Table Of ContentPhotoshop Studio
with Bert Monroy:
Digital Painting
Photoshop Studio with Bert Monroy: Digital Painting
Bert Monroy
New Riders
1249 Eighth Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
510/524-2178
510/524-2221 (fax)
Find us on the Web at: www.newriders.com
To report errors, please send a note to [email protected]
New Riders is an imprint of Peachpit, a division of Pearson Education
Copyright © 2008 by Bert Monroy
Acquisitions Editor: Pam Pfi ffner
Project Editor: Susan Rimerman
Developmental Editor: Anne Marie Walker
Production Editor: Hilal Sala
Art Direction: Charlene Charles-Will
Design & Composition: Zosia Rostomian
Indexer: Karin Arrigoni
Notice of Rights
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission
of the publisher. For information on getting permission for reprints and excerpts, contact:
[email protected].
Notice of Liability
The information in this book is distributed on an “As Is” basis, without warranty. While every
precaution has been taken in the preparation of the book, neither the author nor Peachpit shall have
any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused
directly or indirectly by the instructions contained in this book or by the computer software and
hardware products described in it.
Trademarks
Adobe and Photoshop are a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States
and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Many of
the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as
trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and Peachpit was aware of a trademark
claim, the designations appear as requested by the owner of the trademark. All other product names
and services identifi ed throughout this book are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefi t of
such companies with no intention of infringement of the trademark. No such use, or the use of any
trade name, is intended to convey endorsement or other affi liation with this book.
ISBN-13: 978-0-321-51587-2
ISBN-10: 0-321-51587-0
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed and bound in the United States of America
ii
Acknowledgments
This is my favorite part of writing a book, not only gave their opinions, and completely changed the book
because it means the book is done, but it is here that from what it was to what it is today.
I get the chance to thank all those folks who helped
I want to thank Scott Kelby for writing such a glow-
me along the way.
ing Foreword. He has become a good friend in the
The fi rst thank you has to go to my loving wife Zosia. past few years, and I look forward to many more
She puts up with the long hours I keep, and when I years of friendship and collaboration.
decided to write another book, she worked on it with
I would like to show my appreciation to Dan Margulis,
me. She was my fi rst-line editor. She made sense of a man whose friendship I truly cherish. His expertise as
the words that fl owed from my head onto the screen. my technical editor has been invaluable for this and all
Zosia also designed and produced this book. It was the my books.
fi rst time I saw the entire production process unfold.
Special thanks go to my son Sean for providing me
She worked long and hard. She has been my life part-
with images for the book. He has provided me with
ner for 20 years, and our love continues to grow with
his work for so many books and TV shows. He gets
each and every day.
better and better.
A hug has to go out to my good, long-time friend Pam
I want to thank the incredibly talented Stephen Johnson
Pfi ffner. She made sure I got this thing started. Pam
and George Lepp for letting me publish their fabulous
sketched ideas, wrote outlines, and kept me motivated.
work in the book. My heartfelt thanks go to Jeff Schewe
The incredible gang at Peachpit Press who I consider for another wonderful portrait. I am thankful for his
friends deserves a round of applause: Nancy Ruenzel talent with a camera and Photoshop! A special thank
who has been my friend for decades and always makes you goes to Vincent Versace for making the trip from
LA up to my studio to take a picture of my hand hold-
me feel as such; Hilal Sala who kept everything fl ow-
ing a stylus. I am forever grateful for friends like these.
ing smoothly; Susan Rimerman and Charlene Will for
their professional supervision of the overall project; and A big thank you goes to Drew Hendrix of Red River
Anne Marie Walker, the wonderful editor who dotted Paper for providing me with all the paper I needed to
my i’s and crossed my t’s, which helped make the words proof the pages along the way. On that same note I
glide over the pages. Special thanks to Becky Morgan want to thank Dano Steinhardt from Epson for fi lling
and Victor Gavenda who stepped into a meeting, my studio with printers and ink to use on that paper.
iii
How could a Photoshop book be written and not
acknowledge the two individuals that started it all—
Tom and John Knoll. These two brothers changed the
world of graphics forever. With them I must mention
the incredible cast of characters, past and present,
from Adobe Systems—a company that has always had
vision and direction.
Talking about vision and direction, I must add a
thank you to Apple, Inc. It was the Mac 128 that put
me on the digital path and has kept me there hunger-
ing for more.
I can’t forget the folks at Wacom for their incredible
screens and tablets that I use every day.
I want to say thank you to my daughter Erika, my
nephews Mark and Chris, and all my friends for
being patient and not complaining that Zosia and I
had no time for them because we were working on
the book.
Finally, I would like to give my warmest and sincer-
est thank you to all the wonderful people who I have
taught over the years. It is a great reward to know
that sometimes I have touched your lives and helped
your creativity soar. It is for all of you that I continue
to do my podcasts, books, and seminars. Thank you
for the opportunity to share! I love you all!
