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Course Description
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Please scroll down or click on the specific section you are interested in reading.
Overview
Student Comments
Who The Course Is For
Course Structure
Digital Versus Traditional Paint
On-line versus In-Person Learning
How to Register
My on-line digital art class, a ten week cross-platform course, teaches students:
1) how to master the incredible digital paint tools in MetaCreations Painter 5.0 or 5.5; and
2) how to apply those tools to creating expressive portraits from the live model.
This course is a journey in which students explore and develop a rich vocabulary of visual expression in an exciting new medium with unlimited possibilities. The focus is creativity, not software. Students are launched onto a journey in creative expression. This course should be a stimulus and catalyst to continued exploration and further creative adventures. No prior experience with drawing, with using the tablet, or with using Painter, is necessary.
This course is not intended to be a comprehensive training in the use of Painter. Students will gain skills in applying Painter brushes. The course does not involve photo-manipulation and special effects. The bitmap layers in Painter (image floaters) are not used in this course. The only layers that are covered are the Wet Layer (Water Color brushes) and the Plug-In Dynamic Floater brushes (Liquid Metal and Impasto).
Before the course begins students are sent a ring-bound workbook that contains detailed notes and complete assignment instructions.
The internet is the principal means of interaction. Students upload completed assignment work into the on-line Student Gallery, where students can view each others work. My students and I communicate amongst each other via e-mail. Students experience the benefits of individual critiques and tutorials. I answer questions, make constructive suggestions and share useful information.
Here are a few student impressions of the course:
"This course is well organized. It is flexible enough for the beginner or/and more advanced student. The assignments are well defined on a step by step base of instructions. Excellent feed back from the instructor."
Anne Marie, Spring '98
"I am using Painter in a way I probably would not have tried on my own. It is helping me grow as an artist. I am learning to see my subject in a new ways that I have not tried before."
Ron, Spring '98
"I have found that I can see the world in a different perspective."
Neil, Spring '98
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This course is designed for anyone interested in exploring the art of portrait painting on the digital canvas. That includes fine artists, graphic artists, designers, art directors, photographers, art teachers and art students.
If you already have Painter sitting unused (or under-used) in your computer, or have dabbled with Painter but have been overwhelmed by the complexity of choices, then you should find this a useful way to get into Painter 5.0, as well as an enjoyable way to expand your expressive vocabulary.
If you have limited, if any, exposure to the computer, then this course will provide you with a good introduction to the digital art medium.
The course is cross platform (Macintosh, Windows 95, Windows NT). Each student needs to have Painter 5 and a graphics tablet. Some familiarity with the use of web browsers and e-mail is also necessary. Initially setting up the facility to upload files into the Student Gallery may require patience and perseverence! Please look at the Requirements page for a detailed list of hardware and software requirements.
This course is divided into two major parts. The first part, Getting to Know Your Tools, focuses on mastering the tools. You will learn to use a tablet, to familiarize yourself with the Painter interface, and to navigate around the brushes and controls.
The second part, The Art of Seeing, is where you put all those great digital paint brushes into effect! You will learn to see in different ways, to master drawing and painting skills, and to apply those skills to expressive digital portraiture. It is through the process of seeing, of accurate observation and awareness, that we really learn how to draw from life. This course is as much about seeing as it is about painting.
Take a look at the Student Gallery assignments to get an idea of the detailed course structure.
The course curriculum is carefully structured. Each step leads onto the next. Concepts are introduced and explained in simple straightforward language. The assignments are practical and easy to follow. Each assignment has a clearly spelt out objective.
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Digital Versus Traditional Paint
Learning to paint from life involves learning to observe and then learning to describe what you observe. This process is independent of the particular paint medium you choose to use to describe your observations. Thus you could apply many of the assignments and techniques in this course to using traditional (non-digital) paint media. However the computer has brought to our finger tips a number of unique advantages that make learning to paint easy and fun. These unique advantages include:
1) Convenient access to a vast array of brushes and art materials.
2) No need for a dedicated paint studio.
3) No mess to clear up.
4) Unlimited paper and paint: no need to feel precious about materials.
5) Forgiving medium: brush strokes can be easily transformed, erased or undone.
6) Versatile medium: in seconds you can go from applying oil paint to watercolor to the unique Image Hose.
7) Comfortable: the vertical screen avoids the perspective distortion encountered with a horizontal sheet of paper, and the tablet avoids the shoulder, arm and wrist fatigue encountered when you paint on a vertical canvas.
8) Healthy: no poisonous or carcinogenic chemicals and solvents to deal with.
9) High degree of control: brush behavior can be controlled with greater precision than when working with a ÔtraditionalÕ brush or piece of chalk.
10) Large range of magnification: one moment zoom in and paint pixel by pixel, and then zoom out and see the whole painting as small as a stamp.
11) Record, playback and use the creative process.
12) Share artwork across the world almost instantaneously.
13) Minimal physical storage space needed for paintings.
14) Convenient reproduction of paintings.
The main disadvantages of painting in the digital medium are:
1) Lack of tactile, olfactory and audible stimulation. In other words the sensual aspects of working with traditional materials: the feel of the paper or canvas, the smell of the paint, the sound of the charcoal. One student taped a sheet of paper to his tablet surface to imitate the resistive feel of working on real paper.
2) Lack of whole body motion involved in the paint process. There is a tendency when working on a small tablet surface to become sedentary.
3) Potential UV radiation exposure, muscle ache and eye strain associated with sitting in front of a computer screen for long periods of time.
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On-line versus In-Person Learning
On-line instruction offers a number of unique advantages to students including:
1) Geographical freedom: can be anywhere in the world.
2) Temporal freedom: determine their own work schedule and pace.
3) Economy: avoid the expense, in both time and money, going to a remote location for a residential course. The on-line course fee is typically less than paying for a regular class, or paying an instructor for private tuition. Internet access and e-mail communication is relatively inexpensive.
4) Self-sufficiency: an on-line course provides the motivation to become self-sufficient.
5) Interactivity at a distance: the benefit of active interactive learning and one-on-one tuition with an experienced instructor from the comfort of the home or studio.
6) One-on-one instruction at no one else's expense: typically in off-line computer classes the instructor must take time for each student at the expense of the available class time for other students.
7) In depth critiques: the instructor provides a more detailed written critique than heÕd provide verbally.
8) Lack of inhibition: students avoid an instructor, or other students, looking over their shoulder as they work.
9) Simple communication: e-mail is easy to use and immediate.
Here are student comments on why they chose an on-line course:
"Difficult for me to schedule my other activities around a rigid class schedule. Also the time to travel to/from class was important as I live in a fairly rural area."
"Less expensive...and I can work at my own pace without the possible concerns of how my 'work' compares to others."
"Freedom to assign my own time and place to do the lessons."
Drawbacks of on-line instruction include:
1) Lack of real time in-person contact, both between the instructor and students, and between students themselves. One student commented "I would love to meet everyone. That is the only drawback to working at home. "
2) Lack of lively synchronous in-person group discussions and critiques of each others work.
3) Hardware / software problems: achieving trouble-free file transfer and communication via the internet.
To register submit a completed Registration Form with the course fee. Students will receive an instructional workbook that includes all course notes and assignment descriptions.
Overview
Student Comments
Who The Course Is For
Course Structure
Digital Versus Traditional Paint
On-line versus In-Person Learning
How to Register
Description |
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Student Gallery |
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Requirements |
Dates |
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Cost |
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Registration |
Jeremy Info | News & Views | Bizness | E-mail
http://www.portrayals.com
jeremy@portrayals.com