Bert Monroy: Photorealistic Techniques with Photoshop & Illustrator offers unique insight into how a master of the craft uses his tools. Monroy's techniques, culled from 20 years of digital image-making, demonstrate the breadth of 3-D photorealistic results that can be achieved using 2-D illustrative tools.
This oversize paperback features useful techniques from real-world projects. In many cases, we get to see the progress of an image, starting with the most basic elements: the lunch napkin thumbnail sketch. From there, it progresses into a more refined image created in Illustrator (which Monroy uses mostly for sketching layouts). After client approval, Monroy takes the Illustrator image into Photoshop for finishing.
Chapters focus on various visual elements: perspective, lighting, textures, reflections, and so on. The richness of the chapter on achieving realistic shadows in Photoshop comes second only to the chapter on painting trees and foliage. If you happen to be a user of 3-D software, you'll also find great ways to create texture maps for 3-D models.
The book doesn't have a companion CD-ROM with project files or texture samples--or a searchable electronic version of the book--but the idea is to learn to do it yourself, not just watch over the shoulder of someone else.
The toolbox of any artist is usually filled with countless devices that are both general and specific in nature, but invariably there are only two or three that are constantly used--the staples of the craft, the tools of the trade. In Bert Monroy: Photorealistic Techniques with Photoshop & Illustrator, we learn how two of these tools in the hands of a master can be used to create exciting and slick images. It's an inspiring book for beginners, and an educational one for advanced users. --Mike Caputo
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