Course Descriptions

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Graphic Design I

Develop a professional approach to graphic design projects

Graphic designers today must be ready to tackle a wide range of projects from identity design to editorial design to product and packaging design. In this online graphic design course, you'll establish a firm foundation for professional design work. Gain insights from industry veterans and explore the challenges of designing posters, logos, magazine covers, book layouts, 3D designs, and brand identities. Hone your design process, as you research each project, develop concepts, work with expert instructor feedback, and begin to develop pieces for your portfolio.

History of Art

Learn about art in its social and historical context

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.

History of Photography

Explore the evolution of photography in your work

When photography was "invented" in 1839, the scientific breakthrough brought forth a new way of seeing. In this online photography history course, we'll trace the development of photography from its pioneering days in the 19th century to the experimental movements of today. We'll discuss major innovations and photographers in each period, and really put into practice what we're learning. Each exercise will require you to take photos that emulate historical styles, genres, or techniques.

HTML and CSS I

Create standards compliant Web sites using HTML and CSS

In order to build a Web site today, you need to know how to code using HTML and CSS. In this online HTML/CSS course, you'll learn just how fun and creative hand coding and designing Web sites can be. Working with a professional Web designer, you'll discover how to create Web pages with HTML and control page design and layout with CSS and get up to speed with current Web design practices including HTML5, semantic coding, CSS Grid, Flexbox, Web fonts, and CSS3 effects. The course will also provide an introduction to techniques used to test website accessibility.

ILL 111: Life Drawing I

Develop figure drawing skills

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 121: Drawing II

Master the medium as you take your drawing to the next level

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.

ILL 142: Illustrator II

Round out your Illustrator skills in challenging projects

Adobe Illustrator puts any conceivable vector art objective at your fingertips. But most digital designers only scratch the surface of Illustrator. To make a splash, one must delve deeper. In this advanced online Illustrator course, you'll create photo-realistic illustrations, complex patterns, rich designs, and learn how to accelerate your efforts with helpful workflow features. Working with an expert instructor, build on your existing Illustrator skills and tackle high-end projects with depth, dimension, and wow-power.

ILL 202: Digital Illustration II

Apply your Illustrator skills to diverse projects.

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 204: Painting I

Paint the world with traditional techniques

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 207: Portrait Painting

Learn to capture the human form in a portrait

Portraiture has a rich history. In this online portrait painting course, you can learn time-honored techniques for portrait painting in oil. Working with an experienced painter, you'll utilize your knowledge of anatomy, learning how to construct a painting from drawing to underpainting to final work. Along the way you'll learn essentials for lights and darks, flesh tones, and laying on color. Helpful critiques on your drawings and paintings will help you improve your techniques and build your style.

ILL 208: Watercolor

Learn techniques for a vibrant painting medium

Watercolor has a rich tradition dating back centuries, and is still enjoyed by today's artists for its unique color effects and wide range of techniques. In this intensive online watercolor course, you'll explore traditional techniques including various washes, glazes, scumbles, resists, and more, getting feedback from a professional artist to help you hone your skills and perfect each project. The class involves creating a series of complete watercolor paintings.

ILL 209: Commercial Illustration

Explore exciting projects for professional illustrators

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.

ILL 301: Drawing and Visualization

Explore the ability to draw from the imagination

Now it’s time to “dig deeper” and enhance your illustration skills and creative voice by exploring advanced illustration concepts including a focus on visualization, dramatic, reflective, and atmospheric lighting, convincingly and creatively representing objects and/or the human figure in space, and develop environments in linear perspective. Building upon your technical and conceptual skills you will also delve into developing imagery based upon your own imagination.

ILL 302: Visual Storytelling and Storyboarding

Create polished storyboards expressing your narrative ideas

Professional illustrators are frequently hired to create visual narratives and storyboards for a variety of media and purposes such as publications, books, sequential art, ad campaigns, exhibitions, and film/television. This course provides you with the opportunity to advance your storytelling ability and produce well-conceived and compelling visual stories and high-quality storyboards for a variety of applications.

ILL 304: Special Topics

Work one-on-one with your instructor on a personal portfolio project

Students will enhance their ability to produce compelling illustrations and artwork in alignment with their professional and creative goals. In collaboration with the instructor, students will select or “spec out” and complete multi-faceted projects that support their portfolio goals. The course instructor will serve as the client, and class grades will be based not only on the quality of work but also on the ability to research a concept, meet deadlines, synthesize drawing and artistic principles, and effectively present professional level work.

ILL 322: Figures and Environments

Explore the portrayal of characters in context

Students will focus on advancing their ability to convincingly represent the human figure and characters in space, within multiple environments while considering historical context. Concepts to be addressed include anatomy, gravity, weight, movement, light, color, and the history of representing the figure. Additionally, students will explore architecture, structural elements, and scale with an emphasis upon developing compelling and vivid environments.

ILL 333: Mixed Media Exploration

Explore creative art making methods and mediums

Time to get messy and have some art-making fun! In this course, you will explore, experiment, and expand your ability to conceptualize and develop compelling and innovative images through the use of technology, digital compositing, traditional drawing and/or painting techniques, mixed media, collage, and/or other art-making strategies. You will stretch your creative skills, discovering new avenues for your art and illustration, inspired by the concepts and strategies used by great artists past and present.

ILL 360: Project Planning and Creative Workflow

Expand your workflow for creative illustration projects

What kind of illustrator do you aspire to be? In collaboration with your faculty mentor you will review and analyze your current portfolio, research industry trends, identify the type of work you want to create during the remainder of your program of study that could be for commercial use or fine art imagery, and enhance your creative workflow while producing new portfolio pieces. This multi-faceted course has been developed to provide a path for your academic and professional success.

ILL 404: Senior Project

Produce a body of work with a unified and well-researched concept and theme.

Follow your creative passion by conceiving, producing, and promoting an innovative collection of images in alignment with your artistic and professional goals. This is your opportunity to focus on creating a unique cohesive series of images informed by research as well as instructor and peer feedback. During this course you will advance your ability to produce, promote, and present your unique artistic work. At the conclusion of the course, you will exhibit your creative work through a website, social media, self-published book, exhibition, or other physical or virtual venue, as well as share it with your instructor and your peers.

ILL 412: Global View of Illustration

Create internationally inspired projects infused with cultural research

Contemporary illustrators and fine artists must be prepared to produce work that appeals to a global audience. You will research illustrators and creative image makers who produce international work. Based upon your findings, you will develop and produce multi-faceted illustration projects focused on gaining the attention of an international audience. By considering cultural differences, you will develop the cultural sensitivity required to be a global creative and the skills to effectively research compelling and contemporary imagery for domestic and international audiences.