What is the course about?
You will explore a wide range of art and design projects, media and develop skills in printmaking, drawing, painting, illustration, 3D design, sculpture, and other subjects. You will be shown how to prepare both a physical and online portfolio, to support an art college application, your personal benefit or professional purposes. We’ll inspire you with illustrated talks on contemporary and traditional artists and designers. There will be supportive critiques and feedback.
This is a live online course. You will need:
- Internet connection. The classes work best with Chrome.
- A computer with microphone and camera is best (e.g. a PC/laptop/iMac/MacBook), or a tablet/iPad if you don't have a computer.
- Earphones/headphones/speakers.
We will contact you with joining instructions before your course starts.
What will we cover?
Session 1 Collage: Explore the many techniques possible with collage to illustrate a story.
Session 2 Drawing: Developing multiple drawing techniques from life but also from other sources.
Session 3 Painting: Develop personal mark making styles and investigate different ways to use paint.
Session 4 Mixed media: Explore the possibilities of energising work by combining imagery and mixing together different media.
Session 5 Text and Illustration: Develop ways to integrate text and image and create a typographic style.
Session 6 Illustration: Exploring the unique requirements of magazine illustration.
Session 7 Book making: Explore the requirements of book illustration and book cover design. Look at book illustrators.
Session 8 Personal project: Develop a personal project with help from the tutor. This could be a series of book covers, book illustrations, graphic novel or other substantial theme.
Session 9 Personal project: Develop a personal project to a finished state suitable for portfolio presentation.
Session 10 Portfolio layout: Develop the layout and design of a portfolio for application to university or for commercial purposes.
What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...
- Work with confidence in a wide range of art and design mediums
- Present a portfolio full of diverse projects
- Improved the visual quality of your work
- Expanded knowledge of colour, composition, form, space, line and tone
- Present your work to its best advantage.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
This course is designed for learners who have little or no experience and would like to take this course to start on their path to developing a broad range of skills in preparation for a future application to art college.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
There will be group discussions, individual tutorials, lectures, demonstrations and practical activities in a supportive and friendly atmosphere. Learners will be expected to join and participate in activities posted on the shared Google Classroom. Full details of this will be provided on enrolment and a reminder email sent out 3 days before the course starts.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
You will need a basic kit of art materials that could include:
- pens
- pencils
- paint
- ink
- white and coloured paper
We will provide suggestions for additional materials you might like to obtain for the course, but these are not mandatory and we will be be able to work with what each individual has.
- You will be taught using Google Meets for the live sessions with your tutor. You will receive an email 2.5hrs before your session starts with details of the live session link. Please be aware you will need to check your email address associated with your account within this window. Please amend and delete as suitable
- We use Google Classroom E-learning platform which will store all tasks/notes/resources/ demo videos You will need to login into our Google classroom before each sessions starts.
- You will need a computer or laptop. Ideally with a fully updated google Chrome browser.
- Using headphones with microphones will block out all room noise in sessions.
- If you are using a tablet or mobile device you will need a microphone, and optionally a camera.
- You will require a good broadband connection as mobile data 3G/4G or a mobile dongle will not provide sufficient Bandwidth for live sessions.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
Have a look at our further offering of portolio development courses on the links above.
