P#43: Show Notes for Photoshop Without the Photo: Photo Realistic Art -- An Interview with Bert Monroy

Bert Monroy shares some of the secrets that make him a Photoshop genius

By Andrea on March 17, 2009 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

You won't believe the amazing images Bert Monroy creates in Photoshop. They're not photographs, but if you didn't know that you'd never guess it: he creates amazing works of art using nothing more than Adobe Photoshop, and this week he shares all of his secrets with us. And don't forget: if you can get to The Hearst Gallery on Thursday, March 19 at 7:00 PM, you can hear Bert speak in person -- an event well worth attending!

Show Notes for 7 Photography Questions Interview with Bert Monroy

Topic: Photoshop Without the Photo: Photo Realistic Art
Host: Dr. Audri G. Lanford
Guest: Bert Monroy
Artist's Main Website: www.BertMonroy.com
Locations: Berkeley, CA and Boone, NC

This episode of the "7 Photography Questions" Podcast is sponsored by Kodak EasyShare Gallery and SecretsofMasterPhotographers.com

7 Biggest Photoshop Questions for Bert Monroy

1. First, what exactly is photo-realistic art? Here's a blunt questions that many subscribers asked (although not necessarily this directly): What is the point of making a photo realistic painting when the same scene can be photographed? How do you choose your subjects?

2. I'd like to know more of your approach. Your pieces are amazing. When starting a painting, do you begin with a blank canvas in Photoshop as in a painting, or do you use a photo (or a series of photos)? Just what is the beginning of your process? I saw one piece where you listed the hours you worked on it. What are is the average amount of time you spend on one piece?

3. Can you share two or three thoughts and tips about your artistic mindset and experience that we can use to create better photographs?

4. What tools in Photoshop are your most important ones? How many layers go into your average size piece? Can you talk about your mindset with layers, and perhaps give us some exercises we can do to take layers to the next level?

5. Many subscribers want advice on how to take their Photoshop skills to the next level. What is the best way to learn Photoshop? At whatever level our listeners are at, how do you recommend they proceed so they "get" Photoshop and all the incredible things it can do to help them create more compelling images? What resources do you recommend?

6. I'd like some advice on printing my images. Can you give us suggestions and resources for great prints? I'm interested in a wide range: from reasonably low cost 8 x 10s (btw, I find that Walgreens gives better results than my inkjet printer!) to printing quite large canvas prints. What do you recommend (both printers you can buy and companies you can send your images to where they print it)?

7. Based on your experience, what are 2 or 3 things about using Photoshop that most photographers may not think about that can make the biggest difference in the quality of their images?

Photographer Bio

Bert Monroy creates digital photo-realistic paintings from scratch using Photoshop and is one of THE authorities on all things Photoshop. In fact, he co-authored the award-winning The Official Adobe Photoshop Handbook, which was the very first book on Photoshop (and the only one for almost two years).

With the introduction of the Macintosh computer in 1984 that he began his new digital career. His work has been featured in such books as The Art of Digital Painting, The Photoshop WOW Book and The Illustrator WOW Book, among many others.

As both a teacher and a lecturer, Bert has served on numerous faculties, including those of the California College of the Arts, the Center for Creative Imaging in Maine and the School of Visual Arts in New York. Bert currently teaches at San Francisco State University as well as for two national seminars: the Photoshop Creativity Tour and the Adobe Illustrator Tour for the Kelby Media Group. He is also the host of Pixel Perfect with Bert Monroy, a weekly Photoshop podcast for Revision3.com.

Bert is, not surprisingly, a member of the Photoshop World Dream Team and in 2004 was inducted into the Photoshop Hall of Fame.