Customer Reviews

Illustrations with Photoshop: A Designer's Notebook

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Well written, this book provides insight into the tricks used by several artists used in Photoshop. The book is laid out in a quasi magazine format which make it easy to read. The book contains lots of visual examples including examples of the toolbars and menu items. This book does require you to know a certain amount about how Photoshop works and I would not reccommend it for a beginning Photoshop user unless they had a good Photoshop basics book to refer to. Most people that have used Photoshop and that are famillar with the most of the tools, how to use layers and masks, can get a lot out of this book.

There are many different styles used in this book from scanned sketches, digital tablet works of art, to modified digital photos. Some problems can be solved in different ways and the each individual artists each bring different ideas and methods that many graphic artists will appreciate.

I would reccommend this book for anyone who is looking to expand their knowledge of how to use Photoshop in an artistic manner. People looking for a "learning to use Photoshop" book, should look elsewhere, and pick this book up after they have had some experience.

Another book in O'Reilly's series on Photoshop, by a group of French artists. Directed at a user already proficient with Photoshop basics. The emphasis is on serious artwork. In this sense, it differs from standard Photoshop texts which tend to describe Photoshop usage in very mechanistic terms. Quite understandable, as it's the obvious way to explain a computer program's use.

But what this book aspires to is to suggest that you can rise above merely using Photoshop as a craftsman. Instead, it elevates Photostop to the tool of an artist. As an example, there is a chapter, Voyage to Porto. The author describes making traditional pencil sketches of Porto. Complemented by digital photos of the town. Then the bulk of the chapter goes into how these two media are integrated with Photoshop into something that is far more than just a digital photo. Something that expresses the artist's creativity.

Take nine world class French digital artists, add Photoshop, a dash of good writing and a heady helping of creativity and you have "Illustrations with Photoshop". As a digital artist, I was intrigued by the title though suspicious. I was an Illustrator devotee but found limitations when it came to colorization. Photoshop is the means to unbelievable eye-poppin' illustrations. I've found most how-to design books to be bland, dry, deserts of left brain techno-babble. I was surprised to discover a full-color right brain revival of design and effect. The book itself is well designed and flows well over the glossy pages with artist notes and lots of pleasing images devoid of stark techno-structure. There is enough variety of art styles represented that it will appeal to most creatively inclined readers.

The contributors span the horizon of artistic endeavors. Video game designers, graphic novel artists, illustrators and a bona fide painter reveal artistic, inspirational photoshop insights elevating 2D illustrations to stunning art. Each artist selected one of their works and walked through their project from concept to completion. Included in the commentaries were not only the technical methods but the artistic motivation for each enhancement. The instructions are clear and very clever. They unveiled many of the mysterious and dubious filters and pallets that were once drop down menu baggage. The other bonus was the eye candy images and layout that illuminated each process and why they chose that direction. This was obviously a book by artists for artists that will fire the imagination and creative possibilities for our own art. It has some fantastic pointers but is not likely to be worth the price for the family photo retoucher who just wants to take the stain out of Aunt Mary's blouse. For the zealots of digital design and effects, it is an appetizing oasis and a must have for your library. Bravo to O'Reilly Books for an impressive winner.

This is a short, but impressive set of example illustrations using Photoshop. There are nine in all. Each is shown with about ten pages of very detail exposition from the start of the project to the finish. There are a variety of styles used, from anime, to photo realistic, to pen.

The use of photoshop is well explained, though I think in the end this is more a demonstration of talent than it is a road map for how to use photoshop to build images.

If like me you don't know anyone personally who happens to be a great artist and expert Photoshop user at the same time then you'll find a friend in this book. I've learned a few tips and it's great to know I've got them from such accomplished talent.

My only criticism of this book is that it is just not long enough. I'd have loved it to include a much larger spectrum of artists contributions thus divulging a great many more secrets that readers could make use of. A follow up title would be greatly welcome.

If you are a traditional artist considering incorporating your computer into your artistic repertoire, this book is a great starting point. Even if you have already discovered how helpful your computer is for creating artwork, you will find the techniques in this book will extend your digital skills. Although Adobe Photoshop is widely considered the industry standard in professional image editing and photo retouching software, this book is about using Photoshop as an art medium. In this book, part of the O'Reilly Designer's Notebook series, you will learn from and be inspired by nine world-class French artists who used Photoshop to create the featured artwork.

As you progress through the book, you will look over the shoulder of these artists as they discuss how they incorporated Photoshop into their artistic approach. The accompanying full color images show the progression of each artwork from start to finish. This is not a step-by-step instructional manual; instead the artists talk about how and why they used the Photoshop software to achieve certain results. After scanning in a pencil sketch or creating the beginning sketch with the digital pen and tablet, these artists used the layers feature in Photoshop to a great extent. By working with each element of the design on a separate layer, they found they where less limited artistically - nothing done digitally is irreversible.

The book doesn't concentrate on just one style of art. The nine artists chosen to be showcased in this book represent a wide range from childrens' book illustrator to video game artist. Bengal is a graphic novel designer and artist. Hippolyte, Joel Legars and Marguerite Sauvage are illustrators. Nicolas Bouvier is a video game artist and art director. Benjamin Carre is a book illustrator and game designer. Judith Darmont is a painter. Nicolas Fructus is a graphic novel artist. Antonie Quaresma is a layout artist, computer graphics designer and colorist. The book was originally published in French and was translated by William Rodarmor.

These artists demonstrate a wide variety of techniques through an array of styles that inspires me to create... the book is over 5 years old, and so these artists were working in early editions of Photoshop, on Pentium III machines or old mac hardware... and the results are amazing. With Moore's Law acting as the wind in our sails, users in current versions of Photoshop should be able to meet or exceed this level of excellence if they apply themselves! Beautiful illustrations and concise explanations make this a book that will inform and inspire readers.

At the end of a long day of conference seminars, it is nice if they have a seminar that is more fun and informative rather than the heavy learning types. This book reminds me of that. A great read, but more from an intrest point of view. I didn't find too much to learn from here, but found with intrest, the techniques intriquing. It's refreshing to see how others go about using Photoshop to achieve an effect that I would have used a totally different approach on.

The subject matter and layouts are beautiful and well laid out, detailing the work of five great artists. Each section evokes the emotion of the work and guides you through the thought process to achieve the end point.

Great library read or a gift for that designer in your life. Priced a little high, but fits in the gift budget.

4.5/5

This book has some interesting examples of illustration using Photoshop, however it is a little out of date (CS2 and before). I would probably not buy it if I had it to do over again.

This book has great examples of illustrations. It goes over several different approaches to illustrating in Photoshop. It is not a 'step-by-step how to' book. It's more like here are several great illustrations and some general steps on how they were done.