Product Description

The Technique and Power of Creation"This is a book of techniques. They are the techniques that I have developed in the creation of my fine art. My art is considered photo-realism because the final product looks like a photograph. As a commercial illustrator, I am commissioned to create photographs of products or situations that can't be photographed with a camera. In most cases, the product does not yet exist. To achieve such a high level of realism, I have developed the techniques I share with you in this book. This does not imply that you will become a photo-realist painter, but you will find that many of these techniques can be applied to many of the imaging problems that can arise in the workflow of anyone involved with the use of images. They are also techniques that might inspire you to explore the outer reaches of your own creativity."

--Bert Monroy

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #798481 in Books
• Published on: 2002-07-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 264 pages

Amazon.com Review
If you've been lucky enough to catch Bert Monroy's demonstrations on the TechTV cable show The Screen Savers, you know how good he is at revealing the magic within Photoshop. Monroy is a power user in the truest sense; Adobe even includes two of his brush styles (grass and maple leaf) in Photoshop 7. In this latest book, as on TV, he walks you through the steps he took to achieve such dazzling effects as snow and rain falling, sun glinting on the edge of a mirror, and reflections in a puddle, all using his own photorealistic digital paintings. Along the way, he touches on side issues like the effects of perspective on objects or how light sources create shadows in the "real" world.

As Monroy explains it, while creating one painting he finds methods to solve problems that arise in others. In the same way, he hopes that readers will learn by following along with his specific situations, for example, type that moves along the folds in an awning ruffle or an extremely subtle reflection of a matchstick in a marble. Since there are neither online project files nor a companion CD-ROM, readers are encouraged to work things out for themselves using their own artwork.

Monroy provides extensive advice on working with brushes; creating shadows, reflections, and surfaces (wood, metal, bark, stucco, and more); and creating fog, fire, and a nice flag waving in the breeze to finish it all off (where the miracle of clipping groups becomes clear). Readers learn the power behind the many options buried in Photoshop's palettes and menus.

If you own his previous book, Photorealistic Techniques with Photoshop & Illustrator, you won't find much overlap here. Some of the images are the same, but for the most part they're used to show new techniques. You'll marvel at Monroy's digital masterpieces, many of which are collected in a bonus gallery section. Monroy's love of teaching and of making art is evident throughout, and it will light the fire of motivation and inspiration in readers of all levels. --Angelynn Grant

From the Back Cover

The Technique and Power of Creation"This is a book of techniques. They are the techniques that I have developed in the creation of my fine art. My art is considered photo-realism because the final product looks like a photograph. As a commercial illustrator, I am commissioned to create photographs of products or situations that can't be photographed with a camera. In most cases, the product does not yet exist. To achieve such a high level of realism, I have developed the techniques I share with you in this book. This does not imply that you will become a photo-realist painter, but you will find that many of these techniques can be applied to many of the imaging problems that can arise in the workflow of anyone involved with the use of images. They are also techniques that might inspire you to explore the outer reaches of your own creativity."

