MART 325:
Digital Painting Syllabus (get .pdf )

Course Description

Using the industry-standard for digital painting, Adobe Photoshop, and graphics tablets, students use digital tools for the artistic expression of the concepts and techniques of traditional drawing and painting. May be repeated twice for credit.

This is a hands-on class. Understanding file management and basic computer applications is important since there will be no time scheduled for introductory lessons. This class will be taught through lectures, demonstrations, and feedback sessions/critiques.

We will explore the capabilities of Adobe Photoshop with assignments focusing on drawing, coloring, and painting skills. Topics we will cover include:

• The Photoshop user interface, particularly regarding the use of digital brushes
• Color Theory
• Using Photoshop’s Brushes for pen and ink drawing, coloring line drawings, color pencil drawing, color brush work, and photo-realistic painting
• Drawing with a graphics tablet
• Some other tools, such as Procreate, will be covered, but the main focus in on Photoshop

Student Learning Objective (SLOs)

Upon successful completion of this course, a student will be able to:

1. Define the aesthetic characteristics associated with digital painting.
2. Describe the difference between RGB and CYMYK color space and how they apply to digital painting and printing preparation.
3. Understand and perform the steps necessary to prepare digital files for print output.

Administration

Grade Scales

Grading Components

Rules

• All work for assignments must be original. Don't copy existing artwork. You can trace images that are not your own as reference, but final artwork has to be original. Also, don't use the clip-art or images you didn't make yourself.
• All assignments are due at the beginning of class
• Late assignments are lowered by one full grade
• Assignments will not be accepted for grading at all after the beginning of the next class session after it's due
• Attendance at the final is required
• Plagiarized work will be immediately failed
• Creativity and neatness count!

Misc.

• There are locations on campus for email and surfing the web. Don’t do these things during lectures/demonstrations/critiques.
• Please consult your class schedule for any drop class information and CR/NC grading policies as this is the responsibility of the student.
• Sometimes student works will be used by Cañada College for educational purposes and to promote the program or college or in galleries or shows or other forums. It is important to always include your name in your file so proper attribution can be given. Unnamed or improperly named files may be attributed to ‘Anonymous’. To ‘opt out’, submit a request in writing at the any time during the semester.

Important Dates

Check the Cañada College web site for important dates.

Guidelines For A High Grade (B+ Or Higher)

• Attend all classes and avoid being late or leaving early
• Participate in critiques and volunteer constructive criticism to other student's work
• Do your reading and research for your projects and explore more than one solution
• Successfully incorporate skills and disciplines acquired from earlier projects into future projects
• Neatness counts! Turn in clean, well presented work (well-named layers, etc.)
• Be resourceful, be creative and when in doubt, ask

Materials

Required Materials

Removable storage (USB Jump Drives: 512MB at least) or access to Cloud Storage for storing your assignments and backing them up. Lost files are not an acceptable excuse – back up your work!

Recommended Materials

6 Month License for the Adobe Cloud from CollegeBuys.org for $39.95