Watercolor Painting Effect

There is a trend going around where you turn your images into something that appears to be a watercolor painting. I’m not a band-wagoner but I’ve seen it so much lately, I decided to jump on and see what all the fuss was about. After searching, I saw all sorts of things you can buy to make your images look that way. I didn’t want to buy anything. I know Photoshop well and wanted to see if this type of effect was feasible to do on your own. It most definitely is!! It's FREE and only takes a few short steps too.

STEP 1: Go to https://www.brusheezy.com/brushes/2772-watercolor-splatters and download these FREE awesome high resolution Watercolor Splatters brush pack. It also includes 3 photo textures. Save this file in an easy to remember place.

STEP 2: Find the file you just downloaded, unzip if necessary, and load the brushes into Photoshop.

STEP 3: Go to Photoshop.

STEP 4: Open the image you want to apply the watercolor effect too.

STEP 5: Flatten your image if necessary. Rename this layer BACKGROUND.

STEP 6: Go to FILTER > FILTER GALLERY > ARTISTIC > DRY BRUSH and change the setting to Brush Size 10, Brush Detail 10 and Texture 1. Click OK.

STEP 7: Open the Water Paper Texture that you downloaded with your brushes.

STEP 8: Move it to your image. Make sure it’s the top layer. Adjust the size as needed to fit over your entire image. Change the blending mode to MULTIPLY.

STEP 9: Navigate back to your BACKGROUND layer and put a layer mask on this layer.

STEP 10: Invert BACKGROUND’s layer mask. Making it black.

STEP 11: Make sure your FOREGROUND COLOR is set to WHITE.

STEP 12: Go to your BRUSH SETTINGS PANEL and choose one of the Watercolor Splatter Brushes you just downloaded.

STEP 13: With the BRUSH SETTINGS PANEL still open you can change the size, angle and roundness of the brush to get different effects.

STEP 14: Take the brush and paint on your image. For mine, I use several different brushes.

The finished products...

It is fun to learn new things. It's a technique I will forever use. I think if you were to sneak a few of these bad boys into your clients galleries they would be quite pleased.

HAVE FUN <3

Don't forget to share your finished images with me in my Inspiration and Education Facebook group. Join me on Facebook at Amanda Colgan Photography Inspiration and Education