Below is a sequence of steps to make watercolor paintings using Photoshop from real photos on your computer that you can refer to.

Step 1: First, you need to create a new Photoshop file by selecting File from the Menu bar. Next, click New or use the key combination Ctrl + N to open a new file.

Step 2: Once you have opened the new file, insert the photo you want to convert into a watercolor painting by clicking the File button on the Menu bar, then click Place Embedded and select the photo you want to insert from the library.

Here, I insert a picture of a tulip garden.

Step 3: Once you have inserted the image into the working screen, duplicate the image layer by pressing Ctrl + J to have two identical image layers.

Step 4: On the Menu bar, go to Filter and select Filter Gallery to open the Watercolor dialog box.

Step 5: When the dialog box opens, click on Artistic. Next, click on Watercolor and set the parameters as in the photo and click OK to apply the effect to the photo.

This is the photo after applying the watercolor effect.

Step 6: Now, you continue to duplicate the layer that just applied the effect by pressing Ctrl + J and then name it Outline.

Step 7: In that layer, select Filter. Then, click on Stylize and select Find Edges to display the edges around the object.

As shown in the image below, we can see the objects are displayed with outlines.

Step 8: In the Outline layer, change the Blending Mode from Normal to Darken as shown below.

Step 9: To soften the lines, use blending mode by clicking Filter, selecting Blur and then clicking Gaussian Blur to open the dialog box.

Then, adjust the Radius parameter to about 6.6 and press OK to blend the lines so that the picture is not stiff.

And this is the result we get. The real photo has turned into a watercolor painting.

Here is a detailed guide on how to make watercolor paintings using Photoshop from real photos. Wish you success.