macformat.com @macformatWatercolour effects APPLE SKILLS
APRIL 2020 | MACFORMAT | 393
Choose a brush
Click on the Brush tool (B). In the Options
bar, click on the Brush Preset Picker. Scroll to
explore the brush presets. Pop-up labels will
help identify a particular tip. Select the
Watercolor Loaded Wet Flat tip preset.4
Paint on the mask
Set Size to 800. Set the Opacity slider to
25%. Click the black layer mask’s thumbnail.
Press D for a white tip. Spray the brush over
the sky in a long single stroke to reveal a wash
of colour from the attached image.5
Combine strokes
Spray strokes to restore more colour to
the sky. The 25% Opacity tip produces grey
strokes on the mask. When these overlap they
create whiter strokes, producing stronger
washes of colour and a more realistic effect.6
Build up the effect
Keep spraying to add more colour and
detail to your artwork. Leave the edges of the
frame unpainted to give your painting a more
realistic ‘work in progress’ look. This will
preserve some of the preliminary pencil sketch.7
Paint finer details
Choose the Watercolour Small Round Tip.
Reduce the brush tip’s Size to 175. Spray white
strokes on the layer mask to reveal more detail
in key areas. Spray over important areas
multiple times to create stronger colours.8
Create paper texture
Use Layer > New > Layer. Click OK. Choose
Edit > Fill Layer. Use 50% Grey. Click OK. Use
Filter > Noise > Add Noise. Set Amount to 120%.
Tick Monochromatic. Click OK. Set layer
blending mode to Overlay. Set Opacity to 12%.Genius tip!
To access more art
effect brush tips, click
on the Brush Preset
Picker in the Options
bar. Then click on the
menu at the top of the
picker and choose an
option such as Wet
Media Brushes.Jargon buster
Layer masks use
greyscale tones to hide
or show pixels on the
attached image layer. To
see a mask’s greyscale
brush strokes, hold
down å and click in the
layer mask’s thumbnail.CONTINUED... Realistic brush strokes