—Bert Monroy
iv
Table of Contents
Foreword ix 3 Oakland 34
Introduction xi A Turning Point 35
The Content xi
Starting the Painting 36
The Studio xii
Building a Stone Wall 37
How to Use This Book xiv
Aging the Stone 39
The Building Blocks 44
1 The Workfl ow 1
Shadows 46
Inspiration 1 Creating the Neon Tubes 47
The Sketch 5 Adding the Fine Details 49
Defi nitions of Perspective Terms 6 Distortion Through Glass 51
Completing the Sketch 7 The Alpha Channel 52
Reference Material 8 Making Selections 52
Steps to Accuracy 9 Using an Alpha Channel 53
Reference Shots for Fine Details 10 Refl ections 56
The Need for Taking Notes 12
Creating Tiny Lightbulbs with Layers 60
Researching References 13 Casting Shadows 64
The Photoshop Workfl ow 16
Working in Sections 16 4 Shoe Repair 66
The Composite File 18
Refl ections and Shadows 67
Creating Separate Files 19
Refl ections 68
Staying Organized 21
Aged Neon 70
Rust 72
2 Lights and Shadows 22
Fading Refl ections 74
The World Around You 23
Shadows 76
Paintings That Focus on Lights and Shadows 24
Creating a Canvas Texture 78
Using Light Sources 26
The Stitching 82
Creating Lighting Effects 28
The Drop Shadow 30
The Layer Style Global Light 32
v
5 Old Chair 84 Creating the Manhole Cover 138
Transform Again 139
Another Shift 85
Making the Manhole Cover
From Mouse to Tablet 86
Come to Life 141
The Cintiq 87
Calculations 142
Techniques in Photoshop 88
Warping with a Mesh 145
Finally a Purpose! 88
The Easy Way Out 147
Damages 89
Other Dynamics 94 Creating Perspective Guides
with the Blend Tool 149
Personal Stock Library 95
The Textures 150
Cutting Wood 150
6 Red Truck 96
Pouring Concrete 153
Filters and Textures 97
Getting Slick 154
Spherize and the Negative Number 98 That Little Extra Oomph 155
Aging the Truck 104
8 Lunch in Tiburon 156
Creating a Worn Metal Texture 106
Using the Displace Filter 109 Capturing Sunlight 157
Tiny Speckles 112 The Tablecloth 159
The Headlamp 114 The Florets 160
The Background 162
Rust, Dirt, and Grime 120
Speckled Texture 164
The Minor Details 121
The Overall Texture 166
Creating the Pattern 166
7 Oyster Bar 124
Soft Folds 168
Complexity and Precision 125
The Pepper Flake Brush 171
Creating Rain and Puddles 127
A Touch of Light 176
When the Rain Stops Falling 130
Refractions 179
Creating Large Puddles 132
Red Straw Through Glass 179
Puddles on the Street 134
Tablecloth Through Glass 180
vi
The Fine Text 182 10 Tutorials 226
Free-form Painting 184 Your Turn 227
Fun with Layers 228
9 Damen 186
Creating Shadows 233
The Greatest Challenge 187
Working with Alpha Channels 242
Individual Documents 190
Using the Brushes Panel: Creating a Tree 246
15,000 Layers 191
Creating Textures with Patterns 251
Files and Subfi les 191
Experimenting with Filters 259
The Train 192
Rusty Old Sign 259
Organization 193
It’s Raining! 266
Layer Styles 194
Lightning Strikes Again! 271
The Windows 195
The Rivets 196
Scratching the Surface 196
Farewell… 281
Back to the Rivets 198
Index 282
Rusty Railings 200
Dirt and Grime 201
Trees 202
Patterns 204
Repurposing Layers 208
The Illustrator Connection 209
The Blend Tool 209
Transform Again 214
Advanced Text Features 216
The Clipping Group 218
The Vanishing Point 220
vii
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Foreword
Each year it’s my job to put together the team of instructors that will teach
at the Photoshop World Conference & Expo, which is the largest Adobe
Photoshop event in the world. Twice a year it brings together thousands
of Photoshop users from all over the globe, and if you’ve ever been to
Photoshop World, you know that our instructors are absolutely the cream
of the crop.
It’s a “dream team” of the very best and brightest instructors on the planet
and includes many bestselling Photoshop book authors, celebrated academics,
and teachers who make their living passing on what they’ve learned through
years of experience in the fi eld. As you might expect, these instructors are at
the top of their game, and if they make “the team,” they’re the best that our
industry has to offer.
So why am I telling you all this? It’s because although this elite group of
more than 50 or so instructors are in the top half of 1 percent of Photoshop
knowledge in the known universe, each and every one is still humbled and
amazed by Bert (who is a key part of this “instructor dream team”).
He is, in a sense, a hero in our industry because quite frankly, nobody does
what Bert can do, and what really torques us is that he does it all so effort-
lessly. He has a mastery, understanding, and control of Photoshop beyond
anyone I’ve ever met. But aside from Bert’s enviable skills as a world-
renowned Photoshop artist, he’s a passionate, engaging, and brilliant teacher
who is able to take the miracles he creates in Photoshop and share them
with us in a way that lets us do things in Photoshop that we never thought
we could.
I’ll never forget the fi rst time I sat in one of Bert’s sessions. Since I’d writ-
ten more than 40 books on Photoshop, I felt like I had a pretty good feel
for what Photoshop could do—but I have to tell you, my jaw was on the
fl oor. He showed me things and took the class places I’ve simply never been.
I was in the back of the class, right along with everyone else, scribbling
down notes as fast as I could write. He kept it up the entire hour, showing
things in a light I’d never considered and using tools, brushes, and parts of
ix
