How to Use Texture Files in Your Illustrations!

In my children’s book illustrations, I love to layer in paint textures for added detail, dimension and style! Check out some fun examples below—

They also work well in backgrounds, especially in large color-block areas of an illustration. Immediately, they add movement and interest!

These paint texture sheets are made using traditional art mediums like acrylic, watercolor, pastels and ink. (Never AI) I then scan them in at super high resolutions (sometimes it takes multiple scans when the pages are too large for my basic scanner).

You can import these paint sheets into your digital painting software easily. Add them as a separate layers from your artwork (flat illustration styles works best for this) and then mask them to the area you want them to show up on.

I find the perfect look by experimenting with different layer effects such as multiply, hard burn, overlay, etc. Then, I play with the opacity, contrast, saturation and hue of the paint texture. It’s always the surprises that give the best results!

For each set of paint textures to download, I grouped together files with nice brushstrokes, splatters, and some linework. I also pre-edited them with three or more different color hues for each, just to start you off. You can change the color as you need, of course.

**These specific files are not for resale unedited. Do not sell or use these files in any stock or other product to sell, giveaway, or distribute.

Learn more about me as an illustrator or check out the kid’s books I’ve illustrated over on my website here.

Say hello over on BlueSky where I hang out quite a bit!