- WHY USE THE PHOTOBASH TECHNIQUE?
There are lots of purposes for using photobashing,
though it does have its controversies. For many, like
freelance concept artist Jorry Rosman (www.
artstation.com/artist/jorry), it is a way of saving
time when creating complex concepts: “I use the
photobashing technique to save time. Using photos
provides me with shapes, colours and textures that I
might be able to paint myself, but would take me
way longer than using a photo. And speed and
clarity (in material and shape) is important to me as
a concept artist.
“I also don’t consider concept art as fine art, or
something that’s made to be framed and put on a wall
(even though concept art can be beautiful), so I’m not
too concerned with how the image is made. It’s all
means to an end. Only the end result counts.
“I do, however, make sure to never use artistic
photography pictures or work from other artists. The
pictures I do use are either from my own collection or
have changed so much that they are unrecognisable.
There have been some heated debates on the internet
lately [about whether] using photos is cheating, and I
think it is. But, especially in concept art, cheating is
good! Just be mindful about it.”
© Jorry Rosman 2015
Tutorial in French on Tuto.com by Sebastien Hue (http://fr.tuto.com/photoshop/faire-un-concept-art-de-robot-en-photo-bashing-photoshop,49228.html)
- USE PHOTOBASHING FOR SCIFI CREATIONS
Photobashing can be used for many different
genres, but one in which it is used heavily is sci-fi
scenes, Sebastien Hue (www.shue-digital.com)
explains: “The photobashing technique is very
useful when you need to quickly brainstorm and
create a concept from scratch, particularly when
science-fiction and technologies are at stake.
When you don’t have the mental capacity to get a
clear concept image in your brain, even though
you know that you want – let’s say a robot
concept, a mecha or even a cityscape – by
photobashing bits and pieces of stocks you
help yourself in getting a solid base to work on.
[This helps to] develop [the concept] more
efficiently and more quickly, because you are
visualising the evolution immediately. On top of
that, you can achieve a photorealistic result and
not just a sketchy concept.”
