January 9th, 2008

Tutorial: Digital Watercolour Paper

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I’m often asked if I use watercolours for my illustrations. I do all my illustrations on the computer - they are completely digital. You can view my 8-Step Illustration process here. I definitely try to make my illustrations look like watercolours (my favorite medium) but it’s all through the magic of Photoshop!

This is a quick 4-step tutorial to show you how to finish off an illustration and truly make it look like a scanned-in piece of artwork. This is just a taste of the things you can do with Photoshop filters. I plan to write more similar tutorials to help you in your exploration of digital art. This tutorial has been written for someone who is somewhat familiar with Photoshop. If it’s too complicated or you need further explanation on how to do a step, please let me know!

STEP 1 - OPEN YOUR IMAGE
Open the image you’d like to transform into a watercolour painting. (NOTE: Make sure your image is NOT part of the background. It should be on its own layer. If it is part of the background, double click on the layer and click ‘ok’ to take it off of the background.) Make a duplicate of this layer (you now have 2 layers of your image).

STEP 2 - WATERCOLOUR FILTER
Select your duplicate layer. Go to Filter -> Artistic -> Watercolour
(Use the following inputs: Brush Detail: 14, Shadow Intensity: 0, Texture: 3)

STEP 3 - LAYER OPTIONS
Change your layer mode to Hard Light and change your layer opacity to 35%.
Merge your layer down with your first layer (now you’re back to 1 layer)
Select your layer. Go to Filter -> Texture -> Texturizer
(Use the following inputs: Scale: 120%, Relief: 2)

STEP 4 - 3D EFFECT
Select your layer, rotate it slightly and add a faint drop shadow for a 3D paper effect. To add a drop shadow, you must double click on your layer to bring up the Layer Styles. Choose ‘Drop Shadow‘ and customize the drop shadow to your liking!

And VOILA! Was this tutorial helpful? Too hard or too easy? I’d love to hear your feedback! :o)

Email to a Friend Posted by Rachelle at 6:59 pm

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COMMENTS:

  1. January 10th, 2008 at 2:37 pm

    Pretty groovy :)



  2. January 10th, 2008 at 4:44 pm

    Thanks Felicia!



  3. January 10th, 2008 at 6:50 pm

    Ohhh gorgeous work, amazing how you do that on the computer, awesome effects, wow!!

    You have such a fun style, love it. Looking forward to the stamps you create, congrats Rachelle!

    Oh and I love that cute little bird with the little footprints and the cute wallpaper with the snowman. :)



  4. January 10th, 2008 at 7:03 pm

    Thanks Tammi! I’m excited about the stamps too - they’re so much fun to work on :o)



  5. January 10th, 2008 at 7:35 pm

    Greats tutorials!!!!!
    Thanks for sharing your work and creativity!!!
    (^v^)



  6. January 11th, 2008 at 3:08 pm

    My pleasure Zime! Thanks for stopping by!



  7. January 23rd, 2008 at 7:00 am

    I’m going to give this a try. Thanks. One question: your work is never cropped in a box, so if you want the texture only in the coloured areas can you select your area before placing the watercolour texture? Otherwise you will have to do a clean up in the white area? I usually use Corel Painter and can select a texture of paper prior to painting, therefore the texture goes only where the paint goes. This makes it much easier for clean up. You might like to give Painter a try someday, I am an avid fan.

    Thanks for the info, I really like to see how people work, you can always get ideas.



  8. January 23rd, 2008 at 8:24 am

    HildaRose - I added the texture/filters to the whole layer. At the end I scaled the whole layer down and rotated it (and added the drop shadow). I then added a white background below that layer. Maybe I need to extend my tutorial so this makes more sense? I’m just starting to get a hang of writing tutorials so I’ll need to make sure I’m not skipping important steps. Let me know if you want me to extend it :)

    Thanks for your comment!



  9. January 23rd, 2008 at 8:25 am

    PS: I have a demo of Painter downloaded, staring at me… I just need to take the time to do a few tutorials ;) I know a lot of great illustrators that use it, so I’m sure it’s an awesome program.



  10. February 21st, 2008 at 1:14 pm

    Dear Rachelle,
    1st of all love your work. Really talented illustrator!I’m just beginning to learn digital.I was wondering what size file you first open with ins,pixels,dpi,etc.I work in Painter.Very much guessing my way through it.$ kids i’t kind of hard to really develop a consistant portfolio.Love to hear what you think I should prehaphs should concentrate on..very hard to decided!
    Thank for your time and you will certainly end up in children’s books soon!
    Sarah http://www.sarahmadsen.com



  11. February 21st, 2008 at 3:37 pm

    Thanks Sarah!

    I usually start with a 9×12in canvas at 300dpi. This way I can easily turn the illustration into a card or print and not worry about it being too small.

    I really like your illustration of the cat in the flower garden. The colors, composition, and line quality are beautiful. I think this style has a lot of potential! Your drawings are also really great! Good luck!



  12. May 15th, 2008 at 9:21 pm

    Rachelle,

    I just love your work! I’ve been looking at your work more and more lately, and I am blown away by its beauty and simplicity. I love your use of colours too! Very warm, rich and inviting!

    Thanks for your tutorial, I’m very excited to try it out! I specialize in pencil and pen, all hand drawn, but I’m making the step into digital work. It’s all really exciting! I also love to see how other artists go about doing things. I’m going to give your tutorial a shot with my images.

    I really do love your work! They’re inspirational! And massive congratulations for your wonderful news, as well as the move to your first new house!

    Love from your fellow Artist,

    Elisabeth xx



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