The Wet Look
Here’s a simple technique you can use for making something look wet, which I applied to the model in the previous rain technique. Of course nothing beats the real thing, but this can give a great result.
- Create a merged layer at the top of the layer stack by going to Select > All, then to Edit > Copy Merged, and then to then Edit > Paste (or press Shift+Command/Ctrl+Alt/Option+E). Name the merged layer wet look.
Go to Filter > Filter Gallery > Artistic > Plastic Wrap and experiment with the settings until you get the look you’re after. I set Highlight Strength to 20, Detail to 5, and Smoothness to 15 (Figures 4.39 and 4.40).
- Add a black layer mask to the wet look layer by Option/Alt-clicking the layer mask at the bottom of the Layers panel. Then with a normal white soft-edged brush at 20% opacity, paint over areas of the image to reveal the wet look. Apply several brush strokes to build up the opacity in areas where you want the wet look to be more visible.