General Course Listing

AHD-1010

European Painting: Late Gothic to Romanticism

One semester: 3 art history credits

The history of European painting from the late Gothic and pre-Renaissance eras to the early 19th century will be examined in this course. We will focus on the major movements and key figures during the 700-year period and include such topics as the varieties of Renaissance painting from the North of Europe to Italy, the development of mannerism and baroque art, and the emergence of neoclassical and Romantic painting. The aim throughout will be to understand the art of each time and place within the historical and political transformations taking place in Europe.

AHD-1015

Modern Art: European (and American) Painting From Realism to Pop

One semester: 3 art history credits

The transitions from 19th-century modernism to the advent of contemporary painting in the mid-20th century will be examined in this course. How trends in art influence and respond to major social transitions in the modern world will be considered.

AHD-1016

Non-European Art Histories

One semester: 3 art history credits

This course will survey various traditions of non-European art, and consider such topics as the ancient arts of East and South Asia, the Indus Valley and Indian subcontinent; African arts; and the indigenous arts of North and South America. The creation, function and meaning of religious and secular art in different types of arts will be addressed.

AHD-1017

Ancient and Classical Art

One semester: 3 art history credits

Art of the Western tradition from approximately 20,000 BCE to 400 CE will be explored in this course. It will include Aegean art of the ancient Mediterranean and Hellenistic societies. The course will conclude by considering classical art at the end of the Roman Empire and the art that appeared at the emergence of the Christian Empire.

FID-1130 / FID-1135

Drawing I and II

Two semesters: 3 studio credits per semester

Focusing on the perceptual skills involved in image-making, these courses will examine drawing as an act of producing independent works of art and as a preparatory process in organizing a finished work. Assigned projects will explore the formal elements of art, such as line, space, scale and texture. Materials will include pencil, charcoal, pen-and-ink and wash, among others. Projects range from the figure and still life, for example, to mapping and storyboarding.

FID-1220 / FID-1225

Painting I and II

Two semesters: 3 studio credits per semester

Foundation-year painting will explore various means of representation through the application of pigments to canvas, panels and paper. Color and its organizational principles will be investigated—both as a practical and theoretical endeavor. An exploration of form and content will be undertaken with an emphasis on technical skills. Class critiques and museum visits will be employed as vehicles to develop critical terms concerning painting.

FID-1430

Sculpture

One semester: 3 studio credits

As an introduction to the material world, this course explores diverse media and their potentialities to create volume, line and mass. Ranging from the ethereal to the fabricated, materials such as clay, plaster, cardboard, wood, resin and wire will be investigated by exercises in casting, mold-making, installation and site-specific work. Discussion will include concepts of space, gravity and light, among others, as they pertain to three-dimensional form.

HCD-1020

Writing and Thinking NYC

One semester: 3 humanities and sciences credits

This New York City-themed course helps students become critical and independent writers. To help establish a solid foundation in writing, the course introduces different types of writing using persuasive rhetoric in three writing genres—narration, description, and cause and effect. Course readings are drawn from a variety of New York-based texts, including historical documents, short stories, drama, poetry and essays, which will be used as discussion and writing prompts. By the end of the course, students will have an enhanced understanding of writing as a means to think and better communicate their ideas.

HCD-1025

Writing and Literature

One semester: 3 humanities and sciences credits

This course emphasizes reading, critical thinking and essay writing. Students will build on their skills acquired in HCD-1020, Writing and Thinking NYC, in order to work on more complex essays. Students will learn how to research, use proper citations, and continue to work on their grammar and essay development. Readings are drawn from a selection of literary works, including drama, poetry and the narrative, as well as the critical essay.

ILD-1020

Visual Computing for the Illustrator

One semester: 3 studio credits

This course introduces illustration techniques using Adobe applications as a tool for visual creation. It will cover the essentials of Adobe Photoshop, Fresco, and other applications that can assist you in creating multifaceted visual solutions. The impact of technology on the visual arts will be examined and discussed from contemporary and historical perspectives.

ILD-1040

Narrative Printmaking

One semester: 3 studio credits

Silkscreen is a bold, visual language that is essential to the development of image-makers’ color and composition instincts. This course will provide illustrators with opportunities to explore their process from concept to finish and production, and also open new possibilities for expressing ideas graphically in multiples. Methodologies that translate storytelling into production will be introduced by adapting ideas to different materials and book formats. As one of the most versatile and widely used printmaking methods, silkscreen will be fully explored in this course through a combination of demonstrations, experiments and self-initiated narrative projects.

SMD-1020

Foundations of Visual Computing

One semester: 3 studio credits

Serving as an introduction to the tools, terms and techniques of visual computing for artists, this course will cover basic skills for operating and maintaining a computer, as well as the techniques to create collages and layered images and the tools required to display work on the web. The impact of technology on the visual arts will be examined and discussed from contemporary and historical perspectives.

ILD-2000

Principles of Illustration I

One semester: 3 studio credits

This course will focus on brainstorming, concept development, sketchbook practice and editorial interpretation. The sketch and its function in the illustrative process will be explored with an emphasis on critical thinking, while establishing creative approaches and methods as they translate to image-making. Effectively generating ideas, translating them to thumbnails and sketches with attention to clarity and composition are the foundations to developing a personal visual language and process. Students will gain a broader knowledge of problem-solving techniques, including critique and communication, research and conceptual thinking for visual storytelling.

ILD-2005

Principles of Illustration II

One semester: 3 studio credits

The second semester of Principles of Illustration will focus on applying advanced sketches to a variety of media, color and stylization. Translating well-staged sketches into successfully finished images formulates an illustrator’s individual conceptual and aesthetic vision.

ILD-2010 / ILD-2015

Painting/Illustration I and II

Two semesters: 2 studio credits per semester

These courses will deal with the advanced aspects of painting. Building an approach to content and picture-making that will reinforce basic illustration fundamentals. Students will explore how to effectively apply color, form and composition to any illustrative project.

ILD-2020 / ILD-2025

Drawing I and II

Two semesters: 2 studio credits per semester

These courses will deal with the advanced aspects of drawing in relation to the figure and drawing from observation. There will be a concentration on the diverse elements of draftsmanship, including the study of perspective, anatomy, shape language, mark making, composition, proportion and value.

