UCSD Sneak Peek at Summer: Introduction to Digital Illustration and Photoshop

Course Overview:  This intermediate level workshop will focus on the fundamentals of traditional illustration or "picture making" as simulated through the digital medium. 

The capabilities available to contemporary illustrators, given the power of creative software such as Photoshop, have had a revolutionary effect on the illustration industry, particularly its techniques and approaches.  Digital tools have expanded artists’ creative power and control over their respective mediums and have elevated their ability to create compelling, convincing imagery.  However, all wonderful capabilities aside, the digital tool is only just that, a tool, and students enrolled in this exciting workshop will not only be learning those tools, but will be steeped in the traditional techniques and history of illustration and encouraged to adopt many of those principles which have been so integral to the effectiveness of the great illustrative masters of the past and the present.

Students will develop a full illustration on the day of the workshop, starting with brainstorming and thumbnail sketching by hand.  Then the students will bring their work into the computer to build value, add color, and finalize their illustrations.  This workshop will equip students with the knowledge and basic skills necessary to take their creative visions to a new levels of personal achievement and put them well on the path to becoming the next generation of creative professionals.

Students are encouraged to bring in drawings or ideas from home to use in their illustration project.  In this exciting workshop, students can expect to learn:

* Image planning (brainstorming, thumbnail sketching, compositional planning)

* How to draw and paint on the computer with Wacom tablets

* Basic color theory and how it applies illustration

Prerequisites:

• Must be a current middle or high school student
• Minimum level of art experience is requested. 
• Interested in art, graphics, and/or animation
• Careful and patient enough to learn some new skills and listen to expert coaching

Course Instructor:  James Nuanez, Graphic Artist

Registration is free. Registration deadline is May 18, 2011. Space is limited to 19 students.