. Please note this video is fairly long totaling around 25 minutes so it’s not a quick watch.
I suggest bookmarking it for later so you can come back and soak up a few tips you might miss on your first viewing. Speaking of painting tips I have to commend for its narration, style, and easy-access for beginners. Is a massive YouTube channel with over 6 million subscribers. All of their videos talk about something different and this one is especially valuable.
It’s a series of quick shortcuts you can memorize to significantly improve your Paint Tool SAI workflow. If you’re brand new to SAI these shortcuts may take a little time to memorize. But they’re absolutely worth the effort and you’ll see the results in action once you’re doing a lot of painting in the software.
Here’s a fairly generic but still very useful guide for improving your paintings in SAI. The totals 10 minutes and it’s broken down into different tips on how to handle your brushes, mix colors, and how to alter your drawings with the many tools built into SAI. If you come from a Photoshop background you should recognize a lot of these tools. But they all work a bit differently in SAI which can feel like re-learning everything over again. While this tutorial probably won’t make you a brilliant artist in 10 minutes, it will help to improve your workflow and your output quality. Working from lineart is super common with digital illustrations.
The tough part beyond line art is learning how to paint inside the lines and stay true to your original art. Thankfully offers a handy guide to the whole process focusing on clipping groups inside SAI. You’ll learn how to create different selections to prevent your brushes from going outside the lines of your original work(scanned or digital). Plus you’ll learn how to add clipping layers into your document to alter your colors with ease. A very handy tutorial if you’re just getting on the computer.
There’s one big component to creating awesome work that every artist needs to study: brushes. This goes beyond simply picking different brush styles and designs. You also need to think about opacity, pressure, and various settings that come along with painting software. Check out on the many Paint Tool SAI brush settings by YouTuber RaijinDIYT. In this video he shares the brush settings from his Paint Tool SAI setup, so it’s not meant to be the optimal choice for absolute newbies. Rather this gives you a glimpse into how a pro artist uses SAI brushes for day-to-day artwork. We’ve finally come to a specific “how to draw X” tutorial with PaintTool SAI.
You knew there would be at least one, and let me tell you why I love these so much. They remove the worry of creativity and overthinking your subject. Instead you just sit down and paint exactly as the video does.
That way you’re learning the techniques rather than using extra brain power to think of a certain artistic style or subject matter or whatever else goes through your head while painting something. I absolutely recommend because it’ll teach you SAI with a practical project.
Definitely a nice one for beginners. Painting the tree isn’t as difficult as you might think. However if you do struggle with this tut I recommend practicing it a few times a week until you get comfortable with it. Typically the workflow of a digital artist may start with the line art, then move through coloring and finally add some lighting/shading into the mix.
If you want to learn more about a solid SAI workflow have a look at to get a fully narrated guide to the whole process. It is fairly short and you should be able to keep up with it even if you’re not a stellar artist(yet!) This vid is more about learning to use SAI rather than learning to color or draw or shade. So the goal isn’t to master shading or coloring, but rather to get comfortable practicing that stuff in Paint Tool SAI. I really like tutorials that get detailed about specific things. With these kinds of tutorials you learn how to practice in certain software and worry less about what you’re drawing. In you can watch how YouTuber Pluvias paints clothes in her anime-style artwork. This video does not have audio narration so you have to watch the screen to follow along.
I know that might annoy some people but I really think this clothing/fabric painting tutorial is one of the best out there. Not to mention it’s totally free and one of the many great SAI tuts on.
Learning to paint hair is always a challenge. No getting around that. However you can learn faster if you start digitally and follow along with videos. Over the course of 10 minutes you’ll pick up 3 different hair style techniques all painted from scratch in Paint Tool SAI. The artist does not have any audio narration but there is a lot of writing on the screen explaining each step.
