This course will be a forum for the interchange of ideas on personal fine art practice, extending the discussion and direction of Advanced Painting (ILLUS-3216) and other fine arts media practice. The principle goal of the course is to strengthen the understanding and the creative work of the participants in relation to the visual arts, as it is understood in our culture at this time, including painting, drawing and 3-D media. through study of the history of art, and through concerted work on individual projects, and group discussion. The 20th and 21st century have witnessed a far-reaching series of revolutions in the visual arts during which all components of art media were dissected, analyzed and reassembled in radically different form. Through an awareness of these developments, students in the Illustration Department can gain an advanced understanding of painting, drawing and 3-D media beyond our traditional emphasis on classical realism, though not exclusive of realistic practice. Students specifically interested in a career as a fine artist, making work for exhibition as an expression of personal vision, will find a thorough examination of this path at it existed in the past, and as it exists now, both in terms of philosophical and expressive ambition, critical expectations and in terms of the practicalities of the marketplace. Students who are primarily interested in illustration will find new ways of thinking about concept and innovative methods for giving an idea visual form. The primary vehicle for our discussions will be weekly reviews of work generated by the students in the class. We will alternate between group critiques every two weeks, and one on one discussions between myself and each participant in the class every other week. Each student will be responsible for conceiving and executing an open-ended project in painting that they will develop during the course. The course will also include slide lectures on various aspects of contemporary and historical practice in painting, readings from various texts, brief writing assignments based on those texts and a field trip to New York or another professional venue for contemporary art. Evaluation of individual participation in the course will also be based on vocal participation in group critiques, thoughtful response to assigned readings, and the quality of verbal and written artist's statements.

Elective

This course introduces digital media for Illustrators using computer applications: image drawing, painting and editing in Photoshop, and vector graphics using Illustrator. While orienting students to the technical aspects of digital media, the class also provides an essential link to the Illustration Department's drawing, painting and conceptual curriculum.

This course fulfills the Computer Literacy requirement for Illustration Students.

Elective

This course introduces digital media for Illustrators using computer applications: image drawing, painting and editing in Photoshop, and vector graphics using Illustrator. While orienting students to the technical aspects of digital media, the class also provides an essential link to the Illustration Department's drawing, painting and conceptual curriculum.

This course fulfills the Computer Literacy requirement for Illustration Students.

Elective

This course introduces digital media for Illustrators using computer applications: image drawing, painting and editing in Photoshop, and vector graphics using Illustrator. While orienting students to the technical aspects of digital media, the class also provides an essential link to the Illustration Department's drawing, painting and conceptual curriculum.

This course fulfills the Computer Literacy requirement for Illustration Students.

Elective

One commonality amongst all illustrators is the ability to draw. This course builds on principles of traditional drawing, color theory, composition, and with a focus on observational drawing using digital tablet devices. Students will expand on techniques learned at the introductory level to broaden their use of digital mark making tools. Weekly classroom exercise in the first two-thirds of the semester range from careful studies of objects and figures in space, to capturing landscape settings; with the last third engaged in exploring painting from imagination. More involved homework assignments will challenge students to adapt previously acquired drawing skills translated into the digital medium. The main computer application to be used in the course is Photoshop, with an introduction to Painter toward the end of the semester. The goal of the class is to give students a strong foundation in digital painting that can be adapted to their future professional Illustration practice.

This course fulfills the Computer Literacy requirement for Illustration Students.

Elective

One commonality amongst all illustrators is the ability to draw. This course builds on principles of traditional drawing, color theory, composition, and with a focus on observational drawing using digital tablet devices. Students will expand on techniques learned at the introductory level to broaden their use of digital mark making tools. Weekly classroom exercise in the first two-thirds of the semester range from careful studies of objects and figures in space, to capturing landscape settings; with the last third engaged in exploring painting from imagination. More involved homework assignments will challenge students to adapt previously acquired drawing skills translated into the digital medium. The main computer application to be used in the course is Photoshop, with an introduction to Painter toward the end of the semester. The goal of the class is to give students a strong foundation in digital painting that can be adapted to their future professional Illustration practice.

This course fulfills the Computer Literacy requirement for Illustration Students.

Elective

This course is designed to allow students to develop high-concept, semester long projects with a focus on digital media. Group or individual projects can be based on, but not limited to, narratives, production art, interactive media, installation, concept design, or work in series. The course will be structured with a professional schedule in mind including three important critique milestones to ensure a substantial end product is delivered at the end of the semester. Special emphasis will be placed on presentation, originality, and clarity of ideas as pivotal to overall quality of this culminating project. The course is very demanding, and research intensive; special consideration with regards to time commitment should be taken before signing up.

