I've recently started working with watercolor, so I took one of my newest drawings for the example. Here's the original drawing, nothing has been done to it yet besides watercolor and pencil sketching!
The first thing you do is clean up all the smudges that have been made around the background. There are those graphite smudges everywhere that you'll want to get rid of. To do this, you go to the COLOR tab at the top, choose LEVELS, and drag the white arrow towards the left. This will make your whites whiter, causing the background to become clear of smudges. Also, if you move around the other arrows, you can change the dark areas and mid-tones. I moved these around until I got more contrast between my light and dark tones and made the picture stand out more.
The last step seems like a lot, but it's not really. It's also optional at this point x) I added a bit of a grainy texture and overlaid colors to my prefrence. To do this, all you gotta do is drag a picture of like a concrete sidewalk, or a pattern, or anything you like over your drawings. Then, you set that layer to something like multiply or overlay. It will add a certain, interesting texture to the whole drawing. Here, I also made a second overlay layer where I colored in more yellows and purpley hues. Then, as a finished touch, I also painted on a few white highlights in the eyes and other areas (not too visible).
The second step with the LEVELS is the most important though, and the easiest to do. It only takes a few seconds and makes a huge difference.
I would love to have reviews on this picture as well, as it is one of my first watercolors. Also, if anyone has any questions about the How-To, ask away!
