OUT OF CONTROL
Dare I say, “Water color is magical”? As a child you start with crayons, then pencils and then paint. Mommy puts a plastic pail of water next to your tempura set and you douse the brush, the paper and the apron with water. Colors run unevenly all over and you smear it and mix it until the paper is a muddy greyish-brown. Didn’t it make you feel like you were creating? Nothing was more instantly gratifying for a budding artist.
Then you grow up: You demand control. So you start using less water and eventually you are introduced to acrylic, guache and oil. There never seems to be enough Watercolor 101 classes in college and it’s no longer taken seriously. The only time you see watercolor lessons are on some obscure cable show at two in the morning. Along with your opinion of water, there goes the freedom, the unpredictability and the magic.
There is a place for watercolor in the illustration industry and Photoshop is the perfect place to create it. You never run out of water, the water is always clean, and you have every size of brush conceivable—but the best part of all is that your paper never gets over-saturated.
WHAT MAKES A WATERCOLOR LOOK LIKE, WELL, WATERCOLOR?
Uh… water? The more the painting takes on the look of wateryness the more it distinguishes itself from an oil or acrylic painting. Allowing the paper to show through makes the painting look airy and using the white of the paper keeps the colors pure. A confident and light touch creates transparency and an ethereal quality that only watercolor can achieve. A distinct characteristic of paint on water is the way pigment gets wicked to the edge of a saturated area, bleeds and—once dried—create lines and feathers.
Hey, I thought this was about Photoshop—In order to create an illusion of Watercolor, you have to know what characteristics make that style—what elements are essential. Pardoxically, you’ll be trying to deliberately create something that in it’s own essence can and should be unpredictable. That’s the beauty of watercolor.
SAMPLE PROCESS: WATERCOLOR—WET
Getting Started—In SAMPLE PROCESS: PENCIL SKETCH I spoke about the importance of creating the Photoshop illustration at 100% with enough dpi. For a Watercolor illustration it’s even more vital. Since watercolor has gradations, eliminating too much of the color variation can cause banding. When saving for the Web go to FILE > SAVE FOR WEB & DEVICES then choose a high Colors number (I used 50 to 100 for many of the sample illustrations shown) and if using the Transparency option keep in mind that the color of your Background will effect the Colors in your art.
Document Setup—Let’s illustrate a flower for a spa logo. Using Photoshop CS3 for Mac, set Document Size to 8 x 6 inches; 300pixels/inch; CMYK Color Mode with a White Background. I prefer CMYK Mode because creating colors this way makes more sense. Later, if using Curves and Color Adjusters, CMYK Mode can work more logically than RGB.
Tools Setup—I recommend that you never use the Path tool for watercolor technique. Stick with the Lasso. This freehand, imperfect way of selecting comes closer to using frisket. Frisket is a water-repellent liquid that is painted onto the paper and when it dries keeps watercolor paint from adhering. In Photoshop you can create as many frisket-like selections, as intricate in detail as possible and recall them at any time. More on that later. It’s best to keep the Lasso Feather at 0—you want clean hard edges.
To cover large areas, a high Feather Airbrush or Brush can be used. For the painting and finer detail go to WINDOW > BRUSHES. Check Shape Dynamics and Wet Edges. Choose Pen Pressure where shown and match your settings. It’s not an exact science so adjust the Minimum, Diameter, and Roundness Settings to whatever pleases you. Experiment!
Selections—However you create your selection remember to save them by going to SELECT > SAVE SELECTION. Check New Channel and Name it something logical. You’ll be able to recall any selection, combine, subtract and intersect with other selections without having to recreate.
FOUNDATION
Simple Broad Areas—Start with 100 Y in the Color Picker. Create New Layer and name it Petal Left. With the Lasso draw the shape of a petal. Save Selection as Petal Left. Go to EDIT > FILL; choose Foreground Color; Normal Blending Mode; 20% Opacity. Why this way? If you have 20 Y in the Color Picker and FILL you will not have a Transparent Layer. It’s a watercolor so keep it transparent.
Change the Color Picker to 3 M 70 Y; Brush Opacity 20% Flow 100%. If you haven’t already, change your Brush settings according to Tools Setup. Hide the selection (COMMAND H) so the marching ants are not a distraction. Paint some detail where shown. In this blog, scroll ahead to see what the final looks like so you have an idea of where to add color and detail.
Create another Layer and name it Petal Right; Repeat the process from Petal Left. Add a deeper color (10 C 30 M 100 Y) toward the center of the flower.
Paint a Petal Left TOP and Petal Right TOP.
To add a curl on Petal Left, Lasso the selection; Erase away paint so that the White Background shows through. Remember that you’ve painted several levels in this area so you’ll have to Erase each layer until you see the desired result.
BUILDING on the FOUNDATION
Adding More Color and Contrast—To add, eliminate and change color use the Saved Selections by going to SELECTION > LOAD SELECTION and choose the Channel you need.
If you need a more selective area, go to SELECTION > LOAD SELECTION and Subtract or Intersect. Don’t forget that you can reach some of the pull down menus by CONTROL Clicking. In this example, you can Airbrush or Brush color or…
INVERSE Selection and Erase some paint.
Adding Detail—Create a new Layer and name it Pistil & Stamen; Lasso some pistils and paint from white to a strong orange. Then Lasso some stamen. I often use the Color Picker with the current color showing so that I can pick a new color that has the same intensity and quality.
Remember to brush with low Opacity and apply color randomly.
Utilizing Layer Masks—Create a new Layer and name it Leaf; Lasso the shape of a leaf; Color Picker to 65 C 20 M 100 Y 5 K; Fill first with 40% Foreground Color then paint in more detail and color with the Brush.
Go to WINDOWS > LAYERS and choose Add Layer Mask.
Lasso the area of the leaf you want to Mask out and fill that selection with 100 K. That part of the leaf is still there only it’s hidden behind a Mask. If you need to move or enlarge the leaf later, it still exists wholly.
FINAL TOUCHES
Adding Depth—By using the Selections you’ve created and saved, continue to add more color with the Brush or Burn some of the existing color. Pull off some color with the Eraser. The contrast will add depth. Again, remember to pay attention and care to all the Layers you’ve created.
Intentionals—Transparent overlays, bleeding, smudges and wicking are all such lovely details that make a watercolor distinct. Add just enough of these lovely organic details to make your digital painting look traditional. A quick selection tool is the Wand. Set the Tolerance to a high number such as 32 to be able to select a larger color variation area and lower to be more selective.
Finally, duplicate and flatten all the Layers. Hide all other Layers except the White Background. My favorite painting tool is the Smudge. Set the brush size to 50; Hardness to 50 and the Srength to 30%. Smudge out some areas.
In the magenta marquis, see how it’s been smudged? Lastly, take a highly feathered Eraser and tap some areas to remove large amounts of paint. Be brave— remember you not only have whole layers but also Undo and History.
