Photoshop CS5: Gradient + Mixer Brush tool

Question

Does anyone know how to get the mixer brush tool on Photoshop cs5 to sample gradients and not have the brush apply it as a scale but like the image i attached?

So I tried following such steps: Create a gradient circle with your desire colors. Choose mixer brush in the brush options. Select hard round brush with hardness of 90% or whatever. Select dry heavy load. Sample gradient circle you initially created.

I first tried creating a gradient circle by applying a gradient overlay from the Layer style menu. When I sampled, it viewed the gradient within a scale. I also had to rasterize the circle before I could sample it.

The second thing I tried was using Rasterize, fill content in layers menu and then using the gradient tool. But then I ran into the issue that It wouldn't sample the colors.

Answer 1

Two things:

• You need to sample from real pixels, not from layers with effects OR with Sample All Layers option enabled. For the latter it's important to not have anything else when you sample (like a background — otherwise it'll be sampled)
• the layer you paint on shouldn't have any layer effects — otherwise the effect will cover your paint.

Example. I have a layer with a gradient effect, I apply it first, then I sample and draw.

Answer 2

I had the same problem too and with a lot of fiddling i finally saw what was wrong. When you go to mixer brush and the color, it gives you Load Brush, Clean Brush and Load Solid Colors Only... you have to uncheck it to get a gradient mixer brush. Cause having it checked would only give you a solid color