AHD-2040

History of Illustration

One semester: 3 art history credits

The fascinating history of illustrative images and the major movements in illustration are the focus of this course. The continuous interrelations between commercial and fine art, as well as the changing role of the artist’s influence on culture will be explored. The course will also help students better understand the differences of metaphor in pictorial content and the universal symbolic vocabulary—where a rose is not just a rose, a ladder is not just a ladder, and a dark horse is far from being just a dark horse.

CID-2050 / CID-2055

Storytelling I and II

Two semesters: 2 studio credits per semester

In these courses students will create their own comics stories, featuring their original characters. We will break down “story” into component parts, including character, setting, plot, dialogue and narration; specific lessons for each component will be provided. In addition to drawing, students will learn scripting as a way to organize their ideas in preparation for making great comics.

ILD-2106

Graphic Design Solutions for Illustrators and Cartoonists

One semester: 2 studio credits

This course will give the cartoonist and illustrator better insight on how to combine type and images. There will be a focus on how to create hand-drawn type to incorporate into your projects, as well as how to adapt and customize pre-existing typefaces to enhance your visual projects.

ILD-2108

Drawing With Ink for Illustrators

One semester: 2 studio credits

Focusing on the unique capacity of ink to achieve beautiful effects in rendering, modeling and texture, this course will include demonstrations in the use of steel tip, crow quill, reed and technical pens, and a variety of brushes. Work with Japanese brushes using ink stick and ink stone will also be covered, as well as techniques for lighting effects, inking drawings and penciling. Drawing and compositional skills are emphasized. In-class work includes drawing from the model, object settings, group drawings and demonstrations. There will be critique of pen-and-ink drawings of past masters, and weekly critique of student work.

ILD-2116

Perspective

One semester: 2 studio credits

This course will cover all the necessary mechanical aspects of one-, two- and three-point perspective. We will explore compound forms (i.e., extensions to houses, chimneys, attics), inclined planes (hills and valleys, steps), placing windows, non-parallel forms, interiors and exteriors, station point/field of vision and environmental scale, reflections, shadows and shading, and atmospheric perspective. Exercises will incorporate the use of the human figure.

ILD-2118

Perspective for Concept Art Illustration

One semester: 2 studio credits

The technical and artistic aspects of creating perspective rendering for concept art illustrations will be examined in this course. Students will learn how to draw and create perspective visions for background environments, using the study of different vanishing points.

ILD-2122

Watercolor Techniques

One semester: 2 studio credits

Watercolor is a beautiful, versatile and demanding medium. This course will focus on learning its technique and applying it to a semester-long assignment. The majority of class time will be spent painting from the model in order to master traditional, realistic, tonal painting. Attention will be paid not just to the differing techniques of watercolors, but also to basics such as composition, drawing and color. The works of past and present master artists will be examined through weekly discussion. Students may work in any style they choose to develop and execute the semester-long project. Particular focus will be placed on the conceptual and interpretive nature of the work.

ILD-2124

Watercolor/Gouache Painting

One semester: 2 studio credits

Exploring various techniques using watercolor, gouache and Acryla gouache is the focus of this course. From basic to more advanced approaches, students will experiment with using traditional and nontraditional ways to find their personal approach. Attention will be paid to creating vibrant, rich colors and applying it to projects. The class will work from models for the first half of the semester, learning to respond in an expressive, individual way. Working from direct observation will challenge and strengthen drawing abilities. There will be demonstrations and individual instruction to help students find their specific way of working with the mediums. For the second half of the semester we will work on assignments and in sketchbooks. While several techniques will be explored, the course will concentrate on using gouache and watercolor to enhance each student’s work.

CID-2142

Lettering Comics

One semester: 2 studio credits

This course will be an introduction to cartoon lettering, and all that it can add to an artist’s comic. Cover designs, special effects lettering and the appropriate choices of fonts, balloons, spacing and design options will all be explored.

ILD-2145

Digital Collage Illustration: Telling Stories in Layers

One semester: 2 studio credits

Collage is a dynamic medium that lends itself to create stories with layers of color, texture and meaning. This course will explore various approaches to collage and basic Adobe Photoshop techniques with an emphasis on personal expression and communication of ideas. Students will combine painting, mixed media and digital assets to create images that are seamlessly woven together.

ILD-2146

Digital Workshop: Music to Your Eyes

One semester: 2 studio credits

This course will use digital methods to combine photography, drawing and digital painting to explore various aspects of creating images suitable for music/band posters, album/cd packages, T-shirt and button designs. We will look back at the history of rock and roll/band graphics from the past and discuss ways to adapt older visual strategies into fresh, hip, contemporary solutions.

ILD-2147

Realistic Digital Painting Techniques Using Photoshop

One semester: 2 studio credits

Learn the essential tools and techniques for drawing and painting in Adobe Photoshop. We will go through the many functions of the design tools of Photoshop as they are applied to digital painting. Learn to search out, use, modify and create Photoshop brushes. Learn to use layers, masking and adjustment layers to edit paintings and create depth. Develop a sophisticated knowledge of color and lighting to be applied to traditional and digital painting. Learn to create finished work efficiently.

CID-2148

Digital Coloring for Cartoonists

One semester: 2 studio credits

With the changeover to digital prepress, most cartoon publications are now colored on the computer. This course is an introduction to the Macintosh for cartoonists. After learning the basic operation of the machine, students will scan their artwork into the computer where it will be digitally colored and printed. In addition to these techniques, students will also learn image processing and digital manipulation. Demonstrations of the capabilities of digital design will give cartoonists an insight into the potential of the computer as a creative tool.

ILD-2149

Realistic and Fantastical Digital Painting

One semester: 2 studio credits

This course will cover the basics of digital science fiction or fantasy illustration using Adobe Photoshop. Science fiction and fantasy can be daunting at times and overwhelming with possibilities for design. The course is designed to give you confidence through properly researching your idea and then proceeding to the next phase of solidifying a concept sketch and gathering reference for your idea. Themes of composition and lighting will be covered as well as how to take photo references for your work. The basic rules of painting digitally will be explored through that application of traditional rules and photomontage. Achieving atmosphere with tonal values and how they sit in space in relation to one another will also be examined and will make your pieces much more convincing and unified. Human anatomy will also be covered. If you are planning a career in concept art, or any sci-fi or fantasy-related illustration field, this course is a solid introduction.

