PHOTOMANIPULATION
- 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 a
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.”