Prior Learning Assessment
AOS in Illustration
The Sessions College Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) program enables prospective students to have their skills or work experience evaluated for course credit.
This page lists AOS in Illustration program courses that are eligible for prior learning assessment. Review course information on this page to identify course(s) and subject areas for which you can demonstrate equivalent knowledge and skills. Applicants must provide work samples that show that they meet or exceed at least 80% of the course outcomes.
Typography is what sets designers apart from other artists. In visual communication, typography must be integrated (every last loop, bowl, and descender) into a total design. In this online basic typography course, you'll explore the anatomy of the letterform. Working with a design pro, you'll learn how to classify typefaces and use them creatively. Understanding the fundamentals of typography will give your work power, eloquence, and beauty.
Color is an essential tool for any designer. Though each color has its own specific hue and value, the expression and perception of color changes in different contexts. In this online color theory course, you'll learn how to work with color, discovering how to develop color schemes for your design projects. The course will range from fundamental color concepts and terminology to the practical application of color in typography and using color effectively on-screen.
Many people are afraid to draw, but the truth is that drawing is not as hard as it seems. If you can relax, get your mind around the task, and begin to understand what you see, you can draw. In this online drawing course, you'll learn how to analyze what you see in the world around you and communicate it on paper. Guided by a professional artist, you will explore the critical concepts of line, mass, form, perspective, value, and composition, building a solid foundation for all your art and design work.
Adobe Photoshop is the premiere image manipulation tool for print design, Web design, and photography. You can learn to tame this creative powerhouse of a program in this online Photoshop course. Working with a design pro, you’ll learn the best techniques for common Photoshop jobs including selecting and isolating objects, creating image composites, masking and vignetting images, setting typography, and improving images with retouching and effects.
Adobe Illustrator is a powerful and versatile tool for creating illustrations, logos, and graphics for print and the web. You can learn to produce detailed and scalable art in this online Illustrator course. Working with an expert instructor, you'll build a strong foundation, exploring shape tools, drawing tools, layers, the Pen tool (a lesson unto itself) as well as transformations/distortions, type tools, and modifying paths and shapes. Hands-on illustration projects include creating a robot, a series of album covers, a marketing postcard, an advertisement vehicle wrap, and a company logo.
Life drawing is a fundamental artistic challenge. Capturing the human figure in all its infinite, intricate variations requires both a mastery of technique and a thorough understanding of the body. In this online life drawing course, you'll make your figure drawings come to life with guidance with feedback from an expert instructor. Following traditional methods, you'll learn the standard measures and proportions artists use to achieve naturalistic and expressive figure drawings. The course builds progressively from the fundamentals to the challenges of portraiture, three-dimensional form, composition, and expression.
You can learn to observe the world around you and draw it. In this intermediate drawing course for illustration majors, you will build on your foundation drawing skills through a wide ranging series of classical studies. You will explore the application of concepts like value, additive and subtractive mixing, and depth of field, learning how to handle different mediums like graphite, charcoal, and pastel, and tackle challenges like textures, highlights, and reflections. With an emphasis on the mixing, blending and combining color, the course will prepare you for your next level painting and drawing projects.
For centuries, artists have used paint to represent the physical world. Now you too can learn how to paint online. In this online painting course, you'll learn a traditional approach to oil painting or acrylic painting. Working with a professional artist, you'll study a time-honored approach to painting that enables you to capture proportion, perspective, and lighting in the world around you. You'll learn how to build a foundation with preparatory sketches and underpainting, find out how to mix your paints correctly, and gain control over value through monochromatic painting and color studies.
Writing is an essential skill in almost any professional career you can name. In this online english composition course, students learn to become better readers and writers. Your goal is to produce clearer, more active sentences, better structured paragraphs, and more coherent and interesting personal and analytical essays. Throughout the semester, class discussions will use the critique of images and videos on art as a stimulus for writing. Students will develop two polished essays that will be presented for peer critique.
To succeed in today's digital workplace, it's imperative to understand how computers work. In this online computer technology course, you'll gain a foundation in modern computer systems. The course provides a foundation in the computer concepts that every working professional should know. Lectures explore the history and technical evolution of computing, with a focus on the development of hardware, software, and the Internet have developed. Course assignments challenge students to master concepts and relate their studies to relevant professional scenarios, including data representation, programming, and social issues in computing.
What essentials do artists and designers just need to know? In this online art history course, you'll build a foundation in art and the artists who created it. You'll explore profound themes that have concerned artists for centuries: nature, the human body, society, religion, and politics. Through engaging lectures and projects, you'll learn how to identify the mediums, materials, and techniques artists use and discuss the styles of important artists, art movements, and historical periods from antiquity through the mid-20th century.
An understanding of human psychology is essential for any designer. In this online psychology course, you'll build a foundation in theories of the mind. The course focuses on the biological and environmental bases for human behavior, including motivation, emotions, states of consciousness, learning, and personality. Students examine classic theories and theorists in psychology and complete research- and reflection-based projects.
The course provides essential preparation for finding employment opportunities in your creative industry. You will learn how to define a personal career path, break down the job market, and define their goals, talents, and ideal job. This course explores different ways to brand yourself as a professional creative, discussing tips for resume and portfolio preparation, self-promotion, marketing, client searches, responding to leads, interviewing, and presenting work and/or campaigns.
Every digital content creator must grasp the basics of persuasive copywriting. In this online copywriting course, students will study how text and images interact in effective ad campaigns, learning how to write and edit ad copy for print and digital advertising media and turn written ideas into visual expression. Working with a professional writer and editor, you'll hone your copywriting skills on realistic projects.