Strokes and Glows

Here are a couple of rather basic techniques that can be used in a variety of circumstances to create a range of effects. We'll work with the Brush tool and the Inner Glow and Outer Glow layer effects.

Let's start with a new document, RGB, whatever size suits your fancy. (I'll be using a 400x400 pixel image.) I'll fill the background with a blue-to-dark-blue gradient, something that will show the effects we'll be applying.

Next, I'll set the foreground color to Dark Red Orange. (Sixth row, second swatch in the default Swatches palette — pause the cursor over a swatch to see its name.) In the Brushes palette, I'll click on Brush Tip Shape, select a soft round brush and set the Diameter to 100 pixels and the Spacing to 1%. Next I'll switch to the Shape Dynamics pane of the Brushes palette and use these settings:
Size Jitter: 0%
Control: Fade, 400 steps
Minimum Diameter: 0%

These settings force the brush to fade away over the specified distance. Keep in mind that the Spacing (Brush Tip Shape) and the Fade (Shape Dynamics) are related. The higher the spacing, the longer the distance over which the fade will occur.

Working on a new empty layer, I'll click once in the lower-right corner of the image and then Shift-click in the upper-left. That draws a straight brush stroke between the points, fading according to the settings in the Brushes palette.

Now I'll add an Inner Glow and an Outer Glow to the layer, using the Layer Style dialog box.

Now let's play with the Quality settings of the Inner Glow and Outer Glow. Specifically, let's experiment with Contours.

And, let's not forget about the filter Distort> Shear:

Your imagination is the key!