Painting forest

[mr.walker]

Hi. Im new at painting in photoshop and im really enjoying it.
However, i have som problem and could really use som help.

Im trying to paint a forest but i cant paint trees, im not sure
what the problem is really. Im not so good at shading but the biggest
issue is that i just cant get the texture right for the trees.
I dont know wich teqhnic i should use, feels like im thinking wrong=)

The photo im trying to draw from
(draw off? draw as? not so good at english =) ) :
http://pantransit.reptiles.org/images/1996-07-28/washington-rain-forest.png

I now this is much to ask. But I would really Appriciate if someone,
who knows how do draw forest and who is good at it, paints a part of the image in photoshop(a part that contains trees) and then make a step to step tutorial. I dont have to be so detailed, just so I get the right idea.

Please....=)

[Nexus]

That's a pretty ambitious image if youve not used Photoshop too much but kudos to you on your dedication. Below Ive put a link thats a storehouse of tons and tons of brushes for photoshop. Just look for the ones that say photoshop brushes of course and then find the download on the page that loads up, sometimes its on the second page. Then from Photoshop select the brush tool drop down menu and then click the small triangle at the upper right of the drop down menu. From there another menu will pop up and one option should be to Load Brushes, then just select whatever brush file you want to load and presto new brushes. Trust me having some texture brushes of varying types helps alot, its like pulling teeth to do something that detailed without them.

http://www.creativemac.com/articles/listarticle.jsp?type=downloads

[mr.walker]

Thx, thats really helpful. Im gonna try some new brushes and see how
it works out.

But i have always been a bit skeptic to ..."new" brushes too.
I mean where is the line between that I paint the image or
that the brushes paint my img? Becuase arent some brushes
like already made imgs or textures? Im just speculating...
(hope u understand what i mean=) )

[Ilaekae]

How much experience do you have with real paint...traditional painting? If you're fairly familiar with those techniques, how would you paint the scene that way...in a quick overview kind of explanation? If you could recognize the similarities AND differences (and how to adapt to them) in both "real" and digital mentally, it might give you some clue as to how to approach it in pure digital...did that make sense? I'm never sure...after 4 am, my brain shuts off...