ART 322C - Digital Illustration
Instructor: Erik Mark Sandberg
Office hours: M 5-7pm W 5-6pm Office: ADC 507
Classroom: ADC 402 M/W 8-10:45
Email: erik.sandberg@csun.edu / happy@eriksandberg.net
Course Description
In a competitive marketplace, refining your individual point of view is critical to a successful
and rewarding career in the visual arts. This class is for art students who want to develop and
produce dynamic work for exhibition, print, and multi-media-based projects utilizing digital
processes. This class is designed to introduce digital painting and image making techniques.
Conceptual problem solving will be emphasized as students explore various digital and traditional
media techniques and output strategies.
Over the semester we will be covering techniques such as: scanning, digital painting, retouching,
compositing, advanced selections and compositing, brushes, layout, color corrections, layers,
fill techniques, gradations, 3D compositing, 3D tools, mounting, output substrates, line screens,
archival working techniques, chemical transfer, intro to motion, etc.
Demonstrations are given for each technique, and practical compositional and design elements will
be addressed with each assignment. Projects and exercises range from formal skill based, to
commercial and exhibition in nature. The later projects can be self-directed to reflect
individual interests or portfolio needs.
This class also immerses students in popular culture while they formulate a vocabulary for visual
communication. The curriculum encourages students to concentrate on an area of study while
learning the business and presentation skills necessary to succeed in a competitive market.
This class encouraging students to form an art director's sensibility, balancing traditional
skills with modern digital techniques.
Department Goals Addressed in This Course
Critical Thinking: Analyzing, interpreting, and questioning traditional methodologies and preconceived notions of art and art making through the process of generating and solving problems.
Global Perspectives: Promoting an appreciation and tolerance of diverse perspectives dealing with
art, culture, teaching and learning.
Career Path: Develop a career path for an art profession or an art-related field; develop an
understanding of the demands and expectations of that area of art profession or discipline.
This is a lab class that meets for six hours a week.
Student Learning Outcomes
Students will learn to understand and speak eloquently about multiple modes of art/art-making
through readings, discussions and critiques.
Students will develop professional level studio practice as demonstrated through the work they
produce. Students will apply critical thinking and problem solving to successfully work through
concepts from inception to completion, with a superior understanding of the relationship of form
and content.
Course Methods
Instruction will be achieved through slide presentations, media demonstrations, lectures,
individual and group critiques. All students are required to participate in group critiques.
Attendance Policy
Attendance is required. The following will be applied in determining the final grade in the
course. Two absences are allowed without penalty. If a family or work emergency occurs, that will
count as an absence. If you are sick, that counts as an absence. If your car breaks down and you
miss class, that counts as one absence. If you decide the beach is more important than class,
that counts as one absence. There is no such thing as an excused absence. If you have used up
your two absences, and you get sick and miss a third day, your final letter grade for the course
gets dropped by one-third, and so on for each additional absence. If illness requires more than
four absences, a medical withdrawal from the course is recommended. Late arrivals and early
departures of 20 minutes or more are considered absences Roll will be taken at the beginning of
every class. Three tardies count as 1 absence.
Texting or talking on the phone in class will be considered an absence.
Missed Class Policy
Lectures and demonstrations will not be repeated. Get the names and email of other students in
the class to contact them for missed information.
Name________________________________________ email_______________________________________
Name________________________________________ email_______________________________________
Grading Project Rubric: will be given on a standard 100 point scale.
You will be graded on the following:
Image Making: Use of images & understanding of image implementation in work.
Ideation & Iteration: Evaluation of process and artists work from start to finish.
Visual Literacy & Critical Analysis: How you relate to your work, how you understand your
development formally & critically & place this in a larger theoretical / social / educational
context.
Media Exploration: Not like craft, artist’s use of & experimental materials & making
methodologies.
Craft: How does the work look physically & in documentation.
