Draw on watercolor illustration

[michaelvs]

Hi there! I got some great advices here earlier... I've got one more question, if someone can help me with a hint


I have a scan of a watercolor illustration, where I need to draw some missing parts and adjust a few things digitally (like add shadows). Can someone tell me how to approach this?


Most probable, I need to use a soft brush, right? on a new layer with normal blend mode?


Ok, I can add color in this way… but what about some texture?


Thank you

 

[ibclare]

If you would post the image you are working with, our suggestions will be more accurate.

Yes, shadows should be added on separate layers, both above and below. You can set them to multiply or hard light and they will blend better than normal - usually, maybe less important for a drawing. Also, you can soften and make a shadow more realistic by adding a guassian blur; just adjust it till it looks like what you want. Then you can go back in and add the darker shadowing where you need it, like directly under feet and so on. Use a soft to medium soft brush and change the opacity of the brush as you go out from the darkest shadows. If you want, you can then add a slight guassian blur again to help the transitions blend better.

As for adding texture, it depends what kind of textures you mean. There are many ways. You can use layer effects, You can do a layer above and clip it to the area you want it on. That area will have to be a separate selection, on its own layer. Then you can play with blend modes and opacities till you get the effect you want. Sometimes, you might want to add a hue sat layer adjustment to alter the appearance. Another thing I frequently do is make one clipped layer, say at multiply, then duplicate that layer and set it to screen or overlay or soft light. I experiment with adjusting the opacities of each layer to see how it might work. Trying different methods is part of the learning PS experience.

But do post your image and the texture(s) you want to use so we can give you better ideas, or even play around with the image ourselves!

 

[michaelvs]

Thank you Ibclare!

I meant a different type of textures. Let me try to explain.

When I someone draws with real watercolor paint, I can see some texture of the washes. When I add something in Photoshop using a regular brush, there is no such texture in there... is there a way to add washes digitally, similar to what already done by real (offline) brush. Maybe, to load special brushes? Or copy and clone it from the existing part of image?

 

[ibclare]

Oh absolutely. You can find all kinds of texture brushes online. I recommend going to deviantarts.com. They're free and trustworthy as far as viruses are concerned. At least I've never heard of any problems. The default brushes also have some textures available. Just be sure you do your painting on a separate layer.

 

[Paul]

Heres a great one, just make sure you follow the owners guidelines http://www.deviantart.com/art/Watercolor-Photoshop-Brushes-177794726

 

[iDad]

If you have a separate layer and put it in a layer mode such as bevel and emboss your filters will apply to the degree you set them too as you paint. There are plenty of ways to set the brush to your needs, just a first thought on my part

 

[ibclare]

Had another thought to add to this helpful discussion. You can also use the noise>add noise filter to get results, either in color or B&W. Filter>clouds is another way -- though using it too much can become rather trite. It is an easily recognizable effect if not significantly altered, but it really does have its uses.

Edit Add

Maybe you're already experimenting with brushes. I made this really quick just to show you what you might make by connecting the stroke patterns of "mundane" object brushes, rather than abstract creations.

So here are clouds, feathers, waterfall, spatters of some sort, blood or other spatter, some default PS brushes, and smoke. Using the brush palette, you can rotate them, flip them, and so on. And watercolor brushes, especially painted one over the other like you see in the illustration, can be very interesting ans effective.

You're the artist. I hope we've helped!