So if you’re willing to follow along while you draw this is perfect. Although with the lack of audio it really helps to have a. YouTube artist does a lot of different art tutorials on her channel including both digital work. One that I really like is showing you how to create a simple glowing effect in Paint Tool SAI. The focus rests on a painting a small mushroom and the final result is simply beautiful. It’s really hard to create this majestic angelic glowing style with simple brush strokes.
You really have to think about what you’re doing and try to stumble onto this kind of technique by yourself—or watch a tutorial like this to show you how. I always like to mix in a few speedpaints into these guides because they’re so cool and almost like mini-tutorials. Also by Cyarin uses PaintTool SAI. It does not have any narration and it is sped up so the video goes quicker at around 10 minutes long. Still it has to be one of the coolest speed painting videos with SAI on YouTube. It shows you how Cyarin creates a simple sketch, then refines that sketch to create linework. Then she gets into the painting process and you can just watch the layers fly.
Because this moves so fast you may not learn a lot right away. However it’s worth saving and watching this again to see if you can pick up some techniques from her entire process. Before you can do any coloring you have to get familiar with line art.
This is typically part of your where you’re trying to lay out the general idea for your piece before you paint anything. If you’ve never done this digitally then I highly recommend start to finish. It’ll show you how to go about lineart in SAI and how to do so with confidence. You really have to figure out your line art process before you can start painting well, so this is certainly a great starting point for beginners or semi-skilled traditional artists moving into the digital realm. Remember how I mentioned that SAI is a huge hit in Japan? Well that means you can find tons of tutorials on how to paint the anime/manga style.
They’re basically everywhere and I have to say is perhaps my absolute favorite. The end result is a complete living room interior painted in the modern anime BG style.
You can find like this in written form online. But I always like videos because you get to see every single step of the process. If you want to create layout artwork or then you should absolutely save this tutorial. Maybe even check out some of the recommended tuts in the sidebar too.
Most eye tutorials using PaintTool SAI teach you how to make anime eyes. And that’s great! But I also think it’s good to learn how to paint realistic eyes along with other realistic features digitally. That way you can learn to exaggerate on your own and even practice digital drawing from life. Comes from YouTuber who has a massive following on her art videos. In this specific tutorial she teaches you how to create an eye from scratch using PaintTool SAI. You’ll see her sketch the initial eye, then tighten up the lines and finally get to painting.
It’s a process that I really recommend following if you want to improve your digital art skills. Last but certainly not least is showing a few advanced tips & tricks for Paint Tool SAI. Check out this vid once you’ve done enough tutorials to feel comfortable painting on your own and developing your own work in SAI. You can watch the vid and follow along but you really should feel pretty comfortable before attempting more “advanced” tricks in your workflow.
While this video does explain a few key pieces of the GUI it does not hold your hand through everything. But keep this vid saved until you’re somewhat comfortable working in SAI. At that point you’ll be itching to learn bigger techniques for painting faster, using quicker shortcuts, and rendering with more accuracy.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. That means if you buy something we get a small commission at no extra cost to you The massive audience behind has fostered a loving community of artists. Many of these artists create their own custom brushes and brush textures.
Some even release their creations online for free. Anyone new to SAI can learn a lot just by playing with these brushes. You may not create a masterpiece on your first attempt, but you can at least familiarize yourself with the process. More experienced artists will also enjoy these brushes and find a ton of variety to nail down some very distinct textures. Have a look and see what you think! Default SAI Textures Let’s kick things off with of Paint Tool SAI textures. The brush tool in SAI works a little differently than Photoshop or Krita.
It uses textures to design brushes along with other settings that you can customize on the fly. This means a lot of artists will take screenshots of their brush settings and release them online, but they won’t always release a full brush file.
This is because the brushes often rely on textures to create the end result. Some of the newer versions of SAI do not come with all the same textures. Naturally this is pretty frustrating. But if you grab a copy of this texture pack you’ll have all the assets you need to work with the brush tool on your own. You could even mess around with some settings to create your own custom brushes from scratch. 40 Brush Settings So I just mentioned how SAI often uses custom settings for brushes. This is even clearer with of 40 free brush settings.
