Amazon.co.uk Review
New Masters of Photoshop concentrates on the creative process rather than Photoshop techniques. If you've always wanted to understand layer masks, or are itching to know the ins and outs of channel mixing this is probably not a good place to start, but if you want to learn the art of visual communication from recognised masters look no further.
The 19 contributors are artists first and foremost. Most started out using conventional materials and some even admit to technophobia and an initial reluctance to embrace digital methods before being won over by the freedom and versatility that Photoshop provides.
Images, rather than the technology used to create them, are the focus. Josh Fallon is heavily influenced by the graphic work of MC Escher, Catherine McIntyre is inspired by Vera Lehndorff's nude images in which she is painted to blend, almost imperceptibly with the natural environment. Mike Cina is well known for his ground-breaking work on testpilotcollective.com, much of which is based on design principles developed by the Bauhaus school. According to Paul Sinclair "In art, the only thing that should matter is the final image, not how it was created". Thankfully he, and the other contributors then go on to ignore this, by providing detailed explanation of the techniques that have enabled them to create unique, striking and often beautiful digital images.
These provide insights into, not just how to achieve a particular effect, which you can discover more or less anywhere, but the process by which ideas become reality--a much rarer resource. --Ken McMahon
Synopsis
"New Masters of Photoshop" is a showcase for Masters who use Photoshop. The photographers, animators, artists, and designers assembled here have a myriad of different skills: some manipulate, some animate, some create from scratch. All of them produce remarkable, beautiful things. In these pages, the authors demonstrate examples of their print work, web work, public work, and private work, explaining the techniques they use to achieve their results. More than that, though, they'll tell you how they think: who their influences are, where their ideas come from, and how they find inspiration when the well has run dry. This book is a gallery of Photoshop practice and theory, backed with essays on the influences and inspirations that lie behind the sharpest digital art in today's media-saturated world. It deconstructs sophisticated, complex, and astonishing Photoshop graphics.
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