Removing the Background from Watercolor Illustrations-Digitally Correcting Watercolor Pages Part 4

The three part series now has a Part Four!  Today I want to show you guys how I do very basic color correction and adjustment on my watercolor pages using Photoshop, and I'm also going to demonstrate a simple method for removing the backgrounds from illustrations you may wish to use.

Part 1 focused on Color Correction as well, but this segment provides more information on basic color correction.  Part 2 talks about resizing elements and correcting tone digitally.  Part 3 covers lettering and ballooning in Photoshop.

As of now, there isn't an elegant way to thread Tweets on Blogger, so I hope you guys will bear with me.  I want to archive these tutorials in a way that's easier for casual readers to find.  I recommend you click through to the thread- images are larger and easier to understand.  However, this post makes it easier for artists interested in this information to find these tutorials and collates the information in a way that can be searched by Google.

Color Correcting:

Read Thread Here

 

Awhile back, I talked about color correcting watercolor scans using Photoshop, and applying digital corrections. Today, I'm going to cover that a little, and also talk about cutting w/c illustrations from a bg page to use as spot illos.

I'll be using these illos for Volume 2. pic.twitter.com/D4cYe1kqwR

— 🍀Becca Hillburn🍀 (@Nattosoup) June 15, 2020

Let's start with basic color corrections. My scanner always tends to scan a little cool and desaturated.

I open my 600DPI scan in Photoshop, and make a copy of the base (locked) layer. Then I make a copy of that- this 3rd copy is the layer we'll alter. pic.twitter.com/QcneNz0JRm

— 🍀Becca Hillburn🍀 (@Nattosoup) June 15, 2020

I hide the other two layers- this is in case I make changes I can't undo, and need to revert.

Then I go to Image-Adjustments-Hue/Saturation pic.twitter.com/CDfZZLwfa6

— 🍀Becca Hillburn🍀 (@Nattosoup) June 15, 2020

Image 1 is the default setting. Image 2 is the adjusted settings. Depending on your scanner and illo, this will vary, so I try to color match using a color adjusted monitor against the original scan. pic.twitter.com/uJCMNyCZWy

— 🍀Becca Hillburn🍀 (@Nattosoup) June 15, 2020

Hit Ok, and you're halfway done (Image 1). Next I duplicate this layer (Image 2), and set it to Multiply (Image 3). Reduce opacity (Image 4) until you're satisfied with the result. pic.twitter.com/pbgeJFVTfT

— 🍀Becca Hillburn🍀 (@Nattosoup) June 15, 2020

This is always a YMMV situation for me, and some images take more adjusting than others, which is why I like to compare it to the original on a color corrected monitor (we've reviewed both the Spyder and the Color Hug in the past on the blog)

— 🍀Becca Hillburn🍀 (@Nattosoup) June 15, 2020

Comparisons of the other two pages:
Image 1 and 3: Before adjustment
Image 2 and 4: After adjustment pic.twitter.com/iBLnU37V2g

— 🍀Becca Hillburn🍀 (@Nattosoup) June 15, 2020

Removing Backgrounds

Read Thread Here 

Ok removing backgrounds. It's easier if you have a harsh border (like inks) against a white background (unpainted paper) because that's going to create a lot of contrast, and it'll make it easier for the Magic Wand tool to select what you want. pic.twitter.com/v7zfbQqBg2

— 🍀Becca Hillburn🍀 (@Nattosoup) June 15, 2020

So select the magic wand tool, and look up at the menus for Tolerance. This is what you're going to adjust for the main body of erasing. If you're working on a one layer illo, duplicate that layer now and work on the second layer, otherwise it won't delete to transparency. pic.twitter.com/hd6ErdN1N4

— 🍀Becca Hillburn🍀 (@Nattosoup) June 15, 2020

Tolerance set at 30: Does a pretty good job, a couple areas not selected, but not a big deal. You want to make sure that areas you DONT want selected (like highlights) aren't selected. To deselect those areas specifically, I use the polygonal lasso while holding alt to deselect pic.twitter.com/SwBZ8ah3lz

— 🍀Becca Hillburn🍀 (@Nattosoup) June 15, 2020

Before I can select, I need to merge my color adjusted layers. I select both, drag them both down to the folder, copy that folder and turn off visibility on the first copy, right click, and select Merge Group. pic.twitter.com/H1eoeGKSsD

— 🍀Becca Hillburn🍀 (@Nattosoup) June 15, 2020

Ok, back to erasing. Literally just hit delete while it's selected and it will erase most of the background. This can also be a good test to see if areas you DONT want selected were accidentally selected, as you can always hit undo. pic.twitter.com/5IZdPfytDk

— 🍀Becca Hillburn🍀 (@Nattosoup) June 15, 2020

It's MUCH EASIER to do this type of cleanup when you have an inked lineart- it's much more challenging and finicky for something like this, with a softer penciled edge. The more you do it, the easier it gets. pic.twitter.com/DL0HEGnG6b

— 🍀Becca Hillburn🍀 (@Nattosoup) June 15, 2020

So sometimes when you use the magic lasso, it may not select some areas due to slight color differences. You can adjust the tolerance higher (which may grab areas you don't want), select those areas by holding Shift+ Magic Lasso, or use the polygonal lasso to grab it. pic.twitter.com/q8phyG7A5p

— 🍀Becca Hillburn🍀 (@Nattosoup) June 15, 2020

Look out for 'islands' of white paper that may have been missed by the first pass and erase those too! pic.twitter.com/C8CaaYFGV3

— 🍀Becca Hillburn🍀 (@Nattosoup) June 15, 2020

It did a pretty good selecting the majority of the watercolor paper, but you may still need to go in and do a little cleanup here and there using the Magic Lasso or an eraser brush. pic.twitter.com/ptPZufeaxs

— 🍀Becca Hillburn🍀 (@Nattosoup) June 15, 2020

Watercolor paper can leave a lot of unselected speckles- if you want to clean those up as well, a contrasting color fill will help you find areas you missed in the first pass. pic.twitter.com/65xLXgs9ba

— 🍀Becca Hillburn🍀 (@Nattosoup) June 15, 2020

Sometimes it's helpful to increase the tolerance, or to hand erase problem areas. You don't have to be this precise if you're pasting onto a white or light background, but it's very noticeable on darker backgrounds. pic.twitter.com/pegwqds0bm

— 🍀Becca Hillburn🍀 (@Nattosoup) June 15, 2020

Alright! I think that's about it! When I want to paste them into the doc, I'll need to separate them, but that's a different thread.

For easier access, I've started creating blog posts using these Twitter threads! If you find this sort of stuff helpful, please do let me know. pic.twitter.com/Ha2fzy3BDU

— 🍀Becca Hillburn🍀 (@Nattosoup) June 15, 2020

This is part one of a now five part series on digitizing, correcting, and lettering watercolor comic pages!  If you're interested in more about the digital side of my watercolor art, please let me know- I'm happy to create more tutorials that showcase that side of the process.  If you enjoy my art, we're preparing to launch the Kickstarter for Volume 2 of 7" Kara!  Almost all of the art in this watercolor correction series is from Volume 2.  If you Follow us on Kickstarter, Kickstarter will let you know when the project has launched!  And if you're interested in learning more about 7" Kara, I have a mailing list that talks about 7" Kara in depth.