Function Repository Resource:

ImageInkOverWatercolor

Give an image the appearance that it has been painted in watercolor and then outlined in black ink

Contributed by: Mark Greenberg

ResourceFunction["ImageInkOverWatercolor"][img]

makes the image img appear to be painted with watercolors with inked outlines.

Details

ResourceFunction["ImageInkOverWatercolor"][img] produces three layers and then composes them:

wash layer

background is lightened and blurred horizontally to simulate a watercolor wash

foreground layer

foreground is blurred slightly to simulate more detailed watercolor painting

ink layer

edges are drawn in black to simulate an ink pen contour tracing

The effect is more predictable when the image has a focal object that contrasts in value from the background.

ResourceFunction["ImageInkOverWatercolor"][img] may produce interesting results when the background values are similar to the focal object.

Make an image appear to be painted in watercolor with inked outlines:

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Here the car's tire and grill become part of the background watercolor wash because they have coloring similar to the background:

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The larger the image, the more intricate the ink outlines will be, but larger images take longer to render:

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