ILD-2159

Digital Art Boot Camp: Photoshop

One semester: 2 studio credits

Students will use Adobe Photoshop to edit and create illustrations with their computers, tablets and smartphones—as well as learn how to manipulate found or scanned images, and incorporate them into their work. This will be an intermediate course for students with some experience in Photoshop, and will enable students to become proficient in skills they will find useful in their everyday career: digital painting, photo collage, GIF-making, cleaning up artworks, digital inking and photo manipulation are just some of the topics covered in this course. Emphasis will also be placed on using keyboard shortcuts, best ways to send files to clients, and organizing your project from start to finish—so that changes can be easily applied. We will look at illustrators using Photoshop, and explore how to incorporate their digital techniques into our work. Composition, editing and how to use everyday technologies to create one-of-a-kind images will be stressed.

ILD-2161

Still and Moving: Low-Tech Animation

One semester: 2 studio credits

In this course students will animate their illustration and comic art by making short, smart, animated films and GIFs. Experimental projects using diverse analog mediums will be encouraged, including drawing, collage, paper dolls, puppets and miniature sets in conjunction with Adobe Photoshop timeline drawing, Dragonframe for stop motion, Apple iMovie for editing, Adobe After Effects for layering and compositing, and other software. Storyboarding, character design, sound design and currents in historical and contemporary animation will be covered as well as many examples of time-based editorial art.

ILD-2162

Illustration in Motion

One semester: 2 studio credits

Using animation to take your illustrations and cartoons a step further is the primary goal of this course. We will create animations of varying lengths for different projects based on existing art and new ideas. You will learn the 12 basic principles of animation and spend the second half of each class session working to create a project based on the week’s lesson.

ILD-2163

Photocopy Zines

One semester: 2 studio credits

In this course students will create zines and mini comics. The class will primarily use a Risograph, which is similar to a photocopy machine but prints in multiple colors. Students will learn how to use a limited palette to make their images and will explore various ways of making color separations. Various bookbinding techniques will be demonstrated. Several small zine projects will be assigned during the class for students to experiment with different formats, materials, and techniques. For the final project, students will make a zine or mini comic in an edition of 25, using any of the techniques covered in class.

ILD-2166

Cool Books

One semester: 2 studio credits

In this course each student will create a book of original color linocut prints that illustrates a fantastical visual narrative. If you love to draw pictures that create worlds of their own and are searching for ways to go graphic and colorful, this course emphasizes the potential of storytelling, drawing, design and print working together as choreographed dance. Students will be guided and encouraged to plan and produce a stunning one-of-a-kind handmade book.

ILD-3010 / ILD-3015

Pictorial Projects I and II: Illustration

Two semesters: 3 studio credits per semester

Students will develop a series of portfolio assignments that will increase in depth and complexity to intensely explore personal vision and bring about work in a voice that is uniquely their own. Open to various approaches—series of paintings or posters, children’s books, deck of cards, interrelated editorial illustrations, or any combination of these that will challenge your abilities, talents and work ethic. Ongoing critiques and discussions will be conducted to assist in creating a body of work that fulfills your artistic aspirations. By the end of the year, at least 10 finished works are required. Students will conceptualize, sketch and execute a series of related works based on a specific theme. Developing a personal research methodology will be important to successfully completing this cohesive body of work. A selected number of illustrations produced by the end of the spring semester will be displayed in an online exhibition.

ILD-3030

Professional Practice: Illustration

One semester: 3 studio credits

With the use of technological advances, the professional market has shifted dramatically in the areas of promotion and networking, and how work is delivered to potential employers and clients. This course will address what you need to know to get started in the business, and will focus on timeless strategies on how to target clients and dream jobs.

HLD-3040

Elements of Storytelling

One semester: 3 humanities and sciences credits

This course is designed to help students learn how to analyze literary works and construct their own interpretations in developing their art projects as well as to articulate their art in writing. Students will be introduced to different methods and frameworks to examine texts while also considering the connections between content and form in storytelling.

ILD-4040

Professional Practice: Illustration

One semester: 3 studio credits

With the use of technological advances, the professional market has shifted dramatically in the areas of promotion and networking, and how work is delivered to potential employers and clients. This course will address what you need to know to get started in the business, and will focus on timeless strategies on how to target clients and dream jobs.

ILD-4055

Senior Lecture Symposium

One semester: no credit

This symposium for seniors will be a series of conversations with renowned cartoonists and illustrators, and a variety of our faculty members. Guests will speak about their work, career and process, and answer questions.

ILD-4900

Senior Thesis I: Illustration

One semester: 3 studio credits

In senior year, illustration students will focus on a thesis project of their own conception, interest and design. This personal yet industry-minded body of work will represent a substantial part of their portfolio and showcase capabilities in concept and visual language. Project formats and techniques from traditional to digital are open, as long as the ideas behind them are well defined, structured and executed in significant quality and volume. Graphic novels, children’s books, book covers, series of paintings or posters, editorial, gifs, animation, concept art and games are only some of the shapes a senior thesis can take. Choose an instructor that best fits your aesthetic and professional goals to guide you through this inspiring process.

ILD-4905

Senior Thesis I: Illustration

One semester: 3 studio credits

This is the second part of a two-semester course. Early in the spring semester, there will be a departmental progress review for all projects ahead of the Senior Thesis Show when works for the exhibition will be selected by a panel of industry judges. For graduation clearance, 10 finished works are required by the end of the semester.

Internship

One semester: 3 studio credits

Students can gain valuable experience and broaden their professional network through an internship with an employer. Internships-for-credit are available to juniors and seniors who have earned a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 or better. To receive credit, students must apply online during the designated application period, be approved by the Career Development Office, and registered for the internship by their academic advisor. Students need to work 150 hours during the semester (usually 10 to 15 hours per week), participate in a weekly online course with other SVA interns, and complete midterm and final self-evaluations. Elective studio credit is awarded for the successful completion of an internship. For more information go to sva.edu/career.

Advanced Comics and Illustration Electives

ILD-3211

Drawing on Location

One semester: 3 studio credits

Class sessions will be spent at various New York City locations, learning to challenge the practical difficulties that arise while drawing on the spot. The main goal of the course is to encourage students to observe their environment, the particular details of each situation, and to draw spontaneously. We will put together three stories from drawings done on location. On-the-spot drawing experience is not necessary, but you should have some drawing skills.

