Bert Monroy: Photorealistic Techniques with Photoshop and Illustrator is an unusual book for New Riders in that it focuses on the work of one person. Bert Monroy is a digital art pioneer who has been producing digital illustration for more than 20 years. His speciality, as you may gather from the title, is producing photographic-looking illustrations. Here he shares his secrets, the techniques that have enabled him to produce vivid realistic work for clients such as General Motors and American Express as well as for his personal gratification.

This is not a tutorial book and you won't find advice of the "select the clone tool, set the opacity to 80 per cent and choose difference layer mode" kind. Instead, Monroy teaches by example, using his own, beautifully reproduced work and talking through the approach and techniques used to achieve a particular effect. In this way, the reader learns about the fundamentals like perspective, as well as developing sophisticated techniques for creating realistic light and shade, texture and reflections.

If one thing stands out in Monroy's approach it is that attention to detail is everything. Yet he manages to convey this without getting bogged down in application processes. The result is a book that provides not only a useful learning experience but a pleasurable, relaxed read. It's the kind you might take to bed, then try out what you've learned the following day. --Ken McMahon