The creator DocWendigo released a pack of textures alongside these brushes and you can download all of them right from the DeviantArt page. All the textures are hosted but they’re still free to download. And on the main brush settings DA page you’ll find a step-by-step tutorial on how to install these textures/brush settings into your software. Please note: this is a bit confusing to learn but you’ll get the hang of it with time. Parts of the process involve copying code and editing files directly like Brushtex.conf. It sounds scarier than it is. Realistically this is just how SAI works so it’s part of the deal when painting in this software.
Blotmap Set VIII Here’s a very nice designed by DA user K-OG. This is totally free to download and use with any version of SAI.
It’s got a brilliant setup and this breaks into three different categories: dark, walt, and grainy. You can use this pack for almost any purpose and it should blend in nicely with all digital painting work. I can’t say that inexperienced users will find this very comfortable.
It does take a bit of effort to nail down the brushing process, not to mention handling settings like opacity. But SAI is a favorite among for good reason. These brushes are just one example. Easy Paint Tool Sai Brushes Note: I found a few different brush packs with the same name so if you Google search “easy paint tool sai brushes” you might find more to work with. But seems like the easiest brush pack to start with.
It has a visual tutorial along with direct download links on the page. I’ve never personally used the site before but it does seem legit. And it hosts plenty of free downloadable assets like these brushes. Only trouble is the search feature doesn’t work too well.
It’s hard to find brushes or textures on this site unless you do some in Google. I’d definitely recommend grabbing this pack though and keeping it handy. The tutorial makes this an easy setup for absolute beginners too. Brush Supplement #2 So many artists hit a wall with free brushes.
They eventually learn how to create their own, but not all are created equal. I will say that this is one of the best out there. DeviantArt user DarlingMionette offers over 15 custom brushes with a wide range of styles:. Airbrush. Rough crayon.
Marker. Chalky. Copics. Watercolor. Etc, etc You can download the entire set for free off the DeviantArt page. The full set measures about 6MB in size so it’s pretty big.
But this is also one of the absolute best brush packs you’ll ever find for SAI. Really, this has it all. If you’re still learning how to create your own brushes this would be an excellent place to start. Really easy brush set to break into and it works for all skill levels. Fur Brush To get into something a little more specific have a look at created by rainbowsprinkles12. At first glance this may not look like much.
But you can do a lot with brush settings to get this fur brush to look how you want. Whether you’re drawing a horse’s mane or a big grizzly bear, this brush should work wonders.
It’s also pretty small only weighing 50KB in size. The download link can be found on the main DA page along with comments and further setup instructions. Keep in mind you can search DA for brushes and related to Paint Tool SAI.
These are both good methods for finding similar brushes meant for a very specific purpose. Artist Textures Moving into some textures we have by user aheria. These textures are plentiful and really easy to adjust as needed. Some will prove more useful than others but overall it’s a great pack to have. There’s a lot here from basic markings to more detailed textures like paper and cardboard. You can work these into any brush style you want to create a variety of effects. All these textures were created from open source Creative Commons photos, or from public domain photos, so everything is free to distribute and edit for yourself.
For an amazing texture pack with some vivacity definitely check out aheria’s collection. Colorful Texture Pack For some color and pizzazz in your painting work check out released by AF-studios. Inside the pack you’ll find 5 huge JPEG files measuring 2000×3000 pixels. That’s pretty darn big!
And they all work which is perfect for print resolution. These textures weigh about 38MB which definitely isn’t small. But these are textures you can use across so many brushes, or even alter them in photoshop to create new textures. So much potential here in this pack of 5 basic textures. All you need to do is take the first step and download it. SAI Textures Super basic yet incredibly useful describes. It comes as a freebie from user Piromanova and the pack includes 17 unique textures tailor-made for brushes.
