My Favorite Composite Artists and What I Learn from Them

Studying other artists’ work is the fastest way to level up your compositing. Not copying — studying. Understanding what makes their images work, what techniques they’ve mastered, and how their creative decisions differ from yours. Here are the artists who’ve most influenced my compositing, and the specific lessons I’ve taken from each. Erik Johansson Erik creates surreal scenes that follow real-world physics. A house folds like paper. A road unzips to reveal water underneath.