Apr 06
Pushing Illustrator and Photoshop to its limit
2006 at 05.54 am posted by Veerle
Prepare yourself dear readers because you’ll get a jaw dropper when checking out what follows! The first link is something that I already posted way back in 2004, but it seems that the author Kevin Hulsey has added another cruise ship called “Empress of the seas”. It took even more hours then the one I linked to in 2004 (720 hours).
This one took like 960 hours to finish and the file was a whooping 1.3 GB big! Kevin also shows how he started all this and how color was added in Photoshop. An amazing job to say the least. Like I said before I feel small ;)
But wait it doesn't stop here, there is more! What do think you'll get if you spend 2.000 hours in Photoshop? We are talking about raising the bar a bit with a file that consists of 15,000 layers, 500 alpha channels, and 250,000 paths! The artist is Bert Monroy, a former employee of ILM and a pixel pusher since Photoshop 1.0. Prepare to be wowed with this digital piece of art.
To be honest I couldn't spend that many hours in Photoshop on one job even when being paid. My limit is 2 or 3 days I guess :) It's like Rob Weychert said to me yesterday afternoon, why not just take a photo :o)
This is what Bert said about when asked "Why not take just a picture?":
Good question, when you consider my paintings look like photographs. Well, for one thing, I'm not a photographer. To me, it is not the destination that is important it is the journey. The incredible challenge of recreating reality is my motivation.
Don't understand me wrong I think this is really a piece of 'dedicated' art. Really astonishing!
40served
1
Oh my god!! The Chicago scene is very very impressive: so much attention to details! :-) I’ve just realized that this is the guy who learnt me a lot in Photoshop (via tutorials on CD that I can only recommend to everyone).
2
WOW! Thats all I can say. As a layer freak myself those simply blow me away.
I am with you and do not think I could spend that amount of time in one program. Here’s to trying new things!
3
great works, great man, amazing..Praise
4
Oh my! These are impressive works.
I envy the patience of these people. I’ll never be able to do anything near that.
5
Untill I saw the closeups of the second one, I didn’t believe it wasn’t a photo. These things are simply amazing.
6
Logistikmarketing mal anders
Veerle Pieters hat in ihrem Blog auf einen talentierten Photoshop/Illustrator-Künstler hingewiesen. Und zwar »talentiert« im Sinne von »besessen«. Bert Monroy, seit 2004 in der Photoshop Hall Of Fame ... (more)
7
I am in awe of such tremendous talent. These artists will surely have a place in digital art history.
thanks for sharing
melissa
8
Wow that is really awesome! I’m not sure how they have that much patients to work on one Photoshop file. I’m also not sure how the guy that did the Chicago train station one could afford to live while working on the project. I think about all the time he lost… I mean think of all the things he could of done that would have a lot more fun. You still have to commend the guys Photoshop skills. He should start over and see if he could cut the time it takes in half.
9
I’m really impressed. But, on the other hand, I can’t stop thinking that it should have been made with a 3D editor and rendered in Poser, Bryce or something similar.
10
Holy crap. I’m in disbelief. Wow.
11
Stunning. I am in absolute awe for so much beauty.
Do you consider this art? I consider it more as craftmanship. Brilliant craftmanship for that matter, but it doesn’t really convey any message to the viewer, as I think art should do.
12
@ Vaken ti should have been done with either 3D Studio Max or Maya ;-).
But it indeed incredible work there. WOW. I wish I had the same dedication as those two XD.
13
Well, so much for computers saving us time.
These guys are insane. Great artists, but insane. (Now that I think of it, many great artists have been insane.)
14
@Alexander Berglund
What about Lightwave? Can’t forget that program as well.
15
Holy Hell, that’s all I have to say.
16
Wow, this is terrific. Amazing pieces of art. Photoshop pushed to its limits.
17
Oh my god!!!! This is simply incredible… Just look at how he create the initial workspace! It looks like a 3D software!
Really, I have never such skills using Photoshop and Illustrator!
But, novody asked for that but… how much is a company ready to pay for this? I am really wondering because 960€… juste imagine the invoice LOL.
18
Your illustration created is amazing. I myself have done illustrations using strictly Photoshop before for a class assignment, but they never came out that good before. Really great work.
