Online Digital Arts Certificate

In the Sessions College Professional Certificate in Digital Arts program, students develop a foundation in the technical and creative skills for digital art and illustration. Students explore the intricacies of Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, building their understanding of color and composition through projects in traditional drawing and vector illustration.

Designed for the busy adult learner, the Professional Certificate in Digital Arts is a 360 clock hour program completed in nine months studying part time.

By completing the program, Professional Certificate in Digital Arts students develop the following competencies:

1. Drawing. Draw and paint utilizing traditional media and classic techniques, demonstrating a command of proportion, perspective, value contrast, and the human figure.
2. Software. Create high quality images and graphics utilizing software including Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.
3. Illustration. Conceptualize and create illustrations for a range of commercial applications in traditional or digital media.
4. Design. Create polished, professional artwork demonstrating knowledge of color and composition.

4218 Photoshop Basics

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.

4017 Color Theory

Focus on developing appropriate color systems for graphic design projects. Projects explore the principles, terminology, and applications of color theory, with an emphasis on manipulating color. A working knowledge of the expression and perception of color, and color interaction, lends credibility and sophistication to a designer’s work.

4226 Illustrator Basics

Build a working knowledge of Adobe Illustrator, the graphic designer’s vector program of choice. Course projects explore selection tools, drawing tools, layers, the Pen tool, transformations/distortions, type tools, and modifying paths and shapes. Tapping the power of vector software allows you to produce detailed and scalable art for almost any application.

4018 Intro To Drawing

Learn how to draw with proper techniques, learning how to represent what they see through studies in contour drawing, perspective, positive/negative space, and value. As you progress through this class, you will develop a better understanding of the forms you are observing and become more skillful in representing those forms.

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4220 Digital Illustration Basics

Learn how an illustrator approaches perspective, lighting, storytelling, and expression and how basic shapes, symbols, gradients, fill colors, Bezier curves, and text can be combined to create artwork in Illustrator. Creative class projects include still life illustrations, editorial art/brand logos, and character illustrations.

4227 Illustrator Advanced

Create photo-realistic illustrations, complex patterns, rich designs and learn how to speed your efforts with helpful workflow features. You'll build on your existing Illustrator skills to tackle high-end projects with depth, dimension, and wow-power.

4501 Drawing I

Learn how to analyze what you see in the world around you and communicate it on paper. Through hands-on projects, and 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.

4222 Digital Illustration Advanced

Learn advanced illustration and Adobe Illustrator techniques for communicating your creative concepts. This course explores how a professional illustrator approaches creating editorial illustrations, icons, retro poster designs, illustrations with depth, and identity designs. Open-ended projects will help you develop portfolio-quality illustrations, and peer discussions and critiques will provide valuable interaction opportunities.