Digital Art Courses

  • Students will explore various programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Pagemaker, Bryce, Poser, Lightwave, and Microsoft Powerpoint. Students will create their own images from sketched ideas, legally shared clip art pages or digital images taken with a digital camera. The curriculum includes the process of creating fine art images and creating and keeping records while working on commercial advertising art images. The emphasis is on originality, use of space, and elements and principles of art.

    Students will be encouraged to write about art criticism and the effects computers have on society.

     
     

     

     

    Graphic Design & Illustration 
     
    (9 weeks, .5 credit)
     

    This course is intended to introduce the student to the use of the computer as a drawing and two dimensional design tool. Students will learn how to manipulate drawing tools and options in Adobe Illustrator while working with specific design and illustration problems. Assignments will focus on the development of computer graphics skills necessary for success in the fields of advertising, animation, graphic design, illustration, and industrial design. Students taking this course must demonstrate competency in freehand drawing. This course meets in a 83 minute block for 9 weeks and is worth 0.5 credits and offers Computer Applications credit toward graduation. 

     
    Digital Imaging 1
     
    (9 weeks, .5 credit)
     

    This course is designed to introduce the student to the use of the computer as a tool in the manipulation of photographic images. The student will learn how to create digital images using Adobe Photoshop to acquire, compose, alter, manipulate, and format images for commercial art, fine art, and everyday use.

    Additionally, students will learn how to use scanned images and digital cameras. Assignments will focus on the development of computer graphics skills necessary for success in the fields of graphic design and digital imaging through a series of specific visual design problems. This course meets in a 83 minute block for 9 weeks and is worth 0.5 credits.
     
     
    Digital Imaging 2 

    (9 weeks, .5 credit)

    This course is designed to build on the foundations of creating digital art from the prerequisite course Digital Imaging 1. This course will expand student learning through more advanced techniques, projects, and tools using Adobe Photoshop and other Adobe Creative Cloud programs. Students will learn advanced editing of digital images, digital painting, and work on higher level Graphic/Commercial Design projects. As the culminating activity, students will work on a mastery project of their choosing through preapproved options or an independent proposal. Assignments will focus on the development of higher-level computer graphics skills that can be used in the fields of graphic design, web design, video game design, social media, digital photography, and multimedia through a series of specific visual design problems.  Digital Imaging 2 will be a 9-week course which meets one block daily for .5 credit.  Potentially, it may also become an A/B Day course. Prerequisite: Digital Imaging 1, grade C or better.

     
    3-D Modeling and Animation
     
    (9 weeks, .5 credit)
     

    This course is designed to teach students the basics of three-dimensional modeling and animation with the computer. Techniques will be explored through sequential assignments. Students will learn how to construct three-dimensional objects and manipulate lighting, atmospheric effects, textures, and camera angles. Using principles of two-dimensional animation students will learn how to set their objects into motion.

    Storyboarding, sketchbook assignments and drawing from direct observation will be used to develop work. Byrce and Poser are the primary software for this course, with integrations of Photoshop and Illustrator for special effects.