Society of Illustrators: An organization that promotes and showcases illustration and illustrators.
Scientific Illustrators:
Teacher: Miles Cook
milesc@school-one.org
ILLUSTRATION SYLLABUS
This class teaches basic Illustration concepts, focusing on skills and concepts of comics, cartooning and visual storytelling, as well as classical illustration. Students will learn about the world of commercial art through assignments focusing on specific fields of the illustration landscape. A variety of basic skills and processes such as thumbnailing, storyboarding, character design, story structure, penciling, inking, digital-painting, and basic web self-publishing will be covered through in-class and at-home assignments. Students will be required to keep a sketchbook for developing ideas and completing homework assignments and will study examples from all over the world. This class aims to start students on the path towards being able to tell their own stories, and those of others, in a visual medium.
Some ground rules and principles:
-You must document your progress on your work and upload photos to your google drive folder every week, as well as uploading your finished work, to earn credit.
-Most work will be done primarily in class, and continued at home, rather than having separate homework assignments.
-Classwork or homework assignments more than one class period late past their due date will incur an extra penalty assignment, as well as notification of your advisor. The extra work could be a short essay, a drawing, a short comic... the scale of the work will depend on what the assignment is and how late it is. You must complete the late assignment on top of this extra work. Don’t miss deadlines!
-Always challenge your definition of “finished.” When is something finished? Does it need more work to be a truly complete image or could you have achieved the same or better effect with less work? Are you saying it’s finished because it actually is finished or because you just don’t want to work on it anymore? Finding this balance is a key part of developing an art style.
-Always be open-minded and try out new subject matter, materials, and methods. Experimentation is an important part of finding your artistic voice.
-Try working in krita, medibang, procreate, or other digital art programs! Photo-collage, digital painting, digital linework, coloring your inked drawings, etc. Digital art is generally enhanced by a strong traditional background, but it’s never too soon to start when it comes to digital.
-Respect each other, the classroom, your materials and me. Lack of respect will lead to discipline.
-Always clean up after yourself at the end of class.
MATERIALS YOU MAY NEED
For some assignments, we will be using specific materials. But for the rest where materials and methods are up to you, here are some suggestions:
-Drawing tools: pencils, pens for inking, erasers, the usual stuff.
-Rulers (the school may include these in your kits, but you can bring your own if you want. Metal w/ cardboard backing is best.)
-Sketchbook for homework assignments, thumbnails, and planning work for assignments
-If you have a wacom or similar tablet for drawing in digital art programs, or an ipad to use with apps like procreate, I encourage you to use that. If you’re working at the school we have 6 tablets already that may be available.
-You can bring in any materials you may want to use, such as collage materials or watercolor (but be careful not to make a mess if you’re at the school).
Mac Lab Rules
-No food or drink is allowed near the computers. Drinks may be had at the tables as long as the cap/lid is kept on when not actively drinking.
-Do not use the lab computers or your own devices for anything other than classwork and related activities. No games or social media, and no youtube unless it is relevant research to assignments.
-You may listen to music, but always use headphones, and keep your speakers muted when headphones are not in use. Do not disrupt the class with sound from your devices.
-If you need to install an app or driver on the lab computers that is not already installed, ask me for help (this requires admin privileges).
-Always clean up your workspace at the end of class.
-Save your work frequently when using apps that do not autosave.
-Always log out of any personal accounts you may have used, at the end of class.
-Do not delete or modify other peoples’ files, profiles, accounts, or other data in any way.
-Keep your local files organized in a folder with your name on it. Do not clutter up the desktop with random stuff.
-Plug in the mouse or keyboard if they need charging.
-If using Wacom or XP-Pen tablets, always make sure the pen/stylus is returned to a safe spot alongside its respective tablet when you are done with it.