Customer Reviews

Digital Expressions: Creating Digital Art with Adobe Photoshop Elements

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

One hit wonder? Not a chance! Susan's second book on creating digital art and she's out done her first book in so many ways! Not only is her second book filled to the brim with detailed lesson after lesson, but the quality of the book itself is amazing. From the page design and layout to the quality of the paper. I can be a bit obsessive about how a book "feels" as well, and this is top notch.

Five chapters with 25 lessons in how to deconstruct the amazing pieces of art that I've admired in magazines and books for years. Being someone that has been intimidated with Photoshop & Photoshop Elements in the past, Susan has laid out step by step instructions that even the hesitant can appreciate. If it wasn't enough that the step by step instructions are simple to follow, she's included a CD full of photos and textures so you don't have to worry about having the "right" picture in your personal stash.

I know I'm gushing here, but I've always been in awe of these types of manipulated photographs and am now able to produce my own. Susan's teaching her secrets this Fall at Valley Ridge Art Studio ([...]) in Wisconsin and I cannot wait to meet her in person and dig deeper in to the art of digital art.

What makes this book so special? It actually teaches you how to create amazing digital art. Susan Tuttle is a great teacher. I am so impressed by her teaching methods, her willingness to answer questions, and her encouragement.

In this book, you will see amazing examples of extraordinary digital art and step-by-step instructions on how to create it. You will learn so much in 5 chapters. You will also gain confidence enough to try these techniques on your own photos. Honestly, of all the books I have about learning to create digital art THIS IS TRULY THE BEST.

If you are going to get one book about digital art, this should be the one.

My name is Shelley Ellis, and ever since I got a digital camera, I knew there was more I could do with it than just shoot pictures of pretty flowers. Then, I discovered the world of digital art. I was in awe, like seeing the works of Picasso or Dali for the first time. However, like those great artists, they seemed magical and unattainable...that is until I found Susan Tuttle's book, Digital Expressions.

Seriously, I am not at all exaggerating when I say that she combines the best of both of these worlds. Her book could simply be thumbed through and enjoyed by viewing the stunning digital art inside, but the best part is her clear and concise, step-by-step instructions so YOU can create your own piece of art based on the sample. And I truly do mean clear and understandable instructions. As a retired teacher, I know how to give instructions in small steps - so a 2nd grader can follow them - and Susan (a former teacher herself!) does an excellent job of foreseeing and explaining any trouble spots or questions that may come up along the way.

The first 20 pages of Digital Expressions are devoted to a review of how to use Photoshop Elements. Susan says it's not to be used as a replacement for the instruction manual...but, if you're like me, you probably never really took the time to actually read through the entire manual. Or if you did, after a while it all ran together. The first 20 pages in Digital Expressions made it all clear to me. I especially loved her yellow "Digital Detail" boxes where she highlights information or tips that come in particularly handy.

Oh! Just in case all of this isn't enough... Susan is generous enough to include a CD with the book loaded with images to get you started and help you along the way. I am so happy I bought this book. It's just exactly what I needed with 25 different project ideas such as: altering vintage photos, giving photos a hand tinted look, creating sweet realistic looking drawings, adding words to images, layers of backgrounds, photo montages....and so much more!

Digital Expressions focuses on the ever expanding area of digital art. Susan takes what can be a very complicated and often daunting process and presents a series of projects using Adobe Photoshop Elements in a highly accessible manner. The books starts with a description of essential tools and techniques which, as a novice in this arena, I found to be extremely clear and helpful.

The majority of the book is dedicated to presenting 25 digital art projects, with step-by-step text and images used to explain the process. These projects are presented across 5 sections of the book: Manipulating Images, Painting & Drawing, Pasting Pieces, Seamlessly Blending, and Altering Art. In addition to her own projects, Susan also presents the digital work of many other artists, each of whom share a very helpful Technique to Try. The artwork that Susan has chosen to present is quite varied in style and approach and includes some of the absolute best digital creations I have ever seen.

The book ends with a very short section highlighting Susan's own work in which she has used a combination of the many techniques from the book. As a bonus, she has included a CD that holds photos, brushes, and textures, many of which were used in the projects from the book.

I think Digital Expressions manages to be one of those rare publications that will be useful for and inspiring to both beginning and more advanced artists in the area of digital art.

I'd been wanting to get into digital collage for awhile, but I had no idea where to start - particularly with Photoshop (Elements.) I knew some basics like crop, resize, and contrast adjustment, but felt overwhelmed about learning the trickier things. Well, this book was exactly what I needed to get started!

Each section of the book has a beautiful artwork, and then the complete step-by-step instructions for recreating it, using Photoshop Elements. This method may not work for everyone, but I've found it to be a great starting point and a springboard for inspiration. I refer to it often. Susan Tuttle also includes a disc of resources, and links to online sources for free and premium stock photos, brushes, and other useful tools.