You can alter the shape, spacing, and even change how they work based on opacity. A lot of options to work with here. Inside the.zip file you’ll find a set of instructions on how to install these textures too. SAI can be really confusing if you’ve never used it before so basic instructions are pretty commonplace with texture packs.
I do recommend checking this out and testing these textures just to see what you think. They don’t follow traditional brush norms but they are really well-designed. And they can fit into a bunch of project types from to anime fan art. Custom SAI Brushes If you’re looking more for shapes and unique brush styles then DigiKat04 has a pack for you. Take a look at and see what you think.
I’d argue this pack is one of the better options if you’re doing a lot of custom effects or graphic design work mixed with illustrations. But many of these brushes also work very nicely with digital painting. The Scale, Flat, Lace, and Flake brushes all look really nice together.
I’m also a fan of the Dragonfly brush style. Inside this pack you’ll find 12 unique brushes with a wide range of styles to work with. Overall definitely recommend grabbing this set whether you’re a newbie or experienced artist. Grass Brush You may look at and get the idea it’s a pattern brush. However most SAI brushes are not stamp/pattern brushes. This grass brush is actually a style of brushes designed around individual strokes that you can use to draw grass, bushes, hedges, and so on.
This means you really need to have and feel comfortable with digital painting before you can turn this into grass. That said, this brush can be used for so much more than just grass. It’s got a very smooth feeling with easy curves and the end result depends a lot on your pen pressure.
An excellent resource that I highly recommend toying with if you have the time. Leaf & Bark Brushes Nature brushes are always nice to have. Aside from the grass brush mentioned above there’s also of leaf and bark brushes. The textures really do feel quite natural and they’ll blend into any piece of artwork. But I do think this pack will be tough for newbies Paint Tool SAI from scratch.
If you’ve never done any digital drawing in here before then spend some time with the default brushes first. Try to use this pack more as an addition once you’re comfortable with digital painting. It feels great under your stylus but will take some adjusting.
Electroslime SAI Brushes Gumroad is one of the best websites to find digital art brushes. Problem is they’re spaced out across tons of profiles and there’s no easy way to search for everything. But Gumroad user has a really nice brush pack that I highly recommend downloading. This is totally free so it’s a valuable asset for beginners and experts alike. Not to mention the is full of so many nifty designs.
You’ll find cloud-style brushes along with pencil and pen styles to match any piece of artwork. There’s a good mix of examples in the image above with semi-blended and blended work all from these same brushes.
What I like most about this pack is the consistency. It can be used for almost any project so this is a brush set you’ll use many times over. Nintendo ARMS Brush Pack Nintendo ARMS is a lesser-known game with a dedicated following. The art style is superb and is aimed at mimicking the style. Digital artist created this brush pack and released it for free on Gumroad. The default price is $0 so just hit download and this pack is yours. The styles are a clear copy of the ARMS artwork so you can paint your own similar characters with a similar style.
Or design your own brushes with a similar format, or even paint some custom artwork. Whatever you want! Interestingly enough this artist created an with some updated settings to better match the style. I like the original pack myself but you can grab both for free and try them out. LoZ Breath of The Wild Brush Pack Every Legend of Zelda game has some of the best graphics and character designs hands-down.
These designs come from who produce some incredible concept art for the series. The same artist mentioned above created designed exclusively for SAI users. These brushes are meant to mimic the artistic style from.
And let me say this brush pack does a fantastic job. While this is hosted on Gumroad, you’ll notice it has a price tag of $0. That means you can download the entire pack for free at no cost, or choose to give a tip. Either way these brushes are available for everyone. Gumroad is one of for artists to share tutorials, brushes, textures, everything.
It’s the single largest digital download marketplace so it’s a trusted resource. Considering you can get these brushes totally free I’d absolutely recommend grabbing them.
Especially if you’re big into game art or if you’d ever want to paint from scratch.