Germán Benito is a Spanish Digital Artist specialising in fantasy photo edits and surreal compositions. He has been featured by Photoshop and Wacom, but I first noticed his name when we had the interview from @jillianlee one of her pictures had been edited by @gervisuals The truth is you see Photoshop art but there was something that captured my attention as an avid Photoshop user.
Germán’s work shows a superb balance of colour, fantastic skin textures and the ability to mix its content into marvellous artistic interpretations. Contemporary incarnations of surrealistic fantasy similar to that of Dali.
Because of the language barrier we have kept the interview concise and used Google translate to get the full article together, so hope you enjoy.
A Brief Introduction to Germán
Hi everyone! My name is Germán Benito, and I am a Spanish graphic designer.
Since I can really remember, I’ve been always drawing fantastic worlds and imaginary characters, influenced by the movies I watched and the comics that I often read.
When I grew up my fascination in the creative took over and, I started learning and taking advantage of the possibilities of the digital world and these creations, resulting in the wonderful compositions that I make today and enjoy by many online. The possibilities of the digital world and how it allows me the opportunity to create my artworks, resulting in the photo edits that I make today, always with my Wacom tablet and my beloved Photoshop.
Germán, Have you always been creative?
I think so, or I must be because since I was little I spent my free time always drawing and inventing stories or storylines for my characters.
How did you move into Photoshop and photo manipulations?
When I was young I always drew by hand, and my first steps in photoshop were to scan those drawings to be able to colour them digitally. Once I got fluent with Photoshop I jumped to taking my own digital photos to learn manipulation.
Where are you based and Is this good or bad or do you?
I currently live in Madrid, Spain. I think that for my type of work it is not very important where I reside. I try to create images that are understood internationally.
What helped create your style and who do you follow for inspiration?
I think my style has been modified over the years, at first I created more colourful, more “childish” illustrations, but in this time I have met people like my friend @hecsouls who have influenced me to take my photos to a darker side, more adult.
I am also inspired by a lot of people that I follow on Instagram like @aykutmaykut or @antonioilustrando
Your style of work seems quite varied, so what drives your creativity?
I have always been very influenced by the world of illustration, and I think that is reflected in my editions. They are a mix between photography and illustration.
Your visuals have a strong feel to them and have a surreal feel to them similar at times to Dali how do you do this and has Dali inspired you at all?
Well, I think it has inspired me without my being very conscious of the fact. Dalí has a surrealist style that I love, and I remember perfectly when I visited the Dalí museum as a child … it blew my mind.
How do you find your clients in the creative world, and in what way do they make contact, or do you contact them?
I haven’t really had many clients through my edits. I have a full-time job in an advertising agency, so I use my edits as something personal, an escape route and entertainment. The clients I have met have contacted me, attracted by my style.
Your images have a strong colour saturation to them and have an artistic painted feel
I have definitely always liked the editions with saturated colours, but I think they have evolved a lot over time. Now I play a lot more with colours, what they mean and what I want to convey with them.
Can you run through your workflow, please? As an avid user of Photoshop in a different way, I am interested but I believe our readers would love to know your process here from concept to delivery.
Of course! Many times the first thing I look for is the idea, I think about the final image I want to achieve and once I have it clear, I look for stock images or I make it myself. I recommend free banks like Unsplash or pixels. There are very good photos and free to use. Then I do all the work in Photoshop and Camera Raw, I don’t use any external plugin and no action.
I treat each photo individually. For this type of edition, I always recommend the use of tablets, I personally am a big fan of the Wacom brand And as a useful tip especially for me, I especially recommend knowing how to crop images, using the pen tool and knowing very well the layer blending modes in Photoshop.
Where do you find your inspiration?
Anywhere.. Inspiration can come from another artist, a comic, a movie, a song… anywhere.
Do you like art and if so, does this affect your work?
I really love art, and yes, I am always looking for new artists, I observe many other people to get inspired by them and what they do in their own work.
I notice that you are working with NFT’s how this has been for you?
NFT’s have opened up a world of possibilities for digital artists, but it is very difficult as there is so much competition. I have managed to sell some but I have others waiting for a buyer. Lots of people create NFT’s and it’s hard to stand out.
Have you sold any NFT work and if so which ones and has it made a profit for you?
Yes, I have sold some on foundtaion.app and kollect.me but my biggest sale has been on crypto.com and I have another auction there this December.
For anyone else looking to go into artwork with NFT what you would advise them to do and how to do this?
It is such a new world that I am not sure how it works at all. I was lucky that an agency contacted me and thanks to them I have been able to start in this world. I recommend people who want to try, to look for platforms where the minting process is cheap and above all to have a lot of patience. Twitter is the most used platform to promote NFT’s
What are the dangers NFT and has anything of note happened to you?
At the moment I have not had any problems with the NFT’s, but mentally it is sometimes exhausting because you put your best designs on sale and it frustrates me to see that many people manage to sell and you do not, so you have to be very patient. In my case, the good thing is that I don’t make art exclusively for NFT’s, I make art for myself, and sometimes I put them up for sale and if I manage to sell them great, and if not, then nothing happens either.
Do you exhibit your work?
I have never exhibited my work in any gallery, I feel that I have not been in this for a long time and I have never thought about it. I have appeared in an article in magazines such as Expert Photography, in the article “30 Most Influential Photoshop Artists to Follow in 2021”, and I have also been featured by Photoshop several times on Instagram, which makes me feel very proud of my work.
What are you working on right now?
I keep working on my edits day by day, trying to improve, and as soon as I have time I get on my computer, my Wacom tablet and Photoshop and try to create something new every week.
I noticed your website sells courses can you tell us a little more about this
Yes, I sell Photoshop courses on my website www.gervisuals.com/tutoriales where I explain my way of editing and people can see how I edit my photos from start to finish. There is a 30% discount if people buy 2 courses and a 40% discount if they buy all 3.
GERVISUALS ( Germán Benito )
Digital creator
Photoshop lover.
Instagram Feed link https://www.instagram.com/gervisuals/