Red River Pros: Bert Monroy

Bert Monroy embraced the computer as an artistic medium early on and is considered one of the pioneers of digital art. His work has appeared in every major trade publication of the computer industry and has also been featured in scores of books, many of which he has authored. His clients include Apple Computer, Adobe Systems, Pioneer Electronics, Fujitsu, SONY, AT&T, Chevron and American Express. His painting, Damen Station, has won acclaim as a masterpiece of digital art.

The Client

Personal project with the objective of future sales.

The Assignment

Paint a photo-realistic panorama of the Damen Station on the Blue Line of the Chicago transit Authority.

The Execution

"Adobe Illustrator was used for generating the majority of the basic shapes as well as all the buildings in the Chicago skyline. The rest was created in Photoshop. I consider myself a Hyper-realist artist and the incredible challenge of recreating reality is my motivation."

Post Production

"The painting is comprised of close to fifty individual Photoshop files. Taking a cumulative total of all the files, the overall image contains more than 15,000 layers. Over 500 alpha channels were used for various effects and over 250,000 paths make up the multitude of shapes throughout the scene. The image size is 40 inches by 120 inches and the flattened file weighs in at 1.7 Gigabytes. It took me eleven months (close to 2,000 hours) to create."

The Output

"While writing my latest book, Photoshop Studio with Bert Monroy: Digital Painting, it was crucial to see how colors worked together on a spread. I used a Red River paper that closely matched the white and finish of the final paper that the book would end up being printed on. I went through a lot of ink and paper but the result is a book that captures the intense colors of my original works. Proofing each spread on Red River paper was vital to the success of the book because it gave me an accurate preview of how every color would look."

Contact

Bert Monroy's web site is at: www.bertmonroy.com. He may be contacted at: [email protected]

Favorite Papers

UltraPro Satin

UltraPro Satin looks and feels just like traditional photo lab paper and features a medium depth luster finish.

Favorite Of: Jim DiVitale & Peter Randall

River Linen

River Linen adds a special dimension to your printed image with its premium quality linen surface paper.

Favorite Of: JVS & Helene Glassman

Aurora Art

Made using fine 100% cotton rag content, Aurora Art White and Aurora Art Natural offers the look and feel of fine art paper.

Favorite of: Marilyn Sholin, Matt Hoyle, Susan McCartney, & Kaitlin Walsh

Arctic Polar Satin

With its crisp blue white shade, Arctic Polar Satin ensures your images will project more brilliance. Its state of the art microporous coating will enhance details and color saturation.

Favorite of: Al Francekevich & Susan McCartney

Polar Gloss Metallic 255

Your images will take on a brilliant, almost luminescent quality with Polar Gloss Metallic 255. Everything from airplanes to flowers will look bolder, more saturated, and more real.