We can all agree that 2020 was a doozy of a year which none of us wants to relive. So what better way to welcome in the new year than with a little bit of sparkle?

In this article, I’ll teach you how to effortlessly apply a full set of beautiful lashes with the stamp of a button in Photoshop. And no SharkPixel tutorial would be complete without downloadable freebies at the end, so keep reading so you don’t miss the valuable freebies at the end!

Ladies; we LOVE the look of false lashes especially for photoshoots. They easily create lift around the eye area and miraculously make us look more awake and glamorous. Gents (who photograph women) read, and then reread the statement above. Lashes are an excellent way to improve the appearance of our subjects. But if you don’t have the budget for a makeup artist, or the model isn’t super skilled in makeup application, you might think that you’re out of luck. The good news is — you aren’t!

Setting up your custom lash brush

The way we’re going to achieve this effect is through creating a custom lash brush. It will have all the individual lashes included in the single brush so all you’ll need to do is align the brush with the eye in your image and click once. It’s so easy, you could even stamp the brush with your mouse or trackpad!

Our first step will be to create a blank document. Start by going to your File > New. Type in 2500 pixels for the width and the height of the document, and make sure the resolution is set to 300. The last step is to make sure the background color is set to White. Then we can press Create.

This is the blank canvas where we will create the eye lash brush. This is the section where you will absolutely need a Wacom tablet since it requires making painterly strokes which will be created into eye lashes. If you don’t have a tablet, but you still want to download the free eye lash brush, then keep reading.

Activate your brush tool by pressing B on your keyboard. Make sure the size of your brush is 9 pixels and the hardness of your brush is at 100%. If you’re looking for where to make these changes, there is a small downward facing arrow to the RIGHT of the brush circle at the top menu. Click on that downward facing arrow.

Lastly, we need to activate one other button along our top tool menu. That’s the bullseye looking icon with the pen icon on top of it. This allows the brush pressure of your tablet to change the size of your brush. As you make your wispy strokes to create your lashes, this will make the lashes come to a point.

Add a new blank layer to your document by clicking the new layer icon, then make sure your foreground brush color is set to black, and now we’re ready to draw!

Creating and drawing with your lash brushes

Draw wispy strokes from one side of the canvas to the other in an arched fashion. Let’s make these lashes for the right eye, so the lashes on the right side should be longer, and the lashes on the left side should be shorter.

Now it’s time to tell Photoshop that we want to make this into a brush. Go to your Edit menu and choose Define Brush Preset. At this point we need to give our brush a name, so let’s name it Lash Right (since we made it for the right eye).

Now, if we go back into our brush preset picker (the downward facing arrow I mentioned above to the right of the brush icon preview) we should see our brush created!

Let’s now pick a portrait we want to add lashes to. We will create a new Hue/Saturation Adjustment layer and lower the Saturation and Lightness to -50 for each. Lastly, we will change the blend mode of the layer from Normal to Multiply.

Let’s rename the layer Right Lashes. Then, select the mask of that layer and hit Cmd + I (Ctrl + I on PC) to invert the mask so it’s completely black. Activate your new Right Lash Brush and confirm that your foreground color is set to white. Then use the bracket keys on your keyboard to decrease the size of the lashes until they align with the eye.

Then CLICK! And Voilà!!! There are your amazing lashes with one click of a button. I know … amazing! If they don’t fit perfectly on your eye, then select the mask of the lashes layer, and then choose Edit > Transform > Warp to nudge and align the lashes properly along the lash line of your image.

Now we need to create the lashes for the other eye. Duplicate your “Right Lash” layer in your Layer’s pallet by clicking Command + J (Control + J). Then hit Command + T (Control + T) to transform the pixels. Right click within the transform box and choose “Flip Horizontal.” Now you can drag and relocate the other lashes over to the left eye. Align the lashes appropriately.

Because my subject has a bit of hair covering the corner of her left eye, I removed the lashes from that area. I hope you guys have enjoyed this little tip!

As photographers, we all know the phone will start ringing again, and the work will come back. And if you’re anything like me, you’ll be bending over backward to try to land every single gig you can even if it kills you after the year we’ve all had. Take some time now to automate things in your life, and this lash brush is a great example. Let’s take the time now to create good habits that save us time and headaches as we foresee the craziness that is sure to ensue when the work comes flooding back.

NOW — where do I download these free brushes?! I’ve put together a special offer for you guys. All you have to do is go to SharkPixel.com/store, navigate to the Photofocus Lash Free Download and download it! You do need to go through the checkout process, but there is no charge. I’m giving you a lash brush for the left eye and one for the right eye.

And if there is anything else that catches your eye on the store, enjoy this promo code for 21% off anything on the store: HERESTO2021.