Creative Photoshop CS4: Digital Illustration and Art Techniques: Amazon.co.uk: Derek Lea: Books

Review

Amazon.com quotes for previous edition: "A tutorial book that is CREATIVE AND FUN!!! I really can't recommend this book enough. The tutorials are easy to understand even when dealing with advanced techniques. It could be a bit much if you are brand new to Photoshop but I doubt it. I don't think anyone looking into purchasing a book of this type would be at all disappointed. There are other tutorial books out there but this one has subjects and artwork that are truly engrossing. Not only are the tutorial format and content superb but the author offers an online community that can be accessed through his personal site. Here you can ask for help on problem areas from other readers and often the author himself and also post your own work that the lessons have hopefully helped you to create. An easy 5 stars, great work." "Phenomenal! 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!" Amazon.co.uk quotes for previous edition: "Fantastic! I have been a fan of Derek Leas work for a number of years since first discovering his tutorials in Computer Arts magazine. I often emailed Derek asking him if he was going to write a book on advanced digital imaging techniques. Derek finally took the challenge of writing a book and to say that the wait was worthwhile is an under statement! If you are a keen digital artist hungry for new techniques to apply to your work this is the book for you. I cannot recommend this book highly enough!!!" "Detailed discussion of sophisticated digital art techniques. This is one of very few Photoshop books that focuses on the creation of digital art, rather than the techniques required for certain standard tricks and effects...all of the tutorial images are genuinely inspiring, rich in textures, reflecting the author's emphasis on the importance of incorporating scans of real world objects into digital illustration...Congratulations to Derek Lea, and needless to say, highly recommended!" Amazon.ca quotes for previous edition: "This Book is a refreshing change. There are so many generic Photoshop books out there that I stopped looking at them a while ago. Then I found this. Derek Lea has written the definitive guide for artists who want to create within Photoshop. I find the art so inspirational and the style of writing so easy to follow that I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to do something really cool with Photoshop. Lea also maintains a companion website to the book with an active forum. I found loads of people posting questions and even Lea himself was there to offer support to almost everyone who posted. Buy this book, then check out the web forums that go with it. You won't be disappointed."

Product Description

If you are a digital artist, illustrator, cartoonist, graphic artist, designer, or serious hobbyist looking for new and interesting ways to use Photoshop, this is the book for you! You already know how to use Photoshop as an image editing tool; now, challenge yourself and discover the more artistic aspects of the program with one of the world's best teachers by your side. In addition to four brand new chapters on real world projects, this new edition of award-winning digital artist Derek Lea's bestselling "Creative Photoshop" contains several brand new features such as 'What you'll learn in this chapter' summaries, so you can quickly find projects using the specific tools you'd like to focus on, and supplementary information at the end of each chapter, containing useful resources and additional gallery images to provide further study and inspiration. As you work through Derek's fantastic artistic methods, be sure to visit the associated website for more information, including the project files for each chapter, available for download for you to work with, a reader forum, and more. Stunning images from award winning digital artist Derek Lea inspire you to push your own creativity further than you even thought possible. This title is compatible with previous versions of Photoshop. Explore Photoshop from an entirely unique perspective as you learn how to create graffiti, antique effects, stencil art, and so much more. This work is fully updated throughout for CS4, plus four brand new chapters on real world projects that combine traditional art methods with Photoshop to create tactile images.

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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful

Excellent, well-written book that will teach you to be artistic with Photoshop 18 July 2009

By Alex S

Format:Paperback

Creative Photoshop CS4 is a fantastic book. It will clearly appeal to those who are artists on paper and want to be great artists on the computer. But it is also ideal for those who use Photoshop but whose expertise is limited to fairly basic operations, like fixing photographs, and who want to break out into Photoshop's more creative painting features.

I use Photoshop practically every day - and have done for years - but I still learned a huge deal from this book. It explains potentially confusing features in a very simple, well-written way - for example, how to use shape layers to merge work painted on the computer with those painted in a photograph. The author, Derek Lea, has done a impressive job of selecting his range of chapters, which includes particular gems on turning photographs into illustrations, on creating comics and on "antiquing" pictures, to make them look old.

I found that the design of the book was a boon, as it is thoroughly illustrated with screenshots, so I could actually see which tool palette is which when complex tasks are being explained. It is printed in full colour throughout, which really is a must for this sort of book (but some others are still printed use black and white).

Although this book won't appeal to everyone - those who are more interested in fixing their photographs will find Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers and The Adobe Photoshop CS4 Book for Digital Photographers more up their street - I can recommend it wholeheartedly for those wanting to be less literal and more artistic.

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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

A gateway to a new kind of art 24 Dec 2009

By Justin Reynolds

The first edition of 'Creative Photoshop' was, I believe, one of the most useful Photoshop books ever published, each chapter opening up a new way of using the program.

If you don't own the first edition I'd say this is an essential purchase: the new edition contains all of the chapters in the first edition, plus four new ones, 19 tutorials in all. Each provides a detailed step-by-step guide to the process Derek followed in creating a particular type of illustration. And I mean really detailed: every step is explained exhaustively and illustrated where necessary with relevant screenshots of the Photoshop interface - you see exactly how each effect is accomplished.

Derek makes use of a exceptional range of Photoshop tools through the book, and by the end you'll have an excellent understanding the application's more sophisticated features, such as channels, the pen tool, the shape tool, selection tools and masks. The blend of bitmap and vector is a characteristic of Derek's work, and the book makes clear how these different sides of Photoshop can be combined to create striking and novel effects: one fascinating chapter combines medieval 'woodcut' design elements with smooth vector lines and shapes to stunning and original effect - looking like something Durer might had come up with had he had access to Photoshop.

If you own the first edition you will also want this one as the four new chapters are of the same quality as those in the original, and cover new illustration concepts, including sketch and dry brush effects, screen-printing and collage. The new edition also contains new images from Derek's portfolio.

The book can't supply the imagination and aesthetic sense you need to create illustrations of similar quality, but it opens the door: in addition to detailing the Photoshop techniques used to create each piece Derek explains how and why he chose its source materials, and discusses what constituent elements are likely to work well together.

A great introduction to digital art, still in my view the best.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

Good Buy 20 Jan 2010

By Mr. Seiya M. Trubshaw

Very informative and easy to follow guide book. Great selections of creative techniques that are very stunning and beautifully illustrated throughout - must buy for anyone interested in learning and developing their photoshop skills.