This course fulfills the Computer Literacy requirement for Illustration Students.

Elective

This course serves as an introduction to the ways 3D imagery can be used by illustrators, both directly and indirectly. Using the software Blender (open source) and Zbrush, we will examine the ways to create and use forms and textures both realistic and imaginary to produce images and solve problems common to many forms of illustration, both digital and traditional. Animation will be covered, but only in the most limited sense: such as for looping animated GIFs and for the creation of simulated physical effects.

Preference is given to Illustration and Film/Animation/Video Students.

This course fulfills the Computer Literacy requirement for Illustration Students.

Elective

This course explores interactive game design from the ground up, establishing game mechanics as the core architecture that drives player interaction, narrative, and interface. Using the open-source Godot engine, students will master node-based scene construction, modular workflows, and the technical foundations of 2D and 3D development while integrating AI-assisted programming through both cloud-based frontier models and locally hosted language models tailored to current software documentation. The curriculum spans game history, asset creation pipelines, resource management, and professional version control with Git and GitHub. By combining historical context, hands-on prototyping, and accessible AI tools that lower traditional coding barriers, students will conceptualize, build, and iterate on original interactive experiences, culminating in a fully playable prototype ready for further development.

This course fulfills the Computer Literacy requirement for Illustration Students.

Elective

Milton Glaser once commented that a good designer “sees a way to unify separate occurrences and create a gestalt, an experience in which this new unity provides a new insight.” Excellent design is much more than the sum of its parts; its unified totality presents a visual reality, a world with its own inherent logic. This class will investigate imagery that is both picture and graphic form. In rigorous pursuit of the orchestration of shape, structure, movement, color palette, figure/ground, and pattern we will examine the tools and processes that lead to dynamic image design. While studying influential figures from the history of visual communication, students will undertake projects including posters, illustrations, symbols, logos, icons, information graphics, and other forms of imagery which explore the intersection of illustration and graphic design.

This course seeks to apply a design sensibility to the creation of illustrations. The formal characteristics include flatness, strong graphic quality, awareness of figure/ground, scale, color, placement – these all take precedence over naturalistic concerns, rendering and perspective. This is a stylistic approach that lends itself to clear, conceptual communication. The goal of communication is always primary; and assignments will require problem-solving as well as development of a clear and refined graphic approach. We will use form, geometry, pattern, white space, and perhaps, letterforms to achieve, as Milton Glaser put it “the unity and conviction that emerges from dealing with the total surface.”

This course fulfills the Illustration Concepts Elective requirement for Illustration Students.

Elective

This typography course is specifically designed for Illustration majors. We will study the fundamentals of typography including its history, theory and contemporary practical application. Lectures and exercises will build in complexity from the study of letter forms and the effective use of typography in single page design. A significant part of the course will be dedicated to understanding page dynamics including proportion, grid systems and color. The final project will be a poster design for a local non- profit organization. Students will use Adobe Illustrator and InDesign throughout this course; so some basic computer experience will be helpful but not absolutely necessary.

This course fulfills the Computer Literacy requirement for Illustration majors.

Elective

This course explores the role of illustrator as graphic designer, with a focus on the fundamentals of designing with imagery, the relationship between verbal and visual communication, and the complementary partnership between graphic design and illustration. Students are encouraged to have some fundamental experience with computers before enrolling in this course.

This course fulfills the Computer Literacy elective requirement for Illustration Students.

Elective

Design For Good sits at the intersection of illustration, graphic design, and brand identity, with a focus on non-profits and social issues. Working across print and digital media, this course will challenge students to create innovative visual communication that motivates people around a social cause. Students will learn what makes a compelling visual identity, as well as a compelling story. Throughout the course of the semester, students will create brand identities based in illustration, along with visual and typographic guidelines, and apply it to creative campaigns, packaging design, and social media platforms. Through a series of weekly & bi-weekly assignments, students will build a portfolio of pieces that tie together as a unified, illustrated brand identity. Students are encouraged to conduct their own research & interviews with non-profit organizations as part of this course. Group work in class, research, individual presentations & group critiques are an essential part of this course.

Elective

Illustrated typography and hand lettering are enjoying a wonderfully prominent place in the visual landscape of design, publishing and illustration, and have become an increasingly vital part of many illustrator's professional portfolios. What can illustrated type and it's particular characteristics provide as an alternative to established typefaces? How does an illustrator find the right balance between form and function, expression and readability? This course will provide the opportunity to employ drawing, painting, collage, printmaking, photography, digital tools and other media in the creation of unique letterforms. Students will be encouraged to experiment with non-traditional materials -including three-dimensional ones. Beginning with an introduction to basic typographic elements, terminology, and font families, students will move into creating their own unique lettering for projects including posters, book covers, and packaging. Typography will be the central focus, but students will have leeway as to the degree with which it is integrated with other illustrative imagery. Along with these projects students will create a complete unique typeface over the course of the semester. Relevant issues related to hand drawn text-type for comics, picture books, and graphic novels - including appropriateness, readability and voice, will also be covered.

