Children have an underestimated capacity to process complex stories, and are often misunderstood as an audience. Their hungry minds depend on imagery to make sense of life and to navigate through their evolving worlds. In this course, students will explore a variety of art forms destined to educate, stimulate and delight children-books, displays, characters, games. Assignments will include works for a variety of industries including publishing, advertising, gift/novelty, and focus on a range of age groups: toddlers to teens. Students will be challenged to create opportunities for discovery that are worthy of this curious and gracious audience.

Elective

In their brevity and concentrated potency, short stories are compelling material for illustration. This course invites students to illustrate short fiction authored by a variety of voices and in several genres, while allowing for formal and conceptual development and the cultivation of distinctive visual character (or style) along the way. Reading, analysis, ideation and execution are central to course content. Estimated Cost of Materials: $10.00 - $50.00

Elective

An all encompassing visual autobiography won't happen in five weeks but Wintersession does give us the exceptional opportunity to embrace the spirit of memoir, here brought to life as illustrations. Your personal stories undoubtedly touch on universal themes : childhood, coming of age, cultural identity, navigating the unfamiliar, overcoming obstacles, among countless others. We'll use journals to recollect the past and examine the present as part of the creative process - transforming raw material into reworked sketches that ultimately become polished illustrations with you at their center.

Elective

The ability to play is a complex activity that is at the core of human learning. Games are a structured form of play that allow us to explore social interactions, take risks, set goals, develop skills and expand our imaginations while entertaining us without serious consequences. What makes a game fun? Or memorable? In this class, we will explore the intersections of learning, experimentation, and play. In our constructed projects, we will search for innovative ways to expand or reinvent game traditions. Through individual and collaborative projects, we will examine how game mechanics (rules/systems) thoughtfully combined with game aesthetics (visuals/story) can be used to craft engaging, memorable and informative user/player experiences. Our goal is to develop primarily non-digital games that are conceptually innovative responses to various questions you pose related to play. Quality assurance and usability concerns will be explored through group play tests.

Illustration, along with painting, printmaking and many other visual art practices, is continually intertwined with music. From illustrators collaborating on videos, packaging and promotion, to creating graphic novels and picture biographies of musicians and musical movements, the tradition of connecting the visual to the acoustic has a rich history. Music is often celebrated in larger and in a more tactile ways than on a screen-and we are seeing the enduring inventiveness of the gig poster, and even the 12 inch LP cover is still alive as a canvas. Projects in this class will explore promotional, interpretive, and investigative approaches as they relate to musicians, lyrics and titles, as well as parallels between music and visual art. Students will have the chance to interpret musical works in a number of ways, including through narrative approaches, using sculpture, animation and GIFs, and other less conventional means. There will be exploration of analogous aspects of music and visual art-sound and color, time based works, performative aspects and related ideas (e.g.: the movements of the hand while drawing/painting as analogous to playing an instrument). There will be some focus too, on genres and movements where music and art have close relationships, ie: psychedelia, pop and op art, comics and set design. Lectures and discussion will also be devoted to learning about artists who create both visual and musical work.

This course fulfills the Illustration Concepts Elective requirement for Illustration majors.

Elective

This course is meant to give students an understanding of the process of serigraphy. Using the basic T-shirt as the format, emphasis will be on creating and developing a concept: learning and implementing the techniques of silk-screen in order to produce wearable illustration. The course will also include historical and contemporary issues on the phenomenon of the printed shirt, including uses ranging from social protest to advertising and the use of the body as a substrate for images. A variety of techniques will explore everything from simple handmade stencils to the use of photo/computer technology to create individual designs. Assignments will be given through the developmental phase, and in-class critiques will play an important role in determining the final product. By the end of the semester, students will also investigate the business/commercial side of silk-screening, including at-home studio setup, recordkeeping and selling the product.

Elective

This course surveys a wide range of effects possible through versatile printmaking methods including monotype, relief printing and drypoint. The emphasis is on experimentation rather than editioning prints.