19
Wow that is just insane!
20
That is truly astonishing. He truly is living the “do what you love” lifestyle. I have to agree with the group, it is beyond my limits to spend so much time on one piece. But if it brings him joy, he’s found his sweet spot in life!
21
Yes endeed.
I agree with anyone else that he could render that, but the guy said he likes to re-build (I’m not shure that’s the word he used) reality.
So.. if that was the man’s wish.. we’re not in title to criticize him.
@ Veerle: Just when I was putting you on a pedestal as my favourite illustrator.. you had to show us this guy’s work :P
22
You are a goddess. Simply astounding.
23
That’s simply amazing, I would like to be able to do things like this with photoshop/illustrator but I just don’t seem to get any better.
Check my website.. You’ll see there’s only basic work inthere, no details, nothing. Strangely enough I’ve been using photoshop for quite a few years now.
What would you recommend to people like me? Don’t start with tutorials cause those don’t teach me anything. :-) I’d really appreciate you (or anyone else here) giving me pointers.
Thanks beforehand!
24
She didn’t made those. She was only telling us about that guy who did them.
It seems you misunderstood the situation.
Altoutgh, I’m pretty sure if Veerle puts her mind into Illustrator, she can do that. It’s not hard. It takes a lot of time and patience
25
Impressive, and awesome. I just love expertise, I really do.
(The first comment I enter since your redesign makes me hate your 5 mins rule.)
26
Alex Buga, I understand she didn’t made these illustrations but I’ve just seen other works made by her (such as this blog) that were also amazing. :-)
27
Oh, I can’t believe it.
My feelings when I read this entry:
1. They are 100% made in Photoshop
2. Can’t believe, uncertain, coz they look like pictures, specially the second one. Read the whole entry again.
3. Visited the links to prove. Oh God, never knew photoshop could be so POWERFUL!
I don’t need to learn and purchase a copy of CAD then. PHOTOSHOP + ILLUSTRATOR- more than enough.
28
@ Jens Meirert said:
You don’t have to hate me for that 5 min rule but the lovely comment spam friends.
And for the record I didn’t make those Illustrations, I only whish :)
29
Hah, the 5-minute rule. Nothing to hate when you’re suffering too much spams.
My blog ain’t popular at all, but I just can’t understand why I suffer so much from spams. I wish I have some sort of rules......
30
That’s amazing
31
That is insane, I wonder what machine was able to gracefully handle this project. Perhaps a 486? :-)
32
Wow, I love layers, but wow, that’s way beyond anything I’ve ever done. 2,000 hours!
Hats off to the artists!
33
I think I just saw proof that both God and Jezus excist…
34
Amazing. I saw these links floating around the net a few days back but never took the time to check the detail(s). talk about perseverance and skill. With file sizes like the ones above, my dinky little computer would definitely come to a screeching halt each time I loaded the layers.
So much detail. I am impressed. The redundancy of the alpha layers would drive me insane.
35
It’s truly amazing what people can do with Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator - they are powerful tools but it’s obvious that the tools available may be powerful but if the artist hasn’t got the talent and skills then the work won’t come out as great. You see so many people who have these wonderful tools but don’t use them and then you see other people like yourself (Veerle) and these people who just get it right!
It’s truly amazing and impressive , the detail, but then look at your work, it isn’t as detailed but it is equally amazing!
36
Completely mad. Why not just take a picture? :D
37
Now what’s the fun in taking a picture?
38
I am in awe of the ship diagram. The man I work for has similar skills. He has a piece on the wall of his office, of the space shuttle he airbrushed over about 600 hours from blueprints. I have the upmost respect for anyone who can hold their concentraition over such a long span (over a month!).
The second one of the station, I still hold great respect for - but a part of me does question if this is what photoshop is best for; the end result would have been much more satisfying rendered out of a high end 3d app.
I think on this topic it’s worth taking note of the Sistine Chapel, which took Michelangelo over 4 years of solid painting of complete. Now that’s dedication!
39
That is astounding… Could spend ages looking at images like that!
40
The detail is truly amazing. I feel like I’ve been on the Empress of the Seas now!
And 1.3GB is that the file size or the working file… either way Kevin must have one kick-ass machine.