Watercolour wash

[JsH]

A well known watercolour technique for skies etc is to wet the paper and
then paint lightly. The paint is absorbed into the water in the paper and
spreads and subtle effects can be achieved.

Does anyone know how to create the same effect or something similar in PS
please?

JsH

[Mike Russell]

JsH,

There are plenty of interesting effects you can use to simulate watercolors,
although this must be done on PhotoShop's terms which may require thinking
about things differently.

For example, create several layers, one color per layer, and use the
gaussian filter to blur them, or the smudge/smear tool to create swirly
areas. The separate layers keep the colors from mixing.

Use the airbrush tool with brush size set to 200 or more to create spherical
clouds, then swirl them around like cotton balls with the smudge tool. the
gradient tool is a great way to do a sky background that fades from one
color to another.

When you're done, use an inkjet to print the whole thing on regular
watercolor paper.

If you want to try a different program, get hold of Painter Classic. I've
seen it around for $35, and provides a more direct simulation of actual
painting effects, such as wet paper.

The colors also mix a little more naturally in Painter. (Anyone ever notice
in PS that blue plus yellow never make green, even in subtractive CMYK
mode?).

JsH <j...@harrises.free-online.co.uk> wrote in message
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