The book does assume that you have some basic knowledge of digital photo editing, so don't buy it if you are expecting to learn the program from scratch. But if you have played around with Photoshop and you're looking to build on your digital collage skills, this book is for you.

Also worth noting - though the book specifically refers to Adobe Photoshop Elements, I've also found that the instructions can easily be translated for use with Gimp, a free open source photo editor that's similarly powerful.

I just recently received Susan's wonderful book. I've been like a kid on Christmas morning waiting to open my gifts. Wow, did I say wow, I mean WOW! I have been looking for a book like this for years! The way this book is put together - the instructions, along with the breathtaking digital imagery and illustrations - well, let's just say it's hard for me to put down. Unbelievable! It's very apparent that Susan put a lot of time and thought into this project. Let me share this with you... Again, I had been looking for a book like this for (literally) years. I periodically Google or search Amazon for "Creating art with digital imagery using Photoshop Elements." Needless to say the only thing that ever comes up are books - "a plethora of books on photo-editing," which I have more than my share. This book is exactly what I have been looking for and thank goodness, finally found. Truly, Susan,did an exceptional job and every chance I get to recommend it to others, I will. Susan Tuttle and this book both were such great finds:) Thank you, Susan, for sharing your knowledge and expertise with others in such an extraordinary, comprehensive and creative way. I haven't been this excited about anything for a long time.

I'm a traditional (glued) collage artist, but have been trying to teach myself PhotoshopElements6 for use in my family scrapbooking projects. This book has moved me light years ahead. It's detailed and uses precise technical language, but it is also warm and encouraging. I particularly like that the instruction is project-based, which is totally compatible with the "click around" nature of computer programs. This book is all about learning by doing and it's perfect for me, because I've read one too many books where techniques are presented in a vacuum and forgotten the minute you turn the page. Definitely not the case with this book. Obviously, once you get the hang of a technique on the practice project, you can take it wherever you want. I will be spending lots of time with this book close at hand! Thanks, Susan Tuttle!

After searching for a long time, I've finally found the perfect book for me. The author's detailed instructions and inspirational photos are real confidence builders for those who have some self-doubt about either their Photoshop Elements competency or their artistic abilities. As a result of working through this book, I've honed my Photoshop Elements skills, and have become more comfortable expressing myself as an artist. The author gently guides the reader through a variety of photo manipulation techniques--giving all the information necessary to work through the exercises, but omitting a lot of the technical stuff that can be so intimidating. After purchasing this book, I lost that "I have no idea where to begin" feeling that often keeps me putting off the start of a new creative project. This book is a MUST for anyone interested in getting started in photo manipulation and how to use photos in mixed media art. The various projects ranging from quite simple to much more complex, would make it an outstanding addition to the library of any mixed media artist or photo enthusiast.

So OK, I've only been working in the digital collage realm for a year now, so any help I can get that speaks to MY level of understanding is ALL RIGHT by me! I found over this time, that the other books available (not that many as yet, that aren't more "how to use this fancy new tool PS just created...") tended to start at a place that was just a tad bit over my head. Assumptions being made that I would KNOW where certain actions could be found, or the like. I found Susan's book, with it's step-by-step walk-through for a given piece, the "Digital Detail" bullets as well as other helps put me on the road to more creative digital collage than I'd been able to make thus far. Oh and hey! I don't know if others have noticed that many in the digital art creating realm can be pretty stingy with their source materials, leaving one to wonder "Where DOES she/he get all those fabulous images?! Maybe they're born with it." (Apologies to Maybelline...) Also, how cool is it to get a nice freebie DVD, with a generous number of photos, textures and a few brushes to boot? One more caveat for me was the introduction to artists whose work I was NOT familiar with (as in, "Geez, can we see some OTHER people's works now?!") Don't get me wrong, I love the artwork of many of the artists who are in constant rotation, I do, but I'd also like to see more from "unknowns" (at least to me they are.) So, at the risk of sounding maybe a little too snarky, let me just add-I DUG this book. Was up late last night, working through some exercises, expanding my understanding of where certain actions can be found, what they will do for me etc. You might remember, Susan also authored the pretty wonderful "Exhibition 36" which was for me, enough of a "heads up a good book is coming" that I'd have bought it, sight unseen. Really glad I did. Check it out.

I've invested in several books to try to teach myself PhotoShop - this is the first one that is "taking". The author gives step by step much more clearly than most, and I am actually learning. (Let me say, I'm self-taught in many areas, as well as being very computer-literate, but have been stymied by some of the more basic aspects of Elements until now)

Kudos to Susan Tuttle for this book.