test2

Well here it is, I'm revealing the secret to my grunge signatures. It's really not all that hard but it usually comes up with some good looking effects if done correctly. This is 100% brushing only, you won't see ANY filters here, not even clouds or a blur. This way I get a lot more control over my background, but most of the time I'll use clouds as a starting point.

1. Start off with an image (I'm using 400 x 150). Fill it with white, and make a new layer.

2. Get some grunge brushes form various websites, I suggest http://www.thesigsite.com and http://vailminds.com

3. Take a grunge brush and set it to a very dark grey, but not black. I'm using #1B1B1B

3. Take a grunge brush. Decide where you want parts of the signature to be dark or light, and brush in the dark parts.

4. Take a different grunge brush, and use a lighter shade of grey. I'm using #464646

5. Brush a few times on both the dark and light areas, but don't click too many times.

6. Select a different brush and set it to a lighter shade of grey, I'm using #636363

7. brush over the entire thing, making sure to brush more on the dark areas and less on the light.

8. Now get another brush and another shade of grey, I'm using #777777

9. Brush over the entire thing like before.

10. Now choose another brush and choose a darker shade of grey, I'm using #232323

11. Brush on the dark areas, but just a bit on the light.

12. Continue with differeing shades of dark and light greys until you are satisfied, here's what I have:

13. Now create a color balance layer on top of the grunge layers by clicking the little black/white circle at the bottom of your layers pallete and selecting color balance.

14. Mess around until you're satisfied.

15. Now do this every two layers downward until you are satisfied.

16. You're done! Add a cool pick, some text, a border, and you've got a nice looking grunge sig.