Watercolor Patronus with Photoshop Magic

This week I cast my very first Patronus Charm! Well, I painted one which feels like a similar accomplishment for an artist. It took a few trial runs and a nasty exchange with my masking fluid before I realized that a muggle like me needs a little help from Photoshop. Here's a quick look at how it all came together:

Watercolor wash for background, using only Indanthrene Blue. Once the wash dried, I added some trees to the abstract landscape.

Watercolor painting of a doe using a dark grey or black – something to contrast with the paper and therefore easy to select in Photoshop. I did start this step with a pencil sketch of a doe based on a photo I found of one galloping in a Patronus-like manner.

I scanned both pieces into Photoshop. Using layers, I created one base layer with the background. I wanted to make the landscape darker without altering the colors so I duplicated the layer. With the top background layer selected, I changed the transparency to "Multiply."

On top of the two background layers, I pasted the scan of the grey doe. I selected the white space around the doe and deleted it. Then I selected the space around the doe again (which is empty) and selected "Inverse." With the pixel selection of the doe shape still active, I created a new layer and filled the selection with white.

With the white doe layer selected and underneath the grey doe layer, I went to the top menu and selected Filter > Stylize > Wind. The default setting added a wispy edge to make it seem like the doe was moving. I changed the opacity to 40%.

Then on the grey doe layer, I went to the effects "fx" menu in the bottom of the layer box and selected "Linear Dodge (add)." This gave the doe an etherial glow. I changed the opacity of this layer to 65% and then flattened the final image into one image.