Photoshop is full of elitism. Turns out, the best Photoshop education is free. Learn from a 20 Year Old YouTuber or a trained Professor?
"Robot" by Avery Shandelman
Limits
I joined the Advertising Major back in Sophomore year not knowing what I'd be learning about, or what I'd be doing. Sounds ridiculous, right? Turns out, what I did know, is that Advertising runs on pure creativity. Lose your creative juice and you will have no idea how to communicate on behalf of a large brand.
Turns out I got into Graphic Design and Photography quickly. I wanted to learn everything, yet unfortunately it was too late to pick up a Graphic Design Minor. I chose a Photography Minor instead. It's awesome. However, while I take kick-ass photographs, I've exhausted all the vital Graphic Design courses I was eligible to take. Now this may sound like I should say goodbye to design, but instead, I decided to continue my education on my own. The university set a limit for me, but I broke through simply by watching others display their design mastery on YouTube.
Benny Productions
Here's where my most recent discovery comes in–Benny Productions. I came across this 20 Year Old while deep in a YouTube hole. Turns out this is not a rare discovery, Benny has acquired 1.73 Million Subscribers.
For short, Benny can create realistic looking unrealistic photographs from scratch, using an assembly of stock images and drawings. It's weird to see the best Photoshop Skills I've ever seen coming from somebody one year younger than myself.
An Interview with Benny Productions
In an interview with Benny, he discusses how he came to be so skillful and answered several questions about his Photoshop Style:
"This is where my signature style was born: lighting and shadows."
Benny's description of his own style has lead me to an incredible and potentially life changing realization: The key to creating anything is with Lighting and Shadows.
As humans, we create perceptions of our surroundings only using Lighting and Shadows. We can define shapes by seeing how they interact with the light in a given environment. It's like Skiing in the shade. Once the sun is hidden behind the mountain, it's difficult to see bumps and edges in the snow because there are soft and sometimes no shadows!
First Attempt with a new mindset
I watched several of Benny's videos and thought hard about creating with his style. I decided to try it myself. My first attempt became known as "Robot" displayed at the top of this blog post. Notice how the shadows are used to make each piece of the robot distinct from one another.
Cool right?
Moving forward, I will continue to learn everything whenever I can, and I will never let my current situation stop me from getting skills I long for.
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