Inspiration: Cyborgs, Robots, and Mecha

May 7th in Inspiration by Sean Hodge

Many artists are drawn to visions of the future. In this article you'll see a fresh view of robotic and mechanized artwork. Learn some digital painting techniques from some great Photoshop tutorials on the subjects of cyborgs and robots. Get inspired by multiple artistic visions and various technical approaches to bot artwork. Get inspired by how man and machine are melding today. The future has arrived. Let's check it out.

PG

Author: Sean Hodge

Hi All! I recently moved to the outskirts of Orlando, Florida. I'm the editor of Psdtuts+ and Vectortuts+. Also, visit my blog AiBURN where I feature some of my creative work and ideas. Or follow me on Twitter: @seanHodge.

Digital Art

  • Joancharmant

    Joan Charmant

    This artist was placed in our Tutorial Suggestions area. It has some great photo manipulations—lots of melding of man and machine. Realistic robots, cyborg animals, and mecha creations on display. The source images show what was used to put the images together.

    Visit Artwork

  • Spacemaggot

    Abdul Rashid

    This artist goes under the nickname of Spacemaggot. He breaks images apart and then rebuilds them. Follow the link to his portfolio. Some more of his work is on Deviantart. The link below is to a piece called Uncomplete. It's based on Optimus Prime's incomplete transformation. The artist mixes vector and Photoshop work.

    Visit Artwork

  • Jujika

    The Workstation2 by Jujika

    This artwork shows the Photoshop painter at work in her studio. It's kind of funny to have such a huge robot be there to make you coffee. It's supposed to contain all sorts of kitchen appliances. The artist describes this as, "New coffee bot fresh from the packaging!! Fully equipped with Espresso Machine, shelving, refrigerator, microwave, stereo system, and two choices of Slurpee flavor." It's a beautifully crafted digital painting done in Photoshop. Jujika has mostly fantasy work in her portfolio, but this mecha bot piece stands out.

    Visit Artwork

  • Dario Berardi

    I Love Music

    This artist has an interesting style that merges Photoshop techniques with matte painting. A lot of work went into this piece. Here is the description the artist gives, "Photo Manipulation and Matte Painting, it Takes 21 hours, 127 layers of photoshop, .psd size 50 * 35cm 300dpi!" He has more of this type of work in his Flickr Matte Painting Set

    Visit Artwork

Tutorials

  • People Future

    People of the Future

    This tutorial gives you a detailed overview of two collaborative artists' workflow. They go from poser to Photoshop in creating this cyborg design. The tutorial describes the steps involved in this masterful creation. While this tutorial doesn't hold your hand through the entire process, it is a good window into these artists' processes.

    Visit Tutorial

  • Robotech Mecha

    Draw Robotech Mecha

    This video tutorial shows you how to draw a Robotech character from start to finish in Photoshop. This site is a huge resource for learning to paint in Photoshop. It has beginner to advanced tutorials on the subject. In many of these tutorials, the artist explains each step and why he uses certain techniques. There are over 200 tutorials. Time to buy a Wacom Tablet.

    Visit Tutorial

  • Coloring Robot

    Coloring a Robot in Photoshop

    This tutorial covers coloring a drawing. It starts with a scanned in line art drawing, as if you had an inked outline to begin with. It shows how to build up the artwork using layers of tones. Then it adds in glow, shadows, and fades to finish off the image.

    Visit Tutorial

  • Monkey Vs. Robot

    Photoshop and Painter Tutorial: Monkey vs Robot

    This tutorial works with Painter to build the image and then moves over to Photoshop to apply some finishing touches and effects. It's a broad description of the process, though the Photoshop steps are more detailed.

    Visit Tutorial

  • Naughty Robot

    Digital Painting Tutorial: Naughty Robot

    This tutorial has lots of screenshots. You see how the image is built up, while the artist explains each major step in the process. He discusses strategically why he uses certain techniques as well. In combination with painting techniques, he also imports texture to put onto his robot character.