ILD-3216

Advanced Drawing: Drawing Our Moment

One semester: 3 studio credits

Advanced Drawing is an immersive exploration of both the figure and the space the figure occupies, utilizing traditional tools in nontraditional ways. Through a series of weekly sessions drawing live from the model and related home assignments, this course will closely examine the figure as a subject in and of itself as well as the figure in relation to its surroundings. A particular emphasis on individual voice will be a focus throughout the semester (as well as the notion that drawing can be fun).

ILD-3218

Advanced Life Drawing

One semester: 3 studio credits

Drawing from the live model, this course will explore structural anatomy, gesture, quick and sustained poses, and the figure in the environment. Charcoal, conte crayon and pencil techniques (in both black-and-white and color) will be emphasized, and students can progress to pen-and-ink, wash, and brush drawing. Home assignments will be oriented toward using structural drawing skills to enhance and strengthen your illustrations and your illustration portfolio.

ILD-3219

Advanced Life Drawing: Figure, Form and Function

One semester: 3 studio credits

This course will explore the core practice of drawing the human body as both expressive and functional outlets for communication in artistic representations. Perception, depiction and expression are challenged from an intense focus on the human form via exercises that provoke a direct intuitive response and brief lecture/demonstrations of synthetic anatomy, which confirm a form’s concepts. Combining these with three key design principles—rhythm, hierarchy and form—we will explore the function of line through various practices of drawing from observation and knowledge, which culminate in applied composition studies. The exercises develop a language of line that connects us to both the earliest known and the most sophisticated drawings made by humans. Progress is charted from practice of the exercises as well as personal expression and growth.

ILD-3227

The Drawn Epic

One semester: 3 studio credits

Using only simple materials—paper, drawing supplies and aqueous media (watercolor, gouache, acrylic)—this course will explore the traditions of grand, epic compositions; battle scenes; large groups of multiple figures and dramatic action. We will analyze the design strategies used by the great Japanese printmakers as well as the European masters. Ambitious fantasies and large-scale visions are very much encouraged. All work will be made by hand.

ILD-3228

Mark-Making: Expanding Graphic Vocabulary Through Experimental Drawing Practices

One semester: 3 studio credits

This course aims to help students expand their visual vocabulary by exploring unusual approaches to drawing and painting. It will mainly focus on traditional drawing techniques and how to reach unexpected results by turning them upside down. This will enable students to experiment with new ways of expression and directly affect their approach and image-making capabilities.

ILD-3323

Etching and Monoprint as Illustration

One semester: 3 studio credits

This course will introduce students to numerous basic etching and monoprint techniques, including hard ground, soft ground, aquatint and color printing. Once students become familiar with functioning in a print shop, they will learn to use prints as a viable technique for fine illustration. The emphasis will be on experimentation and personal expression. We will discuss the early relationship of printmaking to illustration, and will study and discuss specific illustrators who use printmaking as a final technique for solving illustration problems.

ILD-3336

Advanced Figure Painting in Oils and Digitally

One semester: 3 studio credits

Painting is a science based on understanding and control. In this course (working digitally and/or in oils), you will learn the techniques necessary to create a lifelike figure painting, bathed in light and surrounded by air. You’ll learn how to achieve an accurate drawing, how to match any color you choose and, most importantly, how to alter what you see in order to create a more convincing illusion of reality. The reasoning behind each action, which form the core teachings of this course, can ultimately be used to enrich any style and subject matter you choose.

ILD-3337

Classical Portrait Painting in Oils and Digitally

One semester: 3 studio credits

Ultimately, painting is about decision making. Great portraiture goes far beyond the ability to replicate a person’s appearance. In this course (working digitally and/or in oils), you’ll learn how to achieve an accurate likeness, capture the subtle nuance of any complexion and, most importantly, what it takes to bring a portrait to life. The key to mastery can be achieved only through a solid and complete understanding of the reasoning that precipitates each action, and these concepts can ultimately be applied to any style and subject matter.

ILD-3338

Painting From Inside/Out

One semester: 3 studio credits

In this course students will explore methods to effectively apply their points of view to a variety of visual challenges. The aim is to bring out each student’s artistic self by building a strong visual vocabulary and honing communications skills through painting. This process will involve rounds of sketching with open critiques. Students will be encouraged to introduce autobiographical themes to their painting that will enhance their personal and commercial work well into the future.

ILD-3341

The Painting of Light

One semester: 3 studio credits

This course deals with the interpretation of light for the two-dimensional artist. The ability to capture the world around us, in a representational manner, requires a keen sense of observation. We will explore how light visually describes your subject (i.e., time of day, temperature, weather conditions, humidity, color, texture, etc.). To create a sense of reality is the artist’s job—this course will teach you how. It will enable you to calculate the effect your pictures will have. Light is the great designer of our world. Learn how to capture it.

ILD-3361

From Fantasy to Reality: Production/Concept Design

One semester: 3 studio credits

When one imagines a sumptuous story in a fabulous place, often the details are a bit fuzzy. This course will explore how to create concrete designs and plans of interior and exterior spaces that convey narrative content. Basic drafting and perspective techniques utilizing multiple angles, elevations and prop details will be covered. Research skills will be developed by looking into the design of different historical periods. Projects will also include character and costume designs, and cover how to professionally present your ideas and plans to prospective clients and collaborators. The techniques learned can be applied to areas of stage, screen, animation and gaming.

ILD-3409

How to Find Your Voice in Illustration

One semester: 3 studio credits

This course is about developing your voice so it can stand out. Classwork will help build your skills into a ‘personal practice’ and lead to a body of art that reflects your vision. We will examine our influences from artists, past and present, to create your unique voice. This includes going to galleries to expand your understanding of the visual arts. In class we will develop your work process in stages through regular experimentation, free-association exercises, sketches and drawing. Ideas, concepts, color, composition and the imagination will be addressed regularly. All mediums are welcome except digital.

ILD-3415

Watercolor Painting

One semester: 3 studio credits

This course will explore intermediate watercolor techniques to help you develop a personalized style in value study, color mixing, wet-on-wet, preserving white, color and temperature, light and shadow, and paper mounting on a board. Assignments include still life, landscape, seascape, portrait, figure, and travel sketch paintings. Students will explore various watercolor approaches and be encouraged to develop artistry through personal expression. The course will be supplemented with video demonstrations of techniques to assist each student's development.

