Creating a Star Brush

I was fooling around with the different Artists brushes and got an effect with the Seurat brush that kind of looked like it could be used to paint stars on a black background. This seemed like a nice effect that was worth pursuing further because it would simplify the process of generating a background of stars.

The Seurat brush uses pixels of different sizes and transparencies that have a blotchy look that isn't very star-like. The first step to change it to look like star patterns is to go to the Brushes Palette, click on the Control Menu and pick Size...
The only option to change on the Size Palette is to switch the Dab type to 1-Pixel (on the bottom). With the Dab size changed to 1-Pixel, the size and angle controls will have no effect on the end result. A single pixel cannot be made bigger and has no associated angle.
This gives the stars a pinprick look which is appropriate for a starry background. The stars are still too close together and need to be fanned out to be more realistic.

The easiest way to increase the spread of the brush is to increase the size in the standard Brush Controls. Unlike most brushes, increasing the size of a 1-Pixel brush does not increase the size of the brush markings. It only increases the footprint of the brush which spreads out the stars.

One last change is needed to really sell the star effect. Right now, the brush lays the stars out in a realistic random pattern. There's still one minor problem in that all the stars have the same level of brightness.
To remedy this, go again to the Brush Controls and pick Sliders... This brings up the Advanced Controls: Sliders. Move the slider for Opacity to Random. This adds some variety to the density of the stars that makes them look more real.

The last step is to save the brush for future use. It wasn't a lot of work to create, but this is a brush that has a lot of utility, so saving it makes it that much easier to use in the future.
Go to the Brush Palette, click on Variant and then pick Save Variant and give the brush a new name. It will be saved with all the settings that were used in the creation of the brush. Be sure to place a checkmark in Save Current Colors to make the brush start with white as the primary color.
The brush will be saved into the same brush style as the original brush (in this case, the Artists brush style). To move the new brush variant to another location, use the Copy Variant command on the Variant menu.

	I was fooling around with the different Artists brushes and got an effect with the Seurat brush that kind of looked like it could be used to paint stars on a black background. This seemed like a nice effect that was worth pursuing further because it would simplify the process of generating a background of stars.
	The Seurat brush uses pixels of different sizes and transparencies that have a blotchy look that isn't very star-like. The first step to change it to look like star patterns is to go to the Brushes Palette, click on the Control Menu and pick Size... The only option to change on the Size Palette is to switch the Dab type to 1-Pixel (on the bottom). With the Dab size changed to 1-Pixel, the size and angle controls will have no effect on the end result. A single pixel cannot be made bigger and has no associated angle. This gives the stars a pinprick look which is appropriate for a starry background. The stars are still too close together and need to be fanned out to be more realistic.
	The easiest way to increase the spread of the brush is to increase the size in the standard Brush Controls. Unlike most brushes, increasing the size of a 1-Pixel brush does not increase the size of the brush markings. It only increases the footprint of the brush which spreads out the stars.
	One last change is needed to really sell the star effect. Right now, the brush lays the stars out in a realistic random pattern. There's still one minor problem in that all the stars have the same level of brightness. To remedy this, go again to the Brush Controls and pick Sliders... This brings up the Advanced Controls: Sliders. Move the slider for Opacity to Random. This adds some variety to the density of the stars that makes them look more real.
	The last step is to save the brush for future use. It wasn't a lot of work to create, but this is a brush that has a lot of utility, so saving it makes it that much easier to use in the future. Go to the Brush Palette, click on Variant and then pick Save Variant and give the brush a new name. It will be saved with all the settings that were used in the creation of the brush. Be sure to place a checkmark in Save Current Colors to make the brush start with white as the primary color. The brush will be saved into the same brush style as the original brush (in this case, the Artists brush style). To move the new brush variant to another location, use the Copy Variant command on the Variant menu.