Elective

This course combines the business of art and design, transforming the creative impulse to a marketable deliverable. Students are encouraged to think beyond the confines of traditional markets, working collaboratively toward the goal of employing inventive thinking in the workplace with the goal of an independently owned and operated enterprise. A fundamental objective of this class is for students to understand a basic business vocabulary, to explore how design-driven business and creative studio thinking overlap, and to understand how creative skills can be used to identify and execute business opportunities. Students will be introduced to business concepts through lectures, case studies, assignments and class discussion. Assignments will work off the classroom pedagogy and topics covered will be business models, marketing, finance, and strategy as they relate to studio activity.

Elective

Footwear and accessories carry a lot of story: a hero's boots, a signature hat, a limited-edition sneaker. This Illustration elective uses them as a framework for teaching illustrators how to make a product feel believable and desirable, and how to build the visual identity around it. Students start by researching wearable objects in film, animation, games, and the footwear industry, then invent one original footwear or accessory concept and its world: who wears it, what it's made of, and what it costs. They develop the concept through a color and material story, a character illustration, and a product presentation board with illustrated title typography. Because illustrators in industry rarely make the product itself, students then extend the product's design language into the pieces illustrators do make: an illustrated currency for their world, and a branded product artifact such as an item card, hangtag, patch, or package that carries the product's look, name, and story. The semester ends with a class marketplace where students price, trade, and buy each other's products, making the critique a live test of what people want and why. Drawing on faculty experience in men's and women's footwear and accessories, the course connects illustration skills to fashion, product, branding, merch, and creative direction.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $75.00 - $140.00

Elective

The Changing Narrative will explore the challenges and possibilities of innovative storytelling structure: non-linear, interactive, multimedia. In this class, students will create inventive work at the intersection of physical and digital media, the old and the new. Students will be introduced to classic dramatic structures across cultures-Asian Kishotenketsu, Freytag's pyramid, Shakespearean tragedy-and learn fundamental digital skills via class demonstrations and exercises. Drawing from these patterns and tools, students will then seek to unveil new storytelling possibilities granted by modern technology (computer animation, touch screen interaction, hypermedia) to traditional artforms (illustration, comics, gaming). What happens when a comic's panel starts to move? Where does a story go if the reader is allowed to make decisions? Students will investigate these creative avenues and create playful, hybrid stories. Along the course of the semester, assignments will notably include short-form animated illustrations, experiments with gamebooks and cartoon strips, culminating in a final, long-form narrative project.

This course fulfills either the Illustration Concepts elective requirement OR the Computer Literacy requirement (not both) for Illustration Students.

Elective

This course celebrates books of all kinds, for readers of all ages. We start by studying picture books for children and make our way through graphic novels (comics), the young adult novel, poetry, fiction for adults, etc. The last part of the semester is spent creating a book of your own choosing from one of these genres.

Elective

At their very core, all books convey a sequence of ideas, but the execution varies widely from one volume to another. In this course, juniors and seniors strive to extend this concept outside of traditional book parameters to achieve their own creative interpretation. Working from their own themes, students mold an innovative presentation of images and concepts in two dimensions or three, using concrete depictions or abstract forms in the construction of their own unique artist's book. Assignments include the study of different folds, narrative problems, poetic counting, lost and found, and a free project of the student's choice. Students are encouraged to continue their own media that might include painting, construction, printmaking, etc.

Elective

Sketchbooks are places of safety and freedom, where artists can do whatever they please: play with ideas, explore unproven paths, go against the grain, experiment with unfamiliar techniques, document the world in deeply personal ways or just doodle without any pressure that out of this engagement a masterpiece will be born.  From working in sketchbooks regularly, artists develop a habit of engaging with the more experimental side of their practice, and from the lack of pressure new directions and bodies of work may be born. Using a range of materials and approaches, students will explore the creative possibilities of working with sketchbooks. Hands-on work will include binding our own sketchbooks using a number of different book forms (coptic, accordion, Hedi Kyle’s pocket and blizzard books, etc), responding to weekly prompts, experimenting with materials and processes (digital fabrication using Co-Works, experimental printmaking, sewing, embroidery, collage, papier machée, natural inks/dyes) working individually and collaboratively, visiting a local book bindery, artist visit, and proposing and executing a final independent project. We'll also examine artists' sketchbooks and notebooks including those of artists from non-Western traditions

Elective