This tutorial will show you how to turn a photograph into a "Watercolor painting" using only the Effects menu in Painter, and one brush. This is the "Painting" I made from a photo.
This tutorial was done using Painter 8.
Important: Don't forget to save your painting after each step just in case Painter decides to get wonky on you.
Let´s begin!
1. Open up the photograph you want to turn into a watercolor. Then go to File>Save as RIFF files. This will preserve your original image, and give you a Painter file to work on. At this point, if your image is larger than what you want your finished painting to be, resize it now. (Canvas>Resize)
2. Go to Effects>Tonal Control>Brightness/Contrast. Move the brightness slider to the right and the contrast slider to the left until you've muted the colors in your photo. (Remember, watercolors are often quite pale.)
3. Go to Effects>Tonal Control>Adjust Colors. Watch your image in the Preview window as you lower the Saturation and raise the Value. Again, you're trying to achieve a pale, muted coloring.
4. Check your paper selector and make sure it's set for "Basic Paper".
5. Go to Effects>Focus>Depth of Field. Move the top slider to the left until the image in the Preview window is only slightly blurred.
6. Go to Effects>Focus>Glass Distortion. Move your sliders until you're pleased with the effect in the Preview window. Your settings will vary depending on the photograph you're using.
Note: Sometimes, at this point, I'll go back and repeat step #2 in order to lighten the image even more. It's your painting. Make it look the way you want it to!
7. Grab your brush tool (letter B on the keyboard). Choose the Digital Water Color brushes and select the Salt brush.
Use the following settings:
size 5.9
opacity 11%
diffusion 3
Now, using your brush, go over sections of your image, such as the outlines of items, or the center of dark images. Zoom in and watch the effect the brush achieves. Be careful not to "overpaint" your image. When you've achieved the effect you like, go on to the next step.
8. Go to Effects>Surface Control>Apply Surface Texture. I only change the settings under "Appearance of Depth, but of course you're free to experiment as you wish. These are the settings that I change for my "paintings":
A. I move the amount slider to the left in order to make the texture look more like watercolor paper.
B. Sometimes I check inverted, sometimes I don't.
C. I like to have the shine set at "0", same with reflection.
Check your image in the Preview window as you work with the sliders. When you're happy with your image, click O.K.
That's it, you're done. You should now have your very own Painter watercolor image. I hope you enjoyed the tutorial.
This tutorial is my own creation, any similarity to any other tutorial on the Internet is unintentional. It is copyrighted by me, Nightshadow, and is not to be copied or reproduced in any way under penalty of law.
NOTE: Any image you make using this tutorial is completely your own property.
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