    Visit Tutorial

Other Cool Stuff

  • Exoskeleton Suits of the Future

    5 Bionic Exoskeleton Suits of the Future

    This article starts by dropping movie references, like Terminator and Robocop. Then it goes on to show real-life versions of hydraulic limbs, landwalking juggernaut robots, advanced computerized exoskeletons, and heavily armored exoskeletons. This article gives a nod to science fiction while showing where we actually are with technology today.

    Visit Article

  • Transformers

    TheTransformer movie site has great photos, which are all super high 3D quality. It's a full-screen Flash site. The new Iron Man movie has a great Flash fan site as well.

    Visit Site

  • Nbc

    Robots Invade San Jose Museum of Art

    There are over 80 images of this exhibit on Robots at the San Jose Museum of Art. The images are presented in a Flash slide show viewer. There is a wide selection of artistic visions of robots throughout history. There are paintings, sculptures, and more on display.

    Visit Article

  • Botjunkie

    Festo AirJelly Video

    This article contains two videos. Both videos are of Jelly Fish–like robots. One of them functions in the water and the other flies through the air, kind of like a moving balloon. The videos capture the beauty in the design and movement of these bots.

    Visit Article

  • Striking Robots

    The Most Striking 3D Robots Ever—Parts 1 and 2

    There are a whole lot of images of super-cool 3D robots in this two-part series. You could first check out The Most Striking 3D Robots Ever—Part 1. Below is the link to Part II. Each image includes a description of the image, what was used to make the image, and artist information.

    Visit Article


Enjoy this Post?

We'd love your vote!

Plus Members

Source Files, Bonus Tutorials and
More for $9 a month for all TUTS+
sites in one subscription.

Join Now

User Comments

( ADD YOURS )
  1. PG

    frky May 7th

    nice collection

    ( Reply )
  2. PG

    Lee May 7th

    Very cool!!!

    ( Reply )
  3. PG

    ernesto May 7th

    “5 Bionic Exoskeleton Suits of the Future” Visit Article link leads back to this page, not to the article.

    ( Reply )
  4. PG

    Robby May 7th

    Very inspiring indeed.

    ( Reply )
  5. waw. This is a great article with lots of great inspirational stuff. Thank you Sean.

    ( Reply )
  6. PG

    Lamin Barrow May 7th

    Thats quite an inspirational collection you’ve got there Sean. Thanks for all your effort and time. :)

    ( Reply )
  7. PG

    Braden keith May 7th

    Very interesting. I have always wondered how people make such awesome pictures that look just like the robots. I will be checking these out. Thank ya!

    ( Reply )
  8. Great stuff!! I can never get tired of good inspiration.

    ( Reply )
  9. PG

    Soelberg May 7th

    Awesome collection :) Lots of nice inspiration.. Thanks for sharing this with us ..

    ( Reply )
  10. PG

    Danny May 7th

    Sweet! I really like Mechs and Borgs :P

    ( Reply )
  11. PG

    goldenthunder May 7th

    sweeeeeeet.

    ( Reply )
  12. PG

    Has.n May 7th

    gr8!!!

    ( Reply )
  13. PG

    Brent Nelson May 7th

    I am not impressed with the nudity and suggestive nature of some of the links used in this post. These shouldn’t be used as they promote lust and such. It really draws on a person and leads down a path that is hard to get out of. Mature people as well as young people should not be exposed to this.

    ( Reply )
  14. PG

    Shane May 7th

    @Brent – I doubt very much that these links promote lust. Mature people have a right to make their own choices, and I don’t think that anything presented here is questionable.

    Sean has the right to post links that inspire as much as you have a right to voice your opinion.

    ( Reply )
  15. PG

    MONSTER May 7th

    Well put together post. I am inspired.