ILD-3419

Pictorial Fantasy Illustration

One semester: 3 studio credits

Ideas and concepts will be reinforced through an in-depth exploration of fantasy illustrations in film and print. Traditional reference sources will be used to fashion unusual characters in fairy-tale landscapes. Students will create a glowing picture of strange and compelling creatures and distant worlds. Assignments will be tailored to individual pictorial preferences from child-inspired storytelling to sophisticated image realism. All media can be explored—from colored pencil and gouache to acrylic and oil—to best develop intriguing and suggestive images. Fantasy imagery can be a bold addition to your portfolio.

ILD-3424

Surface Design

One semester: 3 studio credits

Wallpaper, textiles, stationery, dishware and apparel—there are many applications for your artwork. This intensive course will focus on surface design for illustration. Complex repeat patterns will be created, both by hand and digitally, and students will produce products such as fabrics and gift wrap. Business concepts will also be addressed, including licensing your designs and buyouts. Traditional and contemporary designs will be explored, and students will gain an understanding of the variety of styles, techniques and range of projects available to surface designers.

ILD-3425

Murals

One semester: 3 studio credits

Murals have become one of the most exciting and dynamic parts of the illustration industry. This course will cover all aspects of mural making from conception to the design and development options and executing. While practicing on research, pitching, sketching, budgeting, transferring and applying, we will also focus on methodologies to get ideas approved and the technical secrets essential to delivering amazing pieces of public art.

ILD-3428

The Poster

One semester: 3 studio credits

Think big! Think graphic! Think simple! These are the elements that make a great poster. How you achieve that goal, through traditional or digital means, is secondary. Whether intended for indoor or outdoor use, from a subway station to a bus stop, from a billboard to a brick wall, a poster is a unique form of illustration and design with often only a moment to grab someone’s attention and get the message across. This course will focus on simplifying your concepts, illustration and typography to create a powerful, unified design. If you’re an illustrator you will stretch your skills working with type. If you’re a designer you will use your graphic sensibilities to create illustrations. Assignments will be in the form of real-world jobs. We will use WPA posters of the forties, propaganda posters, consumer posters of the post-war boom years and counter-culture posters of the sixties, Broadway posters, movie posters, music and concert posters of today will be the basis for assignments. The course will consist of group critiques, in-class exercises, demonstrations and field trips.

ILD-3431

Lifestyle Illustration

One semester: 3 studio credits

This course will explore the numerous possibilities in lifestyle illustration, including fashion and merchandise, food and cooking, travel and leisure. This area is becoming an increasingly varied and exciting aspect of both editorial and publishing opportunities. Students will create their own solutions to real-world assignments and add examples to their portfolios. Students will be encouraged to explore their personal directions and interests in their content, and develop a final project that will be in a series.

ILD-3432

Fashion Illustration and Beyond

One semester: 3 studio credits

For students with an interest in fashion illustration and for illustrators with a fashionable flair, this course will explore and practice the skills needed to produce illustrations for fashion advertising as well as for print media, theater posters, package design, beauty illustration, book covers, licensing and product merchandising. Group critiques will help students identify areas on which to focus in order to achieve a personal style. Working toward portfolio-quality pieces, we will explore the changing role of the fashion illustrator in the current marketplace.

ILD-3434

Digital Environments and Periods

One semester: 3 studio credits

Imagine illustrating compelling digital environments for stories set in the past, present and future. Through pictures, thumbnails, sketches and research, students will gain an understanding of the process for creating settings and environments. Building a portfolio of concept design work for live action, animated film production, video games and graphic novels will be addressed. This course will explore previsualization, mood, layering values, content, metaphor, perspective and identifying the places inhabited by the characters’ created. Concept art, drawing techniques and digital paint to the realization of the final portfolio will all be covered. Students will find solutions working digitally.

ILD-3435

Environments and Backgrounds for Animation and Gaming

One semester: 3 studio credits

This course will focus on the needs of a concept artist working in the game and animation industries. We will focus on 2D design and paint of dimensional environments using Adobe Photoshop for concept development and other production art. Learn and apply traditional perspective drawing tools and incorporate Photoshop perspective tools to design spaces. Build blueprints for spaces using isometric design and use those blueprints to draw alternate angles of an environment. Learn to create a mood board to develop color scenarios for application in concept art. Learn to incorporate photo elements and textures into designs to match and enhance the setting. Use aerial perspective and learn skills to adjust lighting to create dimension, mood and drama in a space. Learn file management for the repurposing of design elements and direct use as production art.

ILD-3436

Costume, Concept and Environment

One semester: 3 studio credits

This digitally based course will focus on rendered and collaged elements that create accurate fictive worlds. Period costumes and settings will be explored, as well as imaginary and futuristic concepts—all rooted in actual research to add a believability and consistency to student work. Each assignment will be set in a different culture and time period to add diversity to their portfolio. This course will appeal to anyone interested in concept art, traditional illustration and image-making.

ILD-3438

The Beauty Mark

One semester: 3 studio credits

This course will explore the possibilities of elegant mark making, and this process in relation to content. While calligraphic gesture and line have long been associated with “old-school” fashion illustration, this course will address the genres of sports, landscape, still life and portraiture made with bold and beautiful strokes.

ILD-3439

Not for the Squeamish

One semester: 3 studio credits

Your body: temple of the soul or soft machine? This course is about the fabric of the body as depicted by artists and anatomists. The human body is where art, science, culture, politics and medicine intersect. Serving as a nontechnical survey, this lecture/studio course will focus on artists from ancient to modern times who use medicine and anatomy as a point of departure for personal, political, religious, aesthetic, or scientific commentary, and will provide an opportunity for students to do likewise. Examples will range from medieval manuscripts and obscure Renaissance medical surrealism through 19th-century anatomy charts and medical museums to contemporary bio-mechanics, illustration, comics, animation, film, fine art, and beyond. The course assignments will be to respond with art projects that make a personal or editorial statement about medicine or anatomy. Students may use the medium of their choice. Projects are not required to be anatomically correct.

ILD-3442

Anatomy

One semester: 3 studio credits

The focus of this course is drawing human and animal anatomy from observation, construction and imagination. Draw every session from models (quick poses to catch the action of the muscles of the body in motion, long poses to create detailed studies), and from skeleton specimens of humans and other creatures. Class sessions will include demonstrations of old masters and contemporary drawing techniques, lectures on comparative anatomy and individual instruction to help students achieve their artistic goals.

