Fantasy Composites Start in Your Laundry Room: A Breakdown of Peter McKinnon's Abstract Photoshop Method

Every composite artist hits the same wall eventually. You’ve got a folder full of strong individual shots, landscapes and portraits and textures, but nothing that belongs together. You’re waiting for the perfect concept to arrive fully formed instead of building one from what you already have. I’ve been doing this professionally for over a decade, working on movie posters and album art, and I still fall into that trap. What snapped me out of it recently was watching Peter McKinnon approach compositing from a completely different angle.