Computer Graphic Design

Spring 2014 – 26 – Welcome to Color Theory: Live Trace / Live Paint

Welcome to our Color Theory unit!
For the next couple of weeks, we are going to explore the many ways that Illustrator allows you to enhance your artwork with color. We are also going to explore color theory and the different meanings colors have for different groups. With this knowledge, you will be able to more effectively communicate your desired message to everyone who looks at your artwork.

Tuesday, January 28th, 2014

Objective:

 To demonstrate the use of the Live Trace and Live Paint functions for importing and recoloring hand-drawn art in Illustrator.

Student-Friendly Learning Target: 
I can use Live Trace and Live Paint to color hand-drawn artwork that was converted to digital artwork using a scanner.

 

Video Link:

none

Topics Discussed:
  • File > Place
  • Live Trace
  • Live Paint
  • Gap Options
  • Swatches Panel
  • Starting a new document in Illustrator CS4 using the Welcome screen.
  • Adjusting settings in the New Document dialog box.
  • Establishing multiple artboards.

 

Instructions:

Create a new Illustrator Web document with four default-sized artboards. Save this document as “YOURNAME – Color Week 1”. We will use this document throughout the week to practice with the color tools in Illustrator.

Follow along with the in-class tutorial to learn a new method for converting imported raster graphics to vector graphics called Live Trace, as well as a technique for recoloring vector graphics called Live Paint.

  1. After you have watched the tutorial, import the Robot Sketch 01.psd file below on to your first artboard using File > Place.
  2. Follow the steps in the tutorial to apply Live Trace to the artwork (converting it to vector graphics).
  3. Next, follow the steps in the tutorial to activate Live Paint, and use Live Paint to color in the robot.
  4. DO NOT use the Paint Brush, the Blob Brush or any other drawing tool to color in the robot. Use Live Paint only.
  5. Be sure to pay attention to the Gap Options mentioned in the tutorial, so your Live Paint doesn’t bleed out all over your artboard.
  6. When the robot is successfully colored in, save your document. We will continue to work with this document tomorrow.

 

Sample Image File Link:
Robot Sketch 01.psd

Assigned: January 28th, 2014
Due Date: January 29th, 2014

Computer Graphic Design

Spring 2014 – 25 – Sub Battle

Monday, January 21st, 2014

Objective:

To learn and demonstrate an understanding of the use of drawing tools, layers and symbols in Adobe Illustrator.

Student-Friendly Learning Target: 

I can use the drawing tools in Illustrator to produce a submarine battle.

 
Video Link:

Review the video links in the Illustrator Week 1 lessons to refresh your memory on the use of the Shape tools, the Brush and Blob Brush tