Creative Photoshop: Digital Illustration and Art Techniques (Digital Workflow) [Paperback]

Derek Lea (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0240520467 | ISBN-13: 978-0240520469 | Publication Date: August 7, 2007

"Derek's edge is that he won't stand still. He has a knack for finding new corners of the program to exploit and innovative ways of doing so. He's pushed the boundaries not only for his own art but also for thousands of up and coming artists who also want to create onscreen the visions they have in their minds. If you've bought this book, you're about to discover what I mean."
-Garrick Webster, Editor, Computer Arts

Welcome to the world of art and imagination! Derek Lea, one of the world's top 100 digital artists, shows you how to use Photoshop in unorthodox ways to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. His work is a unique combination of original photography, traditional illustration, and digital art.

If you are a digital artist, illustrator, cartoonist, graphic artist or designer who is familiar with Photoshop, but want to push the program to the limit, this book is for you! Learn how to get professional results from the paint features in Photoshop. Create sharp illustrations by combining vectors and pixels. Explore less-than-obvious composition methods, and discover the hidden potential in unlikely artistic resources and materials. Play around with texture using spray paint effects and scanned elements, or age faces and objects. Use stencil tags and comic book coloring techniques. Learn how to bring 3D art to life! Maximize your creativity AND efficiency with invaluable information on working between Photoshop and Illustrator.

This book/CD package provides clear, step-by-step tutorials that make it easy to emulate Lea's techniques in your own work. With all the images from the book to play with, you'll be creating stunning artwork in no time! Be sure to visit the book's website at http://www.creativephotoshopthebook.com/ for more information, and join the reader forum to share your ideas with digital artists from around the world.

* Learn from an award winning digital illustrator how to think outside the box and create stunning art with Photoshop
* Be inspired by a wide range of artistic styles and real world techniques that you can adapt to your own work, including graffiti spray art, comic coloring, and antique effects
* Practice new skills with FREE tutorial files on the CD

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Derek's work, and the approach he takes to explaining his techniques, are excellent. His ideas are innovative, his methodology unique, and the results are breathtaking." Steve Caplin, UK based digital illustrator, author of How to Cheat in Photoshop



"If you're a buddy illustrator or cartoonist and want to make Photoshop mre productive in your work flow, this book has some good lessons for you."
"If you're a photographer and want to add some interesting effects to your work, here's a place to start."
-Photoshop User

About the Author

Award-winning digital illustrator, author and regular contributor of tutorials and articles on Photoshop and Illustrator techniques to leading magazines worldwide; professor of Graphic Design-Media at the Centennial College, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Product Details

• Paperback: 376 pages
• Publisher: Focal Press (August 7, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0240520467
• ISBN-13: 978-0240520469
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #867,145 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Phenomenal!, December 31, 2007

By 

Eric A. Mann (Beaverton, OR USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Creative Photoshop: Digital Illustration and Art Techniques (Digital Workflow) (Paperback)

I purchased this book on a whim and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of its content. Lea takes readers step by step through simple and very complex design techniques. His instructions are easy to follow and, unlike many other Photoshop books I have picked up, just as easy to apply to other projects!

Having access to the author through the reader forum on the book website makes this an even more useful tool. Any tips that might seem vague are easily explained by the man who wrote the book - and other readers that have overcome similar problems. I have worked through several books on Photoshop, but this has been the best by far!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Filled with Creative Techniques, November 22, 2008

By 

T. Hooper "thdizzy" (Osaka, Japan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Creative Photoshop: Digital Illustration and Art Techniques (Digital Workflow) (Paperback)

This is a great book for those who are familiar with the basic tools of Photoshop, but who would like more practical advice on how to use them. A lot of the Photoshop books on the market just rehash things that can already be found in the users manual. This book, instead of wasting time telling you what a brush is, jumps straight into showing you how to use the tools at your disposal to achieve the effects that you want.

What I found particularly useful about this book is that nearly half of it covers illustration and art techniques rather than just photo manipulation. Among the skills that you can learn in this book are:

*how to create Painter-like effects in Photoshop
*how to illustrate characters using shape layers
*how to create realistic looking graffiti art and stencils
*how to transform a photo into an illustration
*how to transform a sketch into an illustration
*how to create retro-style art as in 50's advertising posters
*coloring comic art using Photoshop

In addition to these skills, this book teaches a lot of mixed media type of techniques. For example, you can learn how to use the photocopier or fax machine to achieve a certain effect in your art. Also, how to use scanned textures to add a sense of realism to your digital art.

I really recommend this to those who are looking to use Photoshop for graphic design, illustration, or comic work. You'll learn a lot of techniques that will make your art shine.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Run don't walk to buy this title, August 15, 2008

By 

Helen Bradley "Helen" (USA via Australia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Creative Photoshop: Digital Illustration and Art Techniques (Digital Workflow) (Paperback)

I have never met a Photoshop book that has enraptured me like this one. This guy is fantastic, he brings a new look to the power of Photoshop. I don't know a Photoshop user who won't be challenged and inspired by this book. It encompasses everything from collage and montage to painting and vector drawing and in a very accessible way. It's a winner it should get 6/5 stars.