Grading is in accordance with university policy: A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, and F
A= outstanding, B= good, C= average, D= unsatisfactory, F= failure
PROJECT 1 _________________________________________
PROJECT 2 _________________________________________
PROJECT 3 _________________________________________
PROJECT 4 _________________________________________
IMAGE SEQUENCE PROJECT_____________________________
grade
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20%
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CRITIQUE PARTICIPATION & ATTENDANCE WILL EFFECT PROJECT GRADES
Supplies
The supplies you need will depend upon the techniques you decide to use for your assignments. A
flash drive or portable hard drive will be needed to store and work on projects or you are free
to use your personal dropbox or cloud storage accounts as well. Please back up all project files
regularly, lost files at the end of the semester will severely lower your grade.
A personal wacom tablet is recommended for completing assignments at home, but is not necessary
if you are able to attend open lab regularly.
Some output printing is needed throughout the semester, this will depend on your specific project
execution.
Please consult with me about the appropriate materials for execution of final art.
How to Present Your Work
Projection and output will be utilized throughout the semester.
Preliminary Work
All students are required to use professional preparatory working methods in the development of
their illustrations, unless otherwise directed under project outline. Written work, concept
lists, and all other reference material.
Thumbnails – small drawings to work out some basic conceptual ideas and compositional elements,
these loose drawings are for you to get started forming the design of the visual image. These
drawings are for you to get started and not for sketch critique.
Comps – 1 drawing per 8 ½” X 11” inch paper with border reference drawn to give format
indication. Comp drawings should be clear enough for an art director… all elements, conceptual
and visual must resolved and communicate clearly in the sketch. - 4 required for each assignment
you will be hanging these on the wall for sketch critiques. You may write notes on the outside of
the sketch to clarify some color or material ideas.
Tight line drawing – final size and materials worked out with all resolved details and execution
plans, based on your continued research and original comp refinement.
Color study - (if needed)– can be done digitally, or with acrylic, oil, mixed media, colored
pencil, etc over light copy of your sketch. This step is a good idea when working out a multiple
colored image.
Final Art – Completed final piece camera ready and for final critique. Final art can be a digital
print or file.
ART 322C Projects - (projects 1 and 2 will have accompanying exercises)
1) HERO, HEROIN, OBITCHUARY, CELEBRITY, or CLASSIFIED.
Medium: Digital (wacom) head painting with hand painted toned background using layers and basic
Photoshop brushes. You will scan final hand drawing then digital paint with ‘form‘.
Format: 12” X 9” inches image size Digital print must have 2” white border.
Subject: A portrait: conventional or non-conventional....? Think of redefining the term
“portrait”
CELEBRITY LIKENESS/ A lot of editorial work involve celebrity portraiture. Magazines like
Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, Premiere, Time, and many others use a multitude of
portraiture. The visual quality of the portraiture is both realistic and stylized in many
different ways. Pick any celebrity you like, as long as they are well known, and do a piece on
them. Some concept is needed too. Browse through some current magazines and illustrate a review
of someone’s movie or cd, or an article on some politician or other celebrity and some project
that they may be involved in. Mock up your illustration as if it were actually used to accompany
whatever article you find, including type.
CLASSIFIED/ Look through a paper and find the classified or dating section. Read an individuals
description his/ hers likes, dislikes, and appearance description. Brainstorm what you think this
person’s personality, job real age or what he/ she really looks like dresses like etc. Think
about the way they wrote about them themselves is it upbeat or serious...what is the tempo of the
writing etc. Base you “portrait” on this information. This is a great outlet for a series or a
comment on contemporary culture they can be funny or serious.
HERO/ HEROIN/ a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a
heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal: He was a local hero when he saved the drowning
child.
a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities
the principal male character in a story, play, film, etc.
OBITCHUARRY/ read the obituary section and create a piece of art that illustrates the major
qualities of the deceased.
Objective: Illustration like any art is meaningful when it communicates the thoughts and feelings
of the artist. This portrait must communicate something about the person. Other images and
backgrounds can be included. The portrait can be realistic, stylized, idealized, exaggerated,
surreal, real etc. This should not be a copy of a photograph, though photographs will be used to
provide visual information. Let the content and communication direct the image or object.
