The Bottom Line
Digital art pioneer Bert Monroy reveals his techniques for photo-realistic digital painting in Photoshop 7. Not only is this a book that teaches in a comfortable, reassuring way, the amazing illustrations are sure to motivate and inspire you as well.
Pros
- Large full-color pages with lots of illustration.
- Comfortable, conversational writing-style doesn't intimidate.
Cons
- Not for Photoshop beginners or non-artists.
- Minimal step-by-step instruction; more of an overview of concepts.
Description
- Chapter 1: Off to a Good Start (file browser, layers, alpha channels, Illustrator, perspective)
- Chapter 2: The Art of Brush Making (Photoshop 7's paint engine, customizing brushes)
- Chapter 3: A Greener World: Creating Foliage (creating various trees and plants)
- Chapter 4: Lights and Shadows (realistic shadows, highlights, understanding light sources)
- Chapter 5: What's It Made Of? Creating Textures (wood, stucco, concrete, bark, brick, metal)
- Chapter 6: Creating the Elements (water, rain, snow, smoke, fire, fog)
- Chapter 7: Reflections (perspective and distortion, reflections in metal & glass, tiny details)
- Chapter 8: Bending Things A Bit (using the displace filter for mapping textures to contours)
- The Gallery: 28 of Bert Monroy's fine art illustrations from 1989-2002, with commentary.
- 240 full-color pages; 10 in. w x 10 in. h.; soft cover.
Guide Review - Photoshop Studio with Bert Monroy
If you were thumbing through this book in a bookstore, you'd think the illustrations were photographs. But they're not--in fact, they are all amazingly detailed, photo-realistic digital paintings. In this book of over 240 full-color, 10 by 10 inch pages, digital art pioneer Bert Monroy reveals his techniques developed over 20 years working in commercial art for the advertising industry. Reading the introduction you really feel the authors excitement and zeal for digital painting as he describes his work process and invites you into his studio.
Throughout the book Mr. Monroy reveals his process for creating amazing photo-realistic fine art, from time-saving shortcuts to the painstaking details. The book discusses many of the features in Photoshop 7, such as the new paint engine, layer styles, and the Liquify filter. There is some discussion of the use of Illustrator, but the book is primarily centered on working in Photoshop. The instruction assumes you have a basic to intermediate knowledge of Photoshop and general art concepts. To top it off, the book closes with a gallery of Bert Monroy's fine art paintings created in Photoshop from 1989 to 2002, along with his personal comments.
Not only is this a book that teaches, it is sure to motivate and inspire you as well.