Elective

As the world's first print technique, woodcut had a profound affect on the development of all printing -especially the Japanese woodblock process which has influenced so many artists. It uses minimal technology, requiring only a sturdy table, a few simple cutting and inking tools, and a wooden spoon to print the block. Despite the simplicity of the medium, resulting prints are as individual as the artist who makes them. An artist is able to make many identical prints of their image, which makes woodcut a great tool for experimenting with your ideas. Whether you enjoy work with a bold graphic quality or a delicate organic line, woodcut is an ideal medium for those that enjoy the physicality of materials. The class will cover the basics of woodcut prints to gain an understanding of the three components of this process: color separation, carving, and printing. Participants will learn about the required materials and tools, how to safely and effectively cut an image into the woodblock, and how to print it. The class will focus on how to organize and print large scale, complex, nuanced multicolored woodcuts. Reduction and multi-block techniques will be shown as a means of developing personal imagery. This one-of-a- kind course gives students a traditional printmaking skill that is environmentally friendly, can be done at home, on any scale.

Elective

For half a millennium, posters (or broadsides as they were called) have attracted the attention and sparked the imagination of viewers through much of the world. The best posters are both visually striking and communicative. Designs usually incorporate image and text; but are often effective with either text or image alone. In this class we will learn the essentials of silkscreen printing in the context of studying a bit of the history of serigraph poster design: from historic fine artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec and Alphonse Mucha, to more contemporary illustrators like Seymour Chwast and Shephard Fairey. Students will be designing and printing several editions, experimenting with hand- drawn and digitally produced art and typography. The nature of the silk-screened image allows for investigation of various color palettes or structures for a single image. No printmaking or digital experience required.

Elective

Color is a dynamic component of image-making, manifesting the emotional tone, the narrative thrust, and locating the subject in a world of light and materiality. Recognizing that color can be an intimidating topic, this course helps students design with color through the use of acrylic gouache, watercolor, and glazing media. Comprehending color is about achieving a balance between acquired knowledge and instinct; this class provides a framework of knowledge for students to rely on when intuition provides no clear direction. Students will investigate world-building with color through value, harmony, limited palettes, color grounds, layering, temperature, spatial relationships, and pattern. Students will work from still life and models, with poses changing every three weeks. The expectation is that individuals will gain a level of expertise in the designated media, and then may apply that knowledge to other media. Homework assignments will include portrait, still life, color charts, a master copy, and a final series of illustrations/images. This four week final project allows students to explore the style, media, and subject matter of their choice in an investigation of color-related issues. 

Elective

This course is designed to teach the student about contemporary use of Illustration media and how to use and combine them creatively, safely and effectively. Students will acquire the skills and confidence to evaluate new mediums and techniques on an ongoing basis with minimal expense and difficulty through the use of limited palettes. Mediums covered will include: acrylics, gouache, casein, watercolor, markers, crayons (wax and water-soluble), colored pencil, scratchboard, ink, oil (for illustration), and associated tools, palettes, and surfaces.

Elective

With the wave of new technology, it's easy to forget what we can do with our hands, putting pencil to paper and utilizing traditional materials. There is no question that digital tools are integral to the illustrator, but in addition to mastering the technical functions of a program and using it directly to create images, they can open up new possibilities in what we already do with traditional materials. This course will create a dialogue between the handmade and the digital through in class exercises combining age old techniques, including linocut, collage, drawing/painting, with modern tools such as the risograph and photoshop. We will explore different ways digital methods can help with workflow and use the computer to facilitate the steps involved in creating an illustration. This course will challenge students to think beyond the realm of digital brushes and filters, with projects touching on the ways image making can be applied in the real world of design, advertising and publishing.

This course fulfills the Illustration Computer Literacy requirement for Illustration majors.

Elective

This course focuses on the exploration of combining a variety of media with the expectation of discovering a new, personal approach to creating images. Students are initially taught the specific properties and use of watercolor, gouache and acrylic and then invited to explore combinations of these media adding pastel, colored pencil, inks, collage material, charcoal, or found objects. There will be discussion on and experimentation with various techniques and finishes possible through these materials. Students will work in class from set ups, photo references and the model, and will develop images using the techniques and media combinations explored in class in weekly homework assignments.