ILD-3448

Animals and Creatures in Illustration

One semester: 3 studio credits

Are you bored with rendering the human figure? If you find yourself relating more to frogs, insects, jaguars, snakes and other beasties, this course is for you. Real or imagined creatures in visual expression can be an exciting and vital part of your portfolio. Choose from a diversified view of assignments ranging from creating a movie monster poster, designing an alphabet consisting of animals, to portraying a poisonous toad in a rainforest. Projects will be worked on in class with supervision on concepts, use of different mediums and choosing reference sources supplemented with occasional field trips. This course welcomes students in all phases of development who feel this area is an important component of their visual vocabulary. Use of all media is acceptable.

ILD-3542

Toy Design

One semester: 3 studio credits

Turning an idea or character from sketchbook to toy is a fascinating process. Crossing dimensions, from 2D to 3D has multiple stages and prerequisites to delivering a product equal to one’s vision. This course will focus on toy brainstorming, dimensional thinking, sketching, developing and drafting all angles, troubleshooting, color studying and testing, detailing and exploring production options.

ILD-3543

Toy Production

One semester: 3 studio credits

Building on the material addressed in ILD-3542, Toy Design, this course takes a hands-on approach that covers design and engineering through 3D modeling and 3D printing/stereolithography. Toy production methods and their limitations as well as market demands, real-world processes from inception to production, manufacturing and distribution will be covered. Packaging, display, promoting and professional toy industry events will be highlighted through guest lectures by leading toy makers and designers. Licensing, royalties and navigating the ever-expanding pool of production companies and services that can advance your product to the buyers’ market will be addressed.

ILD-3559

The Extraordinary Picture Book

One semester: 3 studio credits

The picture book genre is particularly rich in storytelling structures and possibilities. This course will start at the core of what traditionally makes a great ‘picture book’ and then explore the margins of that bibliography in search of its most remarkable, unusual and genre-bending examples. We will examine what makes these books stand out by carefully unfolding the layers that compose them: color, style, story and narrative structure; design and physical materials; and how these work in service of the story, effectively expanding and elevating it. Short exercises and mini books will allow us to workshop ideas and apply class lessons to creating unique picture books, while deepening our knowledge on the genre and our tool kit toward larger projects. Through hands-on experimentation we will practice and expand on what some of the very best artists/storytellers have worked on for decades—mesmerizing books that tell stories able to engage and transform their readers in unexpected ways.

ILD-3563

Children’s Book Illustration

One semester: 3 studio credits

Telling a story in pictures is both challenging and immensely satisfying. This course covers every stage in the creation of a picture book: developing an idea and writing it; creating sequential, storytelling images; book layout; solving problems of pacing; presenting a book to a publisher; contracts; and working with an editor. The emphasis will be on the process of making the words and images work together seamlessly, from the first rough storyboard all the way through to a presentation dummy. We will also discuss, in depth, all the work available in children’s illustration and how to look for it. A good portfolio for this market is quite different from an editorial or advertising portfolio. So, we will address the questions of what art directors in this field are looking for, and what sort of portfolio pieces you might need to be competitive.

ILD-3566 / ILD-3567

Children’s Book Illustration: For the Real World I and II

Two semesters: 3 studio credits per semester

Beyond beautiful pictures, the real art in illustrating a children’s book is in telling a story, and the real work is in telling it well. More than just pictorial narration, the field of children’s books gives artists the great freedom and opportunity to explore a variety of ideas and themes found in both classic and contemporary children’s literature. These courses will focus primarily on one story (their own or someone else’s), taking it from typewritten text to fully realized illustrations. We will concentrate on such elements as breaking down and understanding a text, character development, composition and storyboards, and the finished dummy in order to grapple with the more complex problems of pacing and point of view. The spring semester will be spent creating the finished illustrated story (approximately 15 portfolio-quality pieces). Time will also be devoted to issues involved in printing and production as well as working in the field.

ILD-3568

Two Eyes, a Nose and a Mouth

One semester: 3 studio credits

Learning to capture a person’s likeness is a skill to which many artists aspire. The caricaturist distorts and manipulates the face to make us laugh. Cartoonists and illustrators use the same method to create familiar or original characters in their narratives. In this course students will learn the fundamentals of simplification and exaggeration, and how these principles influence the content of an image. We will draw hundreds of faces using slides, magazines, movies and models as our subject matter. We’ll look for the main idea within each face—the arrangement of shapes that sets that person’s face apart from all other faces.

ILD-3569

Illustration with a Twist

One semester: 3 studio credits

Images with a conceptual “twist” deliver their messages with wit, cleverness and humor and are the basis of many kinds of editorial and advertising illustration. Students will get to know the genre before diving into the process of developing ideas from thumbnails to finished images through the use of visual metaphor. The class will re-create the environment and procedures necessary to excel in this challenging type of illustration.

ILD-3576

Experiments in Narrative

One semester: 3 studio credits

This course is a workshop, with an introduction to innovative storytelling through the work of filmmakers and writers, including Akira Kurosawa, Fritz Lang, Jorge Luis Borges, John Waters, Bill Morrison, Lotte Reininger, Errol Morris and William Faulkner, whose imaginations and strategies have influenced American culture. Films will be shown on alternate weeks with your visual responses to them the following week. Students are encouraged to experiment with character, content and form in their own work, taking chances, trying unconventional materials and rejecting cliches, in the belief that what you discover will be brought back into your illustrations and comics.

ILD-3578

Laboratory for Moving Pictures—Adventures in Limited Animation

One semester: 3 studio credits

Exploring a range of approaches to animation, students will be introduced to the technical skills needed to realize a variety of animated projects. Beginning with stop-motion animation with analog materials, students will then incorporate digital and hand-drawn images to construct short narrative sequences with an emphasis on mixed media and experimentation. We will use Adobe Photoshop for animated drawings and rotoscoping, Dragonframe for stop motion, Apple iMovie for editing, Adobe After Effects for layering and compositing, and other software. Beginning with shorter assignments, the final project will be to develop a longer narrative piece with basic character development, storyboards and a short, but complete, narrative. Examples from animation history as well as contemporary animation will be shown.

ILD-3594

Type and Image

One semester: 3 studio credits

If the illustrator understands basic type design, he or she can create impressive visuals: posters, covers, promotional materials, websites. Often the pictorial and the typographic design are at aesthetic odds. This course will cover some design basics to help illustrators and cartoonists understand the relationship between type and image.

