Tutorial (link): Line Art Watercolor, Smart Blur Edge Only -

[DannyRaphael]

http://www.dwphotoshop.com/photoshop...watercolor.php

courtesy of www.DevelopingWebs.net. Interesting site to poke around.

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This is a basic photo-art technique that comes in handy quite often. Works especially well on images with lots of straight lines, e.g., tall buildings with a lot of windows, railroad tracks, picket fences, etc. It doesn't work nearly as well on "busy" images such as bushes, trees or skin areas, especially faces.

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Between steps 3 and 4 I usually apply Stylize > Diffuse > Anisotropic to soften the edges a bit, followed by Edit > Diffuse to adjust the degree of softening.

Optionally at this point a little Unsharp Mask and/or Image > Adjustments > Levels can be used to give the lines a little more character.

Depending on the image, sometimes blend mode Darken works in step 4. If you take this route, you may find it useful to Layer > Add Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation (click the Group with Previous box). The Lightness setting can be used to lower the intensity of the lines if they are too dark.

Have fun...
~Danny~