Elective

This course will present the transparent watercolor medium to students in a manner both logical and painless. Students will explore the broad uses for watercolor through still life, figure painting, and outdoor landscape painting. Guest critics and demonstrations may augment class discussions.

Elective

This course introduces students to a variety of pen and scratchboard styles through a series of assignments which include drawing from life and executing well-defined illustrative problems. A variety of pen tips and their effect on pen handling are explored. Other aspects of pen drawing to be considered: Intelligent design of page with subject, the compositional impact of the arrangement of tone, and the sensitive selection of appropriate pen and scratchboard styles for a given problem.

Elective

This is an introductory course in digital photography. It covers all the basic techniques of digital workflow: capture, photo editing, and inkjet printing. You will learn how your camera works and how to control it to get the results you want. You will also learn how to download and manage your image files, edit them for best results, backup them religiously, and make excellent inkjet (digital) prints. Beyond technique, there will be at least one visiting artist, regular lectures covering the history of photography, an optional weekend field trip to Boston, and regular group and individual crits geared toward developing your style, focusing your ideas, and making better pictures. Most students use a DSLR (digital single-lens-reflex) camera, which you must provide, but other types are also OK, such as a good point-and-shoot or an ILC (interchangeable lens compact) model. We will discuss cell and tablet phones, but a dedicated camera such as one of the above models, will give you better results and more control. While this course is an introduction to photography, and assumes no prior knowledge, students with some photography background or those with analog-only experience may also benefit.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $100.00 - $150.00

Elective

A basic black-and-white course in photographic technique and visualization. Students learn to use the camera, process film, and make prints, as well as to apply creative aspects of the medium. No prior experience in photography is required, but students must have their own 35mm camera with manual aperture and shutter-speed controls. Refundable deposit for any equipment that is borrowed and returned in excellent condition.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $150.00 Deposit: $100

Elective

This course will focus on the creation of expressive imagery through the combination of collage and mixed media. Students will work with a wide range of materials and collage elements, including their own drawings and paintings, photographic images and found objects. Techniques used for developing layers of both texture and meaning will be explored and later applied to specific illustration problems.

Elective

While most illustrations are flat, working in three dimensions allows for the engagement of a whole new range of material and conceptual possibilities. Whether using traditional materials or digital technologies, sculpture is enormously nuanced in what it can suggest. In this class we will examine how objects and various sculptural strategies can be used to convey complex concepts and ideas. A survey of contemporary sculpture and 3D illustration will provide plenty of conceptual, process and material exploration. The class is offered in conjunction with RISD CoWorks to promote experimentation, interdisciplinarity, and access to advanced technologies. Projects are structured to introduce you to a variety of materials and methods of working, including paper manipulation, box making, character design, model-making, 3D printing, and laser-cutting. Additionally students will learn how to light and photograph three-dimensional work for reproduction or portfolio. The class promotes development of personal expression, strong conceptual solutions, excellent craftsmanship and good design.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $100.00

Elective

There is something magical about opening a seemingly ordinary book only to see a gloriously three dimensional structure burst forth from its pages. Upon closing the book, the large, complex sculptural form folds seamlessly back into flatness. In this studio students will learn to create such structures: movable artists books that pop up, unfold, transform into sculptures, theaters, installations, interactive experiences. Students will learn the basics of paper engineering and experiment with various pop-up structures as they create their own original, movable artists books. Even though our exploration will begin with structural, material, and formal investigation, students will be encouraged to treat form and content as an interdependent whole, as they envision their increasingly complex independent projects. Demonstrations, hands-on in-class work and homework, independent projects, discussions, research, introduction to digital fabrication; historic and contemporary examples in the expanded field from movable books to large scale art installations; artists talks, visits to RISD CoWorks, Nature Lab, and the Special Collections of Fleet Library will be part of our inquiry.

Elective