Intro to Digital Arts

With your computer screen as your canvas and your mouse as your paintbrush, you too can create digital art.

In this creative and fun 3-lesson course, you'll explore the tools and technology used to create digital art today. You'll get familiar with key concepts in bitmap and vector art, learning how leading artists develop creative approaches to Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and digital photography. Case studies from the art and design world will inspire you by showing you some of the limitless avenues you can take in this field.

This class is geared to the aspiring digital artist who is just starting out. While Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator are requirements for this class, prior experience in these programs is not essential. Class assignments give step-by-step approaches so you can create your very first digital art pieces right away.

Course Instructor:
Andrew Shalat is an author, designer/illustrator, educator, and Mac expert ... get bio

Course Developers:
Michael Hamm is a freelance designer, Web developer, and creator of Points&Paths.com, a Web site devoted to all things vector ... get bio

Matt Kloskowski is a writer, instructor, illustrator, and graphic designer based in Tampa, Florida ... get bio

Develop a knowledge of fundamental concepts in bitmap and vector art.

Identify and discuss digital art applications for Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.

Follow basic routines for correcting bitmap images, applying effects, adding text, and saving files for the Web in Photoshop.

Follow basic routines for making selections, and adding fills, strokes, and color, and saving files for the Web in Illustrator.

Follow basic routines for adding black and white and filter effects to digital photographs in Photoshop.

Create a set of digital art pieces through exploration and experimentation.

Develop a short essay expressing their personal views on creativity and inspiration.

Outline:

LESSON 1 Bitmap Graphics and Photoshop It all begins with a simple pixel. In your first lesson, Photoshop expert Matt Kloskowski introduces you to bitmap graphics—artwork created with tons of little dots (called pixels), like photographs and digital paintings. You'll look at case studies of high-end bitmap art, key Photoshop features, and how to deal with file resolution. Also explored is the digital art studio and the tools you'll need to unleash your ideas on screen. In the exercise, you'll get hands on with a variety of Photoshop files, learning how bitmap art is made and trying out some creative tools and tricks.

LESSON 2 Vector Graphics and Illustrator Illustrator guru Michael Hamm brings you a close-up look at vector graphics and how they are created in Illustrator. You'll learn the many benefits of working with vector art and the situations where it's the ideal format. Case studies of top vector artists are explored along with a look at how and why they work in this medium. You'll also learn some of the technology behind vector art, experimenting with basic tools in the exercise. After trying out Illustrator features on a given piece of artwork, you're off to create your own vector-based landscape.

LESSON 3 Photography and Creativity Photography is another key component of digital art. In this lesson Matt will teach you some digital photography fundamentals, exploring the benefits of shooting digitally and some more avenues for creativity in Photoshop. Then Michael's back with a look at the sources of creativity and personal style. You'll wrap up the course by applying some cool effects to photography in Photoshop and writing an essay on the nature of creativity.