ILD-3666

Advanced Motion Illustration

One semester: 3 studio credits

Editorial motion illustration allows artists to explore combining animation, music, sound effects, and other elements to heighten the content of their visual ideas. This course will enhance your static illustrated images with movement, creating a broader meaning and appeal. An extended project will allow students to integrate their new skills into an impressive portfolio piece. All lessons will be taught with the Adobe creative suite; students can work with whichever programs they are most comfortable.

ILD-3669

Vector-Based Illustration and Graphics

One semester: 3 studio credits

Exploring methodologies to create effective vector illustrations for branding, logo design, icons, custom type design and large-scale campaigns is the focus of this course. Being able to deliver messages through simple or complicated line work and advanced color palettes to a plethora of applications in the design industry is a tremendous commercial advantage. Brainstorming, sketching and digital drawing, composing, coloring, finalizing and delivering files according to industry standards will be the core learning goals through the semester.

ILD-3672

Science Fiction: From Utopia to Dystopia

One semester: 3 studio credits

The popular conception of life in the future entails ruined cities, dustbowl farmlands, and drowned coastal regions. Another reimagining of the future has humans living off-world on interplanetary colonies or living in an advanced cyberpunk technological city. Will the system adjust to a changing world to create even more modern-day marvels, or will everything collapse into a pre-industrial state? Science Fiction, Cyberpunk Universe, highway spline system, building mesh. From Metropolis to anime architecture, this course will allow reimagining the future, depicting the future vision from utopia to dystopia environments. What is your vision of the future? How will you draw it? We will create concept art of future environments for movies, animation, and video games.

ILD-3673

3D Environment Look Development for Illustrators

One semester: 3 studio credits

How to render scenes with lighting and photo realism for 2D artwork projects will be covered in this course, and will get 2D artists over the fear of how intimidating 3D can seem. Once you pass that first hurdle, you will see that anyone can use it to their advantage. Whether you are a painter or Photoshop artist, 3D will be a game changer in how you get reference and create art, allowing for endless possibilities. We will build multiple environments using 3D assets, learning lighting and texture nodes, and finally compositing in Photoshop. This course will address rendering and scene building, not modeling.

ILD-3674

Frame by Frame

One semester: 3 studio credits

This course will focus on the close relationship between image-making and motion by teaching important frame-by-frame animation methodologies and techniques for illustrators. From developing concepts that include motion to creating key drawings, in-betweening, boiling, etc., students will hone their timing and storytelling skills by putting them to work. We will screen and discuss animation references to reinforce weekly lessons while individual and group instruction will cover brainstorming, problem solving and production as projects progress in complexity and substance.

ILD-3677

Generating Advanced Reference

One semester: 3 studio credits

This experimental, lab-based course will explore methodologies to create the advanced reference assets often required in illustration and comics art-making. We will accomplish this through collaborative research, art history sourcing, compositional exercises, understanding the power of artistic reference, and harnessing advancing technologies like 3D modeling and machine learning. By generating reference through innovative techniques, students will enhance their creative skills and develop a consistent approach to creating invaluable tools for future projects.

ILD-3701

Working With the Art Director

Thursday 9:00-11:50

One semester: 3 studio credits

Art directors rely on illustrators to bring their concepts to life. In this course we will explore five different industry projects using the real-world process the illustrator experiences working with art directors—from getting the project brief to submitting sketches for approvals to finalizing the work. Included will be an overview of fee structures, working with artist reps, how to read basic client/illustrator agreements, how to protect your work and a Q&A with a professional art buyer.

CID-3612

Sequence and Storyboarding I

One semester: 3 studio credits

For animation, live-action movies, comics, gaming, or television, this course will cover the fundamentals in communicating ideas and action through a sequence of images. Students will get acquainted with the basic tools needed not only to start developing storyboard projects, but also to think as visual storytellers/filmmakers—basic drawing principles applied to storyboarding, framing techniques, camera angles and moves, staging, body language, facial expressions and transitions. The semester will culminate in learning how to animate, test and troubleshoot your storyboard.

CID-3613

Sequence and Storyboarding II

One semester: 3 studio credits

This course is for students looking to advance the skills and practices required of professional storyboarding artists in the fields of film and television. Weekly group crits and individual guidance will help you explore storyboarding styles and sequence drawing techniques, working from quick thumbnail sketches to final storyboard frames. You’ll also hone your skills in conceptualizing and composing your frames, vary camera shots and the fundamentals of developing a scene with a director. In-class exercises, lectures and simulated, real-world job assignments will broaden your understanding of how storyboards are used in preproduction and during the production of a film. The business side of storyboarding will be covered, from how to find storyboarding work, interview with a director and negotiate a fair rate with a producer to the pros and cons of working with an agent.

CID-3633

How to Storyboard

One semester: 3 studio credits

A storyboard artist needs rough sketches, in continuity form, to assist the film director in planning their shots. A strong sense of storytelling is essential to this endeavor, as is an understanding of film terms like zooming, trucking and dollying. This course will teach students what they need to become storyboard artists, showing how to accomplish this in simple sketches, all through the “imagined” eye of the camera.

CID-3634

Comics without Fear

One semester: 3 studio credits

Comics revolve around stories, around narrative. Writing and drawing sequences of five or more pages can seem intimidating. This course takes the sting out of the creative process, with methods that can help you get your story out of your head and down on paper and refine it to become a real page-turner.

CID-3639

Self-Publishing / Life Underground

One semester: 3 studio credits

Driven cartoonists took the comic book medium back from the mainstream to cover topics and states of mind that it otherwise wouldn’t or couldn’t express. This course explores the constantly evolving, exciting developments in alternative comics publishing. More “underground” work is seeing the light of day than ever before, and students will be exposed to some of the most innovative work being produced. Students will pursue their own goals in a personal comics project in an atmosphere of freedom.

CID-3642

Comics Writing

One semester: 3 studio credits

How to write scripts in various genres for comic books is the focus of this course. We will examine narrative traditions in both the self-contained short story and graphic novel formats, as well as the ongoing serial narrative. The semester will begin with writing exercises that will help students develop understanding of character, setting, voice and plot. Deeper into the semester we will transition to a workshop format in which students read and critique one another’s longer projects.