    ( Reply )
  16. PG

    v1ktor May 7th

    incredibleeeeeeeeee

    ( Reply )
  17. PG

    Jin Y May 7th

    how dare you not put gundam in there… :)

    ( Reply )
  18. PG

    filipe May 7th

    this is madneeeeessssss? No, this is PSD tuts :)

    ( Reply )
  19. PG

    That One Guy May 7th

    Sheez. An article or tutorial always comes up right after I try doing this stuff. Awesome inspiration. Also, the article’s link for “5 Bionic Exoskeleton Suits of the Future” is just linking back to this article.

    ( Reply )
  20. nice

    ( Reply )
  21. PG

    Ben Griffiths May 7th

    Best. Round up. Ever.

    ( Reply )
  22. PG

    Tom May 7th

    @Brent
    It’s only nudity. EVERYONE sees breasts and other body parts at some time in their life. The ‘nudity’ in question can only be looked at as inappropriate if the person interpreters it that way.

    Anyways, awesome collection. :) I especially like the Cyborg rendering that uses Poser and PS.

    ( Reply )
  23. PG

    Grant Friedman May 7th

    Nice post Sean! I loved the Robotech tutorial. I love to see Photoshop painting video tutorials. It was nice to have a little commentary.

    ( Reply )
  24. PG

    Joefrey Mahusay May 7th

    Nice Round Up. Thanks Sean :D

    ( Reply )
  25. PG

    Ariful Khan May 7th

    good inspiration. I’ve to try those out..

    ( Reply )
  26. PG

    Austin May 7th

    All this talk about robots and artwork and NOTHING about Ashley Wood???? Holy snick. Look that guy up. NOW.

    ( Reply )
  27. PG

    D. Carreira May 7th

    Cool. This post have some good inspirations.
    Thanks.

    David Carreira

    ( Reply )
  28. PG

    Harry May 7th

    Nice set of tuts :P

    ( Reply )
  29. PG

    Daniel May 8th

    Cool article…

    Daniel

    ( Reply )
  30. PG

    Brian May 8th

    Good collection! The link to “5 Bionic Exoskeleton Suits of the Future” points back to this article, however, and your description has peaked my interest! I may just have to resort to google.

    Keep ‘em coming!

    ( Reply )
  31. PG

    Mohsen May 8th

    Did you see this website:http://www.asksabre.com
    Really cool copy of psdtuts template

    ( Reply )
  32. PG

    Sean Hodge May 8th

    @Austin – Ashley wood looks great. I’m sure there are thousands of great artists out there as well. Feel free to let us know about more great artists that work in this theme.

    I got the Article link fixed for “5 Bionic Exoskeleton Suits of the Future” – Thanks for pointing that out.

    Also, not trying to offend anyone with the links, just trying to inform. Thx.

    ( Reply )
  33. PG

    Arik May 8th

    @ Mohsen

    1) We call that a rip
    2) That site steals tutorials.

    The rip: http://www.asksabre.com/photo-manipulation/learn-how-to-zombify-people
    Real tut: http://www.worth1000.com/tutorial.asp?sid=161073

    ( Reply )
  34. PG

    Johan May 9th

    Hehe at asksabre.com.. Wtf..

    Nice round up ;)

    ( Reply )
  35. PG

    Andrew D May 9th

    Great round up, @Arik, It’s so funny to catch a rip, I love seeing the thief’s reaction. :D

    ( Reply )
  36. The first robot looks amazing.

    ( Reply )
  37. PG

    anonymous October 9th

    I hate “idrawgirls.com” tutorials, they don’t actually teach you how to draw stuff, they just show you how they do it, and you have to figure things out by yourself.
    call it “speedpainting” or whatever you wanna call it,,,it’s not a tutorial.

    ( Reply )
  38. PG

    Amir.B November 18th

    wow !!! Very Very Nice !!!!

    ( Reply )
  1. Arrow
    Gravatar

    Your Name
    November 18th