Some renderings I've done in Photoshop

[BigEdsGarage]

These were all done in Photoshop. I am trying to learn Illustrator to produce cleaner vector art.

Jeep Apache - my version of a Cherokee mixed with a J10.

Challenger I did for someone.

Lane Carey - F.A.S.T. racer

Charger for a board member

Friends F.A.S.T. Duster t-shirt design

My BuWicked model

[Foxer]

Very nice PS work!

[Chuck Doan]

Looks great to me!

[crazyjim]

Those look pretty cool. Maybe we need a photoshop-off with you, Harry P. and whoever else does that stuff.

[Harry P.]

Those are cool. I like the style... realistic, but with an "illustrated" look.

BTW... I wouldn't bother learning Illustrator if I were you. I know PS and Illustrator both very well, and PS is way better for drawing/painting. There are things you can easily do in PS that are hard or impossible to do in Illustrator. About the only advantage Illustrator has over PS is that Illustrator is vector, so the file size is way smaller than a PS file. But if file size doesn't matter, PS is the way to go.

But if you do want to learn Illustrator, you already know it pretty well if you know PS. They're both made by Adobe, they both work much the same way. Same layers, many of the same tools, etc. But most graphic effects like fades, transparency, etc. are much easier to do in PS.

[Brett Barrow]

I really want to learn how to do this! I have the latest Elements and I know how to fake layer masks, but about all I ever use it for is just crops and resizes.

Are there some tutorials out there somebody can recommend?

[Harry P.]

I really want to learn how to do this! I have the latest Elements and I know how to fake layer masks, but about all I ever use it for is just crops and resizes.

Are there some tutorials out there somebody can recommend?

There are a lot of tutorials out there, but in my experience most tutorials make things much more complicated than they have to be.

The best way to learn PS, IMO, is to play with it. Learn how the tools work and what they do. Once you have a basic understanding of how the tools work, how layers work, how the filters work, etc., you'll find that you develop your own may of doing things. In PS there are always many different ways to get the same effect. Over the years I've developed my own way of doing certain things, and when I look at a tutorial explaining how to achieve some effect, I have to laugh... because I've developed my own way of doing it that is a lot simpler and quicker than the tutorials make it out to be.

PS is actually very easy, once you learn what each of the tools do. I use only a few of the tools to do 95% of my work. I use the lasso tool to define shapes, the brush tool to paint in the color, and the smudge and eraser tools to do soft edges, fades, etc.

You can also download a 30-day free trial of full-blown PS (not just Elements, but the real deal) from Adobe.com. But it's a HUGE file, almost a gig... so you'll need a lot of time to download it.

[Brett Barrow]

There are a lot of tutorials out there, but in my experience most tutorials make things much more complicated than they have to be.

The best way to learn PS, IMO, is to play with it. Learn how the tools work and what they do. Once you have a basic understanding of how the tools work, how layers work, how the filters work, etc., you'll find that you develop your own may of doing things. In PS there are always many different ways to get the same effect. Over the years I've developed my own way of doing certain things, and when I look at a tutorial explaining how to achieve some effect, I have to laugh... because I've developed my own way of doing it that is a lot simpler and quicker than the tutorials make it out to be.

PS is actually very easy, once you learn what each of the tools do. I use only a few of the tools to do 95% of my work. I use the lasso tool to define shapes, the brush tool to paint in the color, and the smudge and eraser tools to do soft edges, fades, etc.

[ximg]http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j269/harrypri/misc/Picture-1.jpg

You can also download a 30-day free trial of full-blown PS (not just Elements, but the real deal) from Adobe.com. But it's a HUGE file, almost a gig... so you'll need a lot of time to download it.

Maybe I need even more basic, I mean to get this illustration look you start with a real picture and draw over top of it, right? I made my avatar by selecting the black areas, unselecting the white strips and internal details, making the background transparent, and adding a drop shadow, that's about the extent of my 'shopping skills .

Edited September 17, 2010 by Brett Barrow

[Sixties Sam]

Great renderings! I really like the Torino and the Buick wagon. They're all good! I admire your skills (Harry's too!).

Sam

[BigEdsGarage]

Thanks for the compliments guys!

I think anyone with a good eye and a little artistic talent can learn PS. I started fooling around with it, found a few tutorials online, adapted them to what I was trying to do, and basically each piece of work continues to get better as I try new things. As Harry mentioned, some of the tutorials aren't the best, but they will at least expose you to what other people do and perhaps expose what tools or tricks can be utilized to accomplish the desired result. All I can say to anyone learning should strongly focus on layers and how they work. It's all trial and error, but using layers you don't mess up the work you have already done.

Harry, I would like to use Illustrator to do larger stuff like banners, posters, etc. I have done some work for printing and the guys at the shop are always looking for vector art. Personally I really like PS, but as you mentioned, file sizes can be huge.

[Harry P.]

Harry, I would like to use Illustrator to do larger stuff like banners, posters, etc. I have done some work for printing and the guys at the shop are always looking for vector art. Personally I really like PS, but as you mentioned, file sizes can be huge.

You're right–for banners, signs, that type of thing, Illustrator is perfect. That's what I use when I do big trade show displays and stuff like that. But for doing illustrations like yours, PS can't be beat. Like I said, since you already obviously know PS, you'll figure out Illustrator in a day or two. Should be no problem for you, Illustrator works very much like PS does.