--Bert Monroy

About the Author

Bert Monroy was born and raised in New York City, where he spent 20 years in the advertising industry as an art director and creative director for various agencies as well as his own. Upon discovering computers with the introduction of the Macintosh 128 in 1984, he embarked on a new digital career. He embraced the computer as an artistic medium and is considered one of the pioneers of digital art. Bert's work has been seen in MacWorld, MacUser, Byte, Verbum, Computer Artist, MacWeek, and the comic book Shatter, to mention a few. His work has also been featured in scores of books including Making Art on a Macintosh, The Photoshop WOW Book, The Illustrator WOW Book, The Art of Digital Painting, The Grey Book, and Photoshop A to Z in Japan. His work has also been used to introduce many software products, such as VideoWorks (predecessor to Director), PixelPaint, SoundCap, and ImageStudio. Bert was a founding partner in the New York firm Incredible Interactivity, which was responsible for interactive multimedia presentations as early as 1986-before the terms had been coined. Presentations were created for such clients as General Motors, American Express, and Knoll International. Bert co-authored The Official Adobe Photoshop Handbook, which was the first book on Photoshop and the only one for almost two years. It won various awards. He also co-authored Adobe Photoshop: A Visual Guide to the Mac, which was published in 14 languages, and Photoshop 4, published in Japan by Agosto and BNN. A current book, Photoshop Channel Chops, co-authored with David Biedny and Nathan Moody, concentrates on the most advanced features of the program that are not covered anywhere else. His most recent book, released in 2000 by New Riders, is called Bert Monroy: Photorealistic Techniques with Photoshop and Illustrator. It concentrates on the techniques he has established over the years in the creation of his fine art works. Bert is an accomplished teacher and lecturer who has served on the faculty of The School of Visual Arts (NYC), Center for Creative Imaging (ME), Dynamic Graphics Educational Foundation (IL), and California College of Arts & Crafts (CA), and lectures at many other institutions and conferences around the world. He currently teaches at San Francisco State University. Bert now lives in Berkeley, California. He continues to serve his installed base of clients, which include Apple Computer, Adobe Systems, Pioneer Electronics, Fujitsu, SONY, AT&T, Chevron, and American Express. Bert has also done a considerable amount of film work for Industrial Light & Magic, Pacific Data Images, and R/Greenberg Association. ) Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Tim Robertson MyMac.com Book Review
Photoshop Studio is like a taking a ride with a Photoshop master for a few hours at a time, and learning the tricks of the trade. Bert Monroy does some really amazing things in Photoshop (and Illustrator), and guides you step by step on how he did it. From creating window blinds to creating handles on a photo-realistic filling cabinet, this book is filled with great pictures and easy to read language many Photoshop users will find useful.

(I should mention, though, that while you can create the great looking scenes Bert did in Photoshop, why would you want to? I mean, with 3D software so low in price today, you can get even more realistic graphics with a program such as Strata than you can with Photoshop. In MUCH less time. But Bert Monroy is an artist, and Photoshop is his tool, so this is more a practical thought on my end, and has no bearing on the quality of this book or the techniques applied therein.)

The book itself is well written, though I particularly enjoyed the beginning of the book in which the reader gets a glimpse of Bert÷s studio. I would die for a studio like that, let me tell you!

Photoshop Studio is as much a picture book, as it is a written one. On almost every page is a picture of what he is writing about, how to do it, and all in clear color. (And the screen snapshots all show Bert is using Mac OS X!)

Photoshop Studio is a class act. Well put together, well-written, and easy to follow. I enjoyed the time I spent with this book, and if you are into Photoshop, you will too.

MacMice Rating: 5 out of 5...

5 Stars for excellence
I bought my first Bert Monroy book, The Official Adobe Photoshop Handbook, back in 1991. Co-written with David Biedny, it was the bible for Photoshop version 2.0. Eleven years later, I have three Monroy titles on my bookshelf. Photorealistic Techniques with Photoshop and Illustrator (1999) which remains one of my all time favorites and now his latest, Photoshop Studio. Why do I find these books so valuable? Because the books are more than paper creations. They reflect insight and intellect. They are delivered in full color -- not just cold text -- and they offer the artist the proof that wonderful things can happen with the digitals tools now available. It is said that just knowing something is possible is half the battle of doing a difficult thing. Viewing Bert's examples lets you know that yes! it's possible and that you can go even further. More than just fancy pictures - there is information. Bert covers The Art of Brush Making, Lights and Shadows, Creating Textures, Reflections and more. As a working artist, I come to this book with expectations - and Monroy delivers. I recommend this book for the intermediate and advanced users of Photoshop 7. Beginners building a library of Photoshop resources would do well to add this to their shopping list.

The All Time BEST Techniques for Photoshop and Illustrator
I normally sell off older versions of books as I buy updated ones from the same authors since so much is repeated. With Bert Monroy that is NOT the case. If he wrote a book a week I would keep every one, but he would never do that unless he had something of substance to write about.

This book not only gives fantastic examples of how to use advanced illustrative techniques in Photoshop 7 but also goes into Illustrator techniques. What makes Bert's writing so important is he shares the things that make his own work stand out, and he shares it with the reader in a fun and easy style.

For instance, he suggests you always create paths in Illustrator. This gives you much more delicate and precise lines as opposed to the line tool in Photoshop which can never give you a line smaller then a pixel. Then, instead of placing or opening the path in Photoshop, he strongly recommends pasting between the two programs.

Here he is passing on a lesson that is so simple yet so powerful it will change the look of your work from this point forward. That is just Mr. Monroy's style.

Good luck in your future work, with this book by your side you will not need much luck though!
Leslie