Watercolor Style Tutorial :: SketchUp 3D Rendering Tutorials by Ske...

http://www.sketchupartists.org/tutorials/sketchup-and-photoshop/water...

Home
About
Spotlight
Software
SketchUpArtists
3D Modelers
3D Artists
Authors and Books
Business
Presentations
Techniques
Free SketchUp Styles
Design
Resources
Tips & Tricks
Tutorials
SketchUp and Blender
SketchUp and V-Ray
SketchUp and Kerkythea
SketchUp and Photoshop
SketchUp and Podium
SketchUp and Traditional/Tradigital Drawing
SketchUp and Shaderlight
SketchUp and Match Photo
SketchUp and Piranesi
SketchUp and Artlantis
SketchUp and Advanced Modeling
SketchUp and Matte Painting
SketchUp and Maxwell
SketchUp and Twilight Render
SketchUp and Thea Render
SketchUp and LightUp
Raylectron for SketchUp
Sponsors
Downloads
News
Jobs
Contact

This model was drawn in SketchUp and rendered in V-Ray for SketchUp. What I am trying to achieve in this tutorial is a nice simple
watercolor effect using my image editor, in this case Photoshop.

1 of 8

9/28/2012 6:08 AM

Watercolor Style Tutorial :: SketchUp 3D Rendering Tutorials by Ske...

http://www.sketchupartists.org/tutorials/sketchup-and-photoshop/water...

Step 1.Take your raw rendered image from V-Ray and bring it into Photoshop. In Photoshop copy the Layer by duplicating it.

Duplicate Layer
Step 2. With the copied Layer active, go to Filter>Filter Gallery and select the Dry Brush Filter. Input the following values; Brush Size
8, Brush Detail 4 and Texture 1 and click OK.

Apply Dry Brush Filter

Step 3. For the sky background I used the Brush Tool to create a manual stroke style. On a new Layer, use a Soft Round Brush with the
Opacity reduced to about 70% to allow for smooth blending of color. Alternatively you can import a sky image and apply the Dry Brush
Filter we used in Step 2.

2 of 8

9/28/2012 6:08 AM

Watercolor Style Tutorial :: SketchUp 3D Rendering Tutorials by Ske...

http://www.sketchupartists.org/tutorials/sketchup-and-photoshop/water...

Apply Sky Background

Step 4. On a new Layer create some reflection in the glass. Use the Brush Tool and brush it on manually. Then reduce some of the Layer
Opacity.
Tip: The Burn and Dodge Tool will help create some values in your colors while using your watercolor brushes.

Add Reflection on the Glass

Step 5. Next create some extended lines running out from the building on a new Layer, as shown in the image below to create a nice
sketch effect.

Extended Lines
Step 6. Now at this stage in order for me to create a better watercolor image, we need a lot of landscape foliage. In the image below you
can see all the plants I used in this image. Use actual pictures of plants. You can Google these images or a good free source for plant
images is the Facebook account called SketchUp Texture (And dont forget to say thanks for all the great free content they share).

3 of 8

9/28/2012 6:08 AM

Watercolor Style Tutorial :: SketchUp 3D Rendering Tutorials by Ske...

http://www.sketchupartists.org/tutorials/sketchup-and-photoshop/water...

Entourage Images
Step 7. To create this watercolor effect to the plant image, I started with the color tree image and duplicated the Layer, calling it the
Shadow Layer. Then with the Shadow Layer active, go to Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation (Ctrl+U) and input a value of -100 in the
Lightness field to make a pure black color. Make sure this black image is placed under the color image of the tree.

Create Shadow Layer

Step 8. With the original color image on top of the Shadow Layer and active, go to Filter>Artistic>Watercolor and input the following
values; Brush Detail 12, Shadow Intensity 1 and Texture 1 and click OK. Next gently erase some areas of the color Layer to allow some
of the Shadow Layer underneath to show through. Reduce the opacity of the Shadow Layer down to about 80% to add a translucent
effect. Finally create a new Layer on top so we can add some maple leaves brushed on using foreground and background colors for
added effect.

Watercolor Technique for Tree

Step 9. This is the image with all the entourage (made using the same technique as in Step 8) in place and shown as numbered.

4 of 8

9/28/2012 6:08 AM

Watercolor Style Tutorial :: SketchUp 3D Rendering Tutorials by Ske...

http://www.sketchupartists.org/tutorials/sketchup-and-photoshop/water...

Duplicated and scaled as needed.

