painted grevillea

I thought my 365 picture ( http://365project.org/ltodd/365/2012-08-14) could do with a bit of editing, so I had a quick go at a water colour style, and thought I might share the steps with you in case you wanted to have a try too! As you can see, I did not worry about getting things too perfect. :)

These steps assume your image is ready to go, and you are a little familiar using editing software with layers & blend modes:
1. Duplicate your image twice then hide your original image (background) layer.
2. on the first duplicate, apply a water colour/oil paint filter. (don't worry if it looks a bit 'tacky' - things will improve). Set the blend mode to overlay.
3. on the second duplicate, apply a find edges/ fine pencil sketch filter. Adjust the filter settings so you get a sketch with nice clear lines. Set the blend mode to multiply and drag this sketch layer to the top of the layer stack. You should now see a B&W sketch only. Increase the contrast of this layer if you need to.
4. Now the 'painting' starts!...go back and select the watercolour layer and apply a 'hide-all' mask (the mask that is pure black). Select your paint brush/tip tool. I used a variety of brush shapes & sizes & opacities. Now paint white paint on the mask layer. Just experiment a bit, if it seems wrong, paint the mask with black paint & start again.

There are many different ways to go about this - each has a unique outcome, so don't stress it too much. I am happy to try & answer questions (not saying I will know the answers, or be correct!!)

Other watercolour ideas and some brushes are at http://bluefaqs.com/2010/04/watercolor-effect-photoshop-tutorials/

[Cat Whiskers - Nan]

Wow, how pretty! What a great processing job. Thanks for the tutorial.

[m9f9l]

Turned out great!

[Lindy]

Fabulous , such a pretty result and thanks for the tutorial.

[Poppins]

Thks... i surly will try this. - love the art.

[Poppins]

thks - lyn - it took me two days to get it, but i believe i did. i'll post it tomorrow and you can tell me if i've got it. thks again, that was a great learning experience.

[Lyn Todd]

@jvcnovice great! I do look forward to seeing it. I took me about 6 hours (following a 30 minute tutorial!!) the first time!! I am really happy to have helped. :-D