Illustrators and artists to look at: Burke, Kerry James Marshall, Botero, Odd Nerdrum, Jason
Holley, Jeffrey Smith, Anita Kunz, Olaf Hajek, Jody Hewgill, Rob Day, Tim O’Brien, Rembrandt,
Vermeer, Alex Gross, Mark Ulriksen, Daniel Adel, Mark Ryden, Lucien Freud, Hockney, Elizabeth
Peyton, etc...
Procedure:
Write down and brainstorm everything you can think of about that person and what you want to
communicate about the person. What do you think and how do you feel about this person? Consider
the personality, psychology, persona, cultural relevance, and inner qualities of this person
along with all the obvious qualities. Metaphorical elements or even non direct portraiture can be
the best way to approach the project. Find or take reference of the person if needed. Consider
pose and lighting time the reference was taken etc.
2) “The Other Reality” (Landscape / Matte Painting)
Medium: Digital / Hand (wacom tablet) landscape painting with hand painted toned background using
4 layers and two Photoshop brushes. This is great for matte painting and concept art renderings
Format: Digital Widescreen Aspect Ratio
Subject: Environment
3) Assignment Sheet Will Be Given Out In Class At The Start Of The Project, (Introduction to Live
Trace, Live Paint, Advanced Compositing Techniques)
Medium: Digital
Format: open must have 101 elements
Subject: Conceptual
Objective: This assignment develops conceptual problem-solving skills and the use of visual
images to communicate ideas and develop your personal voice.
Research: I will give and show professional examples in class, please write down names and
sources as given.
4) “UNCHARTED” (Introduction to Photoshop and Illustrators 3D Tools) Assignment Sheet Will Be
Given Out In Class At The Start Of The Project
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FINALS WEEK
Class Introduction, Slide Show Lecture, Image Sequence Project.
Assignment 1 given* / Slide Show Lecture / Digital painting demo.
work on ball and in class exercise. Exercise due before the next class.
comps due for project 1 - GROUP CRITIQUE.
No class due to holiday.
In class work on project 1.
In class work on project 1.
In class work on project 1.
PROJECT 1 FINAL DUE - GROUP CRITIQUE.
*Project 2 given/ Matte Painting Demo / DreamWorks Video Demo.
beach / desert / exercise due at end of class.
In class work on project 2.
In class work on project 2.
In class work on project 2.
PROJECT 2 FINAL DUE - GROUP CRITIQUE -*project 3 given.
live trace / live paint / advanced compositing / demo.
comps due for project 3 - SMALL GROUP CRITIQUE.
refined sketch due for project 3 / 1 on 1 reviews / in class work.
In class work on project 3.
In class work on project 3.
In class work on project 3.
Project 3 Due (GROUP CRITIQUE).
Give out project 4* / 3d Tools demo.
No Class due to holiday.
In class work on project 4 comps.
comps due for Project 4 - CRITIQUE.
In class work on project 4 / Image Sequence Projects .
In class work on project 4 / Image Sequence Projects .
In class work on project 4 / Image Sequence Projects .
In class work on project 4 / Image Sequence Projects .
FINAL PROJECT DUE GROUP CRITIQUE.
IMAGE SEQUENCE PROJECTS DUE Critique.
*All project revisions and extra credit projects are due at the end finals week 12/16/15, please
upload to the class drop box account.
Extra credit project: create a series of animated gifs.
All sketches for critique and final projects will be deposited in the class’s dropbox account
into the student folder with your name. Please make sure and deposit the work before class
critique begins. Thank You.
Lecture slide shows and project notes will be available for viewing from the drop box as well.
Your school provided Lynda account will be utilized for assigning project related demos.
www.lynda.com
Another beneficial advanced resource is a the library of gnomon workshop dvd videos.
http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/
DropBox Login info:
www.dropbox.com
user: info@eriksandberg.net
pass: accd1488!