Image with Entourage

Step 10. After completing the same procedure in Step 8 with all your entourage we carry out the final step. Duplicate all your Layers
and Group them. Select all the other Layers and merge them (Ctrl+E). With your merged Layer active now go to
Filter>Texture>Texturizer. In Texturizer select Canvas for Texture, Scaling 71%, Relief 3 and Light Bottom Left.

Texturizer Settings
Final Image

5 of 8

9/28/2012 6:08 AM

Watercolor Style Tutorial :: SketchUp 3D Rendering Tutorials by Ske...

http://www.sketchupartists.org/tutorials/sketchup-and-photoshop/water...

Final Image
Thanks for reading this tutorial and I hope you found it useful. Even if you use only some parts of it I am sure it will enhance your own
daily work-flow and help impress your clients.
AJ Cabalhao Aloro

SketchUp Style Collections

These are our current free SketchUp Style collections. They are all available for download now.

Latest News
Limited Edition Free T-Shirts
SketchUp to Digital Watercolor by Nguyn Ngc Phc
Making of High Rise Apartment by Frdric Yves Moro
Raylectron interview with Jack Martin
Watercolor Style Tutorial
Motion Blur Composition in Photoshop
Styles Collection 2012
Wooden Armchair Modeling Tutorial
Google SketchUp acquired by Trimble!!
Making of Balcony Pool day and night

6 of 8

9/28/2012 6:08 AM

Watercolor Style Tutorial :: SketchUp 3D Rendering Tutorials by Ske...

http://www.sketchupartists.org/tutorials/sketchup-and-photoshop/water...

Styles

Styles
One clever way to enhance your final presentations is with the use of a special feature in SketchUp called Styles. Styles are collections
of display settings, including new options like Watermarks and Sketchy Effects, saved in the new Styles palette. You can use Style
Builder to create custom non-photorealistic (NPR) Styles for SketchUp. NPR Styles can make your models appear hand-rendered, supertechnical, and everything in between......Read

Artists/Authors
Adam Billyard
Adam Warner
Alex Hogrefe
Alex Jenyon
Daniel Tal
David Macdonald
Do Phu Hoang Nguyen
Eric Lay
Frederic Yves Moro
Ibon Enriques
Jacques Cleghorn
Jason Christiansen
Jean-Pierre Hurel
Jim Leggitt
John Higgins
Jonathan Pagaduan Ignas
Kate Marshall
Ken Nguyen
Laurent Brixius
Lewis Wadsworth
Majid Yeganegi
Mateo Soletic
Matthew L. Facundus
Michalis Zissiou
Mr Wip
Nguyn Ngc Phc
Nguyen Tran Huy Vu
Nick Howlett
Nomeradona
Oliver Shea
Ricardo Cossoli
Robh Ruppel
Rocky Vezeau
S.Porobic (AKA `Sepo)
Samuli Lautjarvi
Scott Baumberger
Snoopywang
Steven Man
Teofilo Pardo
Tina Stiles-Bryant

Recent Comments
admin on Limited Edition Free T-Shirts
Roberto on Using HDRI in V-Ray for SketchUp
Phil Rader on Limited Edition Free T-Shirts
khizoul endaya on Glass Reflection Effect SketchUp and V-Ray
joaquim on SketchUp and V-Ray
maria on Create a Fake Render in Photoshop
gun on Glass Reflection Effect SketchUp and V-Ray

7 of 8

9/28/2012 6:08 AM

Watercolor Style Tutorial :: SketchUp 3D Rendering Tutorials by Ske...

http://www.sketchupartists.org/tutorials/sketchup-and-photoshop/water...

unrealviz on Snoopywang
3 Responses to Watercolor Style Tutorial
1. Remilekun on June 9th, 2012 10:15 pm
Nice one!
2. Sketchup rendering on June 27th, 2012 11:57 am
Hi,
Amazing post.I just love it.
Thanks for your tips,these really gone help me out.
Thanks
3. Vanden on July 8th, 2012 5:44 pm
Great job! Amazing work.
Curious how you did people entourage?
Got something to say?
Name (required)
Email Address (required)
Website
Speak your mind

SketchUp 3D Rendering Tutorials by SketchUpArtists Copyright 2012 All Rights Reserved Excerpts and links may be used,
provided that full and clear credit is given to Sketchupartists and the original author/owner with appropriate and specific direction to the
original content.

8 of 8

9/28/2012 6:08 AM