In this tutorial you will learn how to use different brush settings, motion blur, and different blending options of the layers.

Start with creating a new file of size 400 X 400 pixels. You may creat it bigger if you desire. The size of the picture doesn't really matter in this tutorial.
Create a new layer by pressing Ctrl+Shift+N and name it "Leaves". Choose this color #D84229 as the foreground color and white as background.

Go to Window->Brushes to open the brushes palette.
Press on Brush Tip Shape tab and chose the standard leaf brush. For Diameter enter 33 px and for spacing 47%. This will make our leaves relatively small and not too close to each other.

Next in the Shape Dynamics section; set these values:

• Size Jitter = 100% (this adds difference in the sizes of the leaves)
• Minimum Diameter = 43%
• Angle Jitter = 100% (this will make a lot of different rotations)
• Roundness Jutter = 0%

For the Scattering section enter these values:

• Scatter = 512% (this makes leaves more random)
• Count = 1 (adds space between leaves)
• Count Jitter = 100%

Finally adjust your Color Dynamics section to be like this:

• Foreground/Background Jitter = 41%
• Hue Jitter = 17%
• Saturation Jitter = 65%
• Brightness Jitter = 45%
• Purity = -1%

Check that Other Dynamics sections are unchecked. Now you are done editing your brush! Your brush preview window should look something like the picture on the left.

Select Brush Tool() and draw some leaves any way you want. Try holding mouse button pressed longer to change the appearance of some leaves. Don't fill the whole picture.

Copy the "Leaves" layer either by dragging it on the new layer icon, or going to Layer-> Duplicate Layer. Set its blending mode to color burn to make the colors brighter, but lower the opacity to 30% to keep them inside of the color scheme.

Press Ctrl+Shift+N to make a new layer; name it "WhiteBG", then fill it with white. Now duplicate the "Leaves" layer once again and drag it to the top of the Layer Palette. Then link "Leaves Copy 2" to "WhiteBG" by pressing the square next to the eye on "WhiteBG" layer. Then press Ctrl+E to merge linked layers.

Apply Motion Blur (Filters -> Blur -> Motion Blur) on the layer made in the previous step. Set the Angle value to 33 and Distance to 45.

You should have gotten results similar to the ones shown on the left. But we want to see some leaves clearly. The solution for this problem is to erase some parts of blured layer with Eraser Tool() so the layers beneath can be seen. On my picture I erased some parts in the middle.

After you have made some of the leaves visible, the picture looks almost complete, We are missing, however, other leaves that should be a bit more visible than the blured ones. To make them:

1. Copy the "Leaves" layer and bring it to the top.
2. Apply Gaussian Blur (Filters -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur) with a radius of 1.5
3. Set the Blending Mode of the Layer to Multiply and Opacity to 43%.

To add to the look of the picture make a new layer and by using Brush Tool() add some leaves on the sides. They should follow the flow of the wind and other leaves. For my picture I tried to put them in a circular placement.

Lastly we should add a very light diagonal pattern, again, to make the direction of the flow more definite. To add the pattern make a new layer and fill it with pattern. Change opacity settings to very low values from 30% to 15%. You can find out how to make a diagonal pattern in the Pattern and Grids Tutorial.