2 USING PHOTOBASHING TO MAKE SOMETHING MORE ILLU STRATIVE

Although it may not look it, there’s a ton of photobash work here – about 80 per cent, I’d say. But it’s heavily painted on. I start by laying in images almost immediately… almost designing with them. While I’m laying in images and bashing them together, I’m also selecting light and dark areas, and painting into them. I’m after the detail and texture: I leave out what I don’t need and push the shapes that support the composition. For some parts I want lots of detail; elsewhere, I’ll blow out the light values. This image contains dozens of elements from photos. You can see them on close inspection, but at first glance most people think it’s a fully painted piece. I often use photobashing to a lesser degree in my art, towards the end of the painting process. It’s an effective way of introducing a layer of texture to a scene.

This method works for me because I know the basics of painting. Photobashing enables me to expand on my core art skills – it’s not a shortcut to becoming a good artist. It takes a lot of practice to use photos this way.