CID-3646

Short-Form Comics

One semester: 3 studio credits

Any story, however sprawling it may seem, can be told in six or fewer comic panels. In this course students will employ a full bag of tricks—expressive figure drawing, dynamic composition, stagecraft, verbal concision and narrative condensation—to create comic short stories of maximum impact. Challenges will include: adaptations and deformations of poetry and literature, developing visual metaphors, writing from logic and structure, and other techniques for coaxing personal truth from the back of your head onto the paper. Projects will be useful for comic strips, mini comics and anthologies.

CID-3648

Web Comics

One semester: 3 studio credits

This course will focus on the mechanics, as well as the most common obstacles, in producing a consistent web comic. The goal is to have your works online in a professional format. For many, this is the future of promotion and presence in the cartooning world.

CID-3650

Mini Comics: From the Page to Production

One semester: 3 studio credits

Create Risograph-printed, narrative-based mini comics from start to finish. Students will experiment with writing and drawing short comics while learning to use the Risograph to print them. They will be challenged to thrive within the limitations of this printing process and utilize the vibrant and tactile printing method to best compliment their narrative. We will analyze comics not only through written and drawn techniques, but also through color and physicality. Additionally, students will be given an overview of various Risograph printing techniques and zine assembly. Throughout the course students will create various zines and prints; the final project will be a print run of a multicolor, Risograph-printed mini comic.

CID-3654

Comic Book Covers

One semester: 3 studio credits

Illustrating and designing effective comic book covers is a prestigious and sought after specialty. It is an essential skill for the cartooning industry in order to get published in print or online. From personal to commercial projects, covers are instrumental to a project’s success by packaging, promoting, attracting and selling. This course is dedicated to developing the skills to make a strong and effective first impression by creating singular masterpieces of sequential significance.

CID-3655

Introduction to Character Development

One semester: 3 studio credits

The basic principles of character conception and design will be covered in this course. Emphasis will be placed on honing one’s skills in brainstorming, harnessing imagination and problem solving with a goal of building better worlds and original characters. We will study how to construct and troubleshoot characters based on various narrative prompts (from children’s books to storyboarding), culminating in the creation of portfolio-worthy pieces that highlight each student’s original creatures in their style and visual language.

CID-3656

Advanced Character Design

One semester: 3 studio credits

This course aims to stimulate your playful senses and bring out your personal voices in character design. We will explore versatile mediums and create characters that tell your stories from gathering ideas, researching and sketching to developing the final project. We will also look at case studies and discuss the business side of the industry such as contracts and financial considerations. By the end of the semester, you will have completed a series of character designs and gained an understanding of how to pitch your work and collaborate with clients.

CID-3659

Personal Comics

One semester: 3 studio credits

Personal comics can trace their roots to the first wave of alternative comic books in the 1970s. From there, later waves of cartoonists sought to deal with personal content and literary themes and created an entire comics industry, which is still flourishing today. This course will include “turning yourself into a cartoon character” (the comic alter ego) dealing with personal issues, personal history and personal narrative—looking for truth through comic storytelling. Comics can be viewed as a literary form—as serious or as funny as any other kind of fiction or nonfiction. The personal approach to comics in this course is similar in intent to the creation of a short story, but with the added dimension of drawing in a personal, expressive style. Comics are ideal for dealing with emotional content and personal issues. Biography, social satire, painful and happy memories—they’re all material for personal comics.

CID-3663

Advanced Digital Coloring and Rendering

One semester: 3 studio credits

Coloring is a key narrative and graphic component of modern comics, on par with penciling and inking in terms of importance. Skilled colorists are in high demand in the comics and animation industries. This course will seek to acquaint students with the Photoshop tools and techniques employed by working professionals to develop their instincts for color, and to apply those in support of narrative sequences, as well as to focus and direct attention, reinforce the composition, and suggest atmosphere and emotion, among other considerations. Class sessions are a mix of lecture, demonstration, student work time and critique, with guest speakers from the publishing and animation industries.

CID-3664

Building Fictional Worlds: Creating a Bible

One semester: 3 studio credits

This course will introduce the creative information needed to build an intellectual property and impart the basics of classic story structure while improving storytelling skills. Students will create a draft of an entertainment intellectual property “bible,” including a pilot script, ideas for extending the story into a series (or for sequels, historical, main character profiles) and the “rules” of the fictional reality.

CID-3665

Adobe Animate

One semester: 3 studio credits

How to use Adobe Animate for cartoon-style animation for the eventual display on the web and structuring for output to video will be explored in this course. Discussions include proper scanning as well as optimization of images and animation techniques, such as keyframing and how to use them in Animate. How to use light and color in a cartoon/cel-shading environment will be covered. Adobe Character Animator and After Effects will also be used.

CID-3667

ZBrush for Illustrators

One semester: 3 studio credits

Pixologic ZBrush has gained a reputation over the past several years as the go-to 3D software for non-3D artists because of its natural feel for sculpting. It is a powerful tool for traditional artists, allowing them to create references for their paintings, drawings, Photoshop work and even physical sculptures. This introductory course into the world of ZBrush is specifically tailored for illustration and how 3D models can be incorporated into 2D work, bypassing some of the more complex aspects of 3D. Students will learn the basics of the program by sculpting out a model, painting it, lighting it, rendering it out and sending it into Adobe Photoshop to create a finished digital illustration. Learning this program will open many possibilities to each student’s creativity.

CID-3672

Digital Inking and Lettering

One semester: 3 studio credits

In this course students will discover digital processes that connect with the inking and lettering work they’ve done on paper, with an emphasis on exploring a diverse range of techniques. Skills learned in this course will be directly applicable to freelance comic-book work and will also be highly useful to the auteur cartoonist. Emphasis will be on finding a balance of precision and expressiveness.

FID-3862

Silkscreen and the Artists’ Book

One semester: 3 studio credits

Using silkscreen, students will explore various ways to present print as sequential images—artists’ books, themed portfolios and comics, even fanzines. The course will cover the process from concept to finished and bound multiples. Methods of making color separations for multicolor prints using traditional hand-drawn and modern photographic techniques will be included. Bookbinding techniques will be demonstrated, such as Japanese bookbinding, accordion folding and signature binding. Large-scale digital output is available.

FID-3883

Graphic Image Silkscreen

One semester: 3 studio credits

Silkscreen is ideal for making bold, iconic images. This course will cover all aspects of the silkscreen process, including making separations by hand and by computer and printing on various media. Students will learn how to use silkscreen as a tool for strengthening their image-making abilities and color sense.

BFA Illustration Curriculum