Turning SketchUp into a Digital Watercolor!
I discovered an amazing hybrid
technique for creating a digital watercolor that integrated Google
SketchUp, Shaderlight (SketchUp plugin), hand coloring with Chartpak AD
markers and Photoshop filters. The digital effect was as close to
traditional watercolor as I’ve ever accomplished and I wanted to lay out
my production steps for you to try for yourself!
Step 1: SketchUp Model
Starting with a simple Google SketchUp
model
of an imaginary waterfront scene that I use for teaching (these images
are cropped versions of the larger scene), I exported a high resolution
jpeg of just the edges, setting the image width at 5000 pixels. I
resized the jpeg in Photoshop to 300dpi x 18 inches for producing the
final digital image. I did not export the SketchUp model view, but
rendered it using Shaderlight software.
Step 2: Photorealistic Rendering
Shaderlight
is
an interactive rendering plugin for Google SketchUp and allowed me to
establish reflections in the water and glass. It also created a natural
quality of illumination in the shadows. Once the rendering process was
completed, I saved the image and resized it to 300dpi x 18 inches to
match the linework jpeg I saved from the 3D model. I then combined the
rendered image with the linework in Photoshop. I lightened the linework
layer with a 50% transparency as the original lines were too dominant in
the composite image.
After lightening the water (the dark
gray was too unrealistic), I created the “rippled” reflections on the
surface using the smudge tool in Adobe Photoshop
.
The smudging altered the mirrored appearance of the photorealistic
rendering. My next step was very important to the success of the digital
watercolor - which was to lighten the entire image. I gave the jpeg a
75% transparency to reduce the color and contrast so I could later add
back color with markers.
Step 3: Colored Markers
I printed the lightened image onto 13”x19” matte finish coated Epson paper using my Epson Workforce 1100
printer and then colored the water, buildings, surfaces and people with light Chartpak AD
markers. Joining me with the experiment was the talented Arkansas architect Tim Cooper
(pictured
above). It is important that the colored markers you use on the coated
bond paper are the lightest colors you can find. Dark markers were only
used on the clothing. For this project, I used light lime, pale indigo,
buff, naples yellow, pale flesh, suntan, willow green and pale cherry
for the primary areas of color.
Step 4: Photoshop Filter
I scanned the colored marker print at
300dpi and slightly lightened the image prior to applying the Photoshop
watercolor filter. Adjusting the filter settings to achieve the lightest
watercolor effect, the resulting filtered image was very exciting to
study up close. The colored markers that bled beyond the lines gave the
image a natural painted appearance. The lines from the SketchUp model
were barely visible as if they were lightly sketched with pencil.
The overall grain created by the
filter produced the desired character of this wonderful digital
watercolor experiment. I’m sure to continue exploring this technique
with future projects and hope to find even more success with merging
traditional hand drawing techniques with digital imaging.
[Sumber : http://jimleggitt.typepad.com/]Beli Bukunya [ KLIK DISINI
]