The Best Watercolor Painting Effect

Creative Team Member, Viv Halliwell, shares her techniques to The Best Watercolor Painting Effect.

The Best Watercolor Painting Effect

There are many ways to create a watercolor effect in Photoshop.

I have searched for the best results and I believe I have found the best work around,  based on Marty at Blue Lightning’s Youtube Tutorial.

1. Select your photo.

Choose your image carefully.

• This technique works best with a landscape image.
• Select a high definition image with plenty of prominent features and color i.e. buildings seascapes etc.

I wanted my image to be full size. 

• Save your photo as a new document and close your original photo.
• Change it’s name to PHOTO .

Go to Image > Image Size

I kept my resolution at 300 dpi, and in the top box (pixel dimensions), I changed the width to 12 inches (3600 px) this automatically changed the height to 9 inches (2700 px).

2. Layer Duplication

Duplicate and rename the photo layers.

• Press CTRL/CMD + J twice.
• Name the top layer ‘PENCIL LINES’
• Turn off the visibility of the layer.

3. Add Filters

Apply the Smart Blur Filter.

• Name the middle layer ‘SMART BLUR’
• Go to Filter> Blur> Smart Blur
• I used a Radius of 10, Threshold 30 and Quality High.

Apply the Glowing Edges Filter.

• Turn on the visibility of the ‘PENCIL LINES’ layer in the Layers Panel.
• Go to Filter> Filter Gallery> Stylize> Glowing Edges.
• I chose an Edge Width of 1, Edge Brightness 12, and Smoothness 15.
• ( If you want a sketchy effect increase the edge width and brightness).
• Go to Select> Inverse (CTRL/CMD + I).
• Then Image> Adjustments> Desaturate (SHIFT + CTRL/CMD +U)
• Apply the MULTIPLY Blending Mode at an Opacity of 80%.

5. Add BrushWork

Use brushes and Blending Modes on duplicate layer to a create visual interest.

Apply Color Dodge to a Copy Layer:

• Select the ‘SMART BLUR’ layer in the Layers Panel.
• Duplicate the layer to create a copy (CTRL/CMD +J).
• Rename the layer ‘BRUSH’.
• Invert (CTRL/CMD + I) the layer.
• Change the Blending Mode to Color Dodge.

Load Legacy Brushes:

• Go to your brush library and load the original PS brushes (Legacy brushes).
• To access , open the Brush Panel and click on the gear icon (top right) to activate the fly-out menu.
• Select Legacy Brushes.

Apply Dry Brush:

• Choose the DRY BRUSH with an Opacity of 10% and reduce the Flow to about 50%.
• Brush lightly and randomly all over your image.

Apply Wet Media Brush:

• Select the WET MEDIA from the Legacy Brushes
• Choose WATERCOLOR TEXTURE SURFACE at 50% Opacity and Flow.
• Lightly brush all over your image – You will find if you over-brush, you will get a really authentic watercolor look.

6. Refine Watercolor Effect

Add color:

• Go to Image> Adjustments> Vibrance
• Move the slider to the far right.

Add Texture:

• Go to Filter> Filter Gallery> Texturizer
• Choose Sandstone: Scaling 100%, Relief either 2 or 3, Light from the top.

Merge Layers:

• Go to Layer> Merge Visible, or create a composite (CMD+ALT+OPT+ SHIFT +E).
• Move merged or composite layer to a New Document.
• I created a 12 x 12 layout at 300 dpi document to continue the artistry.

7. Blend with DigitalART

The Best Watercolor Painting Effect then use a variety of DigitalART supplies to create artistry:

• Select Artsy Paper from the ArtPlay Palette Scenic.
• Open, move and place ‘painting’ onto the Artsy Paper foundation.
• Duplicate the image 4 times and turned off the visibility of the layers in the Layers Panel.
• Open and randomly position multiple FotoBlendz Overlays, each on a different areas of your canvas, and beneath each of the ‘painting’ layers.
• Turn on the visibility of the duplicate layers and clip each one to a FotoBlendz Overlays using the Clipping Mask Function in Photoshop.
• I duplicated each image one more time, to create 2 layers in the Clipping Set, and applied a Darken Blending Mode to the copy layers.

• Transfers were added from ArtPlay Palette Scenic to blend the hard edge of the photo and to add texture.
• Finally, I added WordART, an ArtStroke, elements and a title onto the little tag.

DigitalART Supplies:

Click on the image to access complete list of supplies.

Try This:

Create the Best Watercolor Painting Effect of your own.

Have even more fun with this technique by modifying as preferred:

• Experiment with different BLending Modes.
• Apply different Filters or change the properties of the filters in the Filter Gallery.
• Vary the brushes you use to apply visual interest.
• Select various DigitalART supplies.