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Undergraduate Certificate Programs
Pursue an Undergraduate Certificate in Illustration
This is a 24 credit Sessions College Undergraduate Certificate program. Credit can be applied towards earning your Associate or Bachelor’s Degree.
Application Deadline: December 2
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About this Program
Unleash Your Artistic Talent
Are you considering a career or creative outlet in illustration? In today's digital communications environment, visual storytellers need to bridge the gap between physical and digital media.
At Sessions College, the 24-credit Undergraduate Certificate in Illustration program provides a thorough foundation in traditional and digital illustration. Whether your goal is breaking through as an illustrator or upgrading your visual communication skills, this 100% online program teaches you fundamental techniques in still life and figure drawing, color and composition, vector graphics, and more.
This program is for artists and designers looking to produce creative artwork or graphics for today's digital media environment. Take this program to update your portfolio and level up your skills in today’s software tools Photoshop and Illustrator.
Application Deadline. Enroll by December 2 to enter January 6, 2025 classes.
Program Length: 8 months
Credits: 24 credits
Tuition: $300 per credit
Next Class:
January 6, 2025
App Deadline:
December 2
“Our students focus on advancing their artistic aesthetic, technical and conceptual skills, expanding their view of visual languages and storytelling, and examining the history and global impact of illustration and image-making.”
Jordon Schranz
Department Head of Illustration, Drawing and Painting Instructor
Program Curriculum
The Undergraduate Certificate in Illustration is a 24-credit online program completed in two semesters. Part-time schedules are available.
First Semester
DES 121: Photoshop I - 3 Credits
Get a thorough grounding in Adobe Photoshop, the premiere image manipulation tool for print design, Web design, and photography. You’ll learn to choose and use 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. Every designer must tame this creative powerhouse of a program.
DES 106: Design Foundations - 3 Credits
Color is a fundamental medium for any artist or designer. Typography is what sets designers apart from other artists. Composition, literally the assembly or construction of elements, is the artful arrangement that guides the viewer’s eye through an image. In this course, you will analyze everything from Grand Masters to Madison Avenue ads to tubes of toothpaste, and discover how color, type, and composition are combined to create effective and powerful visual communications. Class projects challenge you to build and apply your design skills in application to real-life creative scenarios.
DES 111: Drawing I - 3 Credits
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.
DES 141: Illustrator I - 3 Credits
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.
Second Semester
ILL 202: Digital Illustration II - 3 Credits
Digital illustration is a challenging and expressive area of graphic design. With Adobe Illustrator, you can develop your unique personal style as an artist. In this online advanced digital illustration course, you’ll learn professional illustration and Adobe Illustrator techniques for communicating your creative concepts. Working with a pro illustrator and designer, you’ll learn approaches for creating editorial illustrations, icons, retro poster designs, 3D illustrations, and restaurant identity designs.
ILL 111: Life Drawing II - 3 Credits
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.
ILL 204: Painting I - 3 Credits
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.
ILL 209: Commercial Illustration - 3 Credits
Explore business applications for your illustration work, from editorial and commercial to advertising and marketing. In this online commercial illustration course, you will explore different genres of project work, learning how contracts and copyright work and how to represent yourself professionally and effectively.
Program Outcomes
By completing the program, Undergraduate Certificate in Illustration students develop the following competencies:
Drawing
Draw and paint utilizing traditional media and classic techniques, demonstrating a command of proportion, perspective, value contrast, and the human figure.
Technology
Create images and graphics by effectively and efficiently using creative software including Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and other industry technologies.
Illustration
Conceptualize, create and provide illustrations for a range of commercial applications in traditional or digital media
Art & Design Principles
Produce visually compelling work by employing art and design principles including the use of color, pattern, details, typography, and composition.
Projects
Produce and present a variety of illustration projects.
About Sessions College
Sessions College has been inspiring creative professionals for 25 years. Accredited since 2001, we have a unique and proven approach to online education.
Accredited by Distance Education Accrediting Commission since 2001
Recognized as top design school by GDUSA
Winner of four USDLA awards for distance education
A Better Way to Learn
- Fully Online and Asynchronous. Our programs are fully online and asynchronous, allowing you to fit learning into your life. We provide weekly deadlines to keep you on track, but there are no mandatory login times and our learning platform is available 24 hours a day.
- Project-Based Learning. Our curriculum is designed to be highly interactive and project-based from the ground up to improve learning outcomes and keep you engaged.
- Feedback from Creative Pros. Our program is taught by industry experts who provide 1:1 feedback on all of your work.
Designed for Career Success
This program will help you prepare and advance your career as an illustrator or digital artist.
Learn from experienced professionals
Complete a wide range of relevant projects
Develop skills for an exciting career
Graduates could be employed as an Editorial Illustrator, Children’s Book Illustrator, Concept Artist for Games and Animation, Technical and Medical Illustrator, Product Design and Licensing, Freelance Illustrator, Production Artist, Graphic Designer, Concept Artist, and User Experience (UX) Designer.
Median annual salaries in top industries
In May 2023, the median annual wage for craft and fine artists including illustrators was $52,910. The top median annual wages by industry was:
| Federal government, excluding postal service | $105,640* |
| Motion picture and sound recording industries | $95,970* |
| Personal care services | $49,170* |
| Independent artists, writers, and performers | $45,970* |
*As of May 2023, according to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Truly Accessible and Affordable Education
Our Undergraduate Certificate admissions process only requires a high school diploma (or equivalent) and a conversation with an admissions advisor to ensure you are set up for success in our program.
Our truly affordable tuition is:
$7,200 per academic year (24 credits) - $3,600 per semester*.
Significantly more affordable than other online design or digital media colleges.
So affordable that 100% of tuition costs may be covered for eligible students.* Find out today if you qualify.
* Federal student aid and military education benefits available for eligible students.
What Students Gained from Our Illustration Programs
I was always interested in pursuing an art degree or some sort of certification because I felt like I needed guidance and something official in order to enhance my art journey. Years later after being interested and ready to find some alternatives I came across the Sessions Undergraduate Certificate in Illustration. I felt that this was an opportunity to change my life for the better.
My goals are to use what I have learned at Sessions College and apply it to my personal business as a digital illustrator. I have already gotten a few clients throughout the school semester and I am currently in the process of working on a book deal with a self-published author as an illustrator.
I truly enjoyed studying online. I am an independent learner and I like going at my own pace. I loved having the freedom and flexibility to work on my studies when it best fit my schedule.
Advance your career with our 100% online design and digital media programs today!
Sessions College
Main Office
404 S. Mill Avenue, Suite 201
Tempe, AZ 85281
Contact Us
800-258-4115 (US)
480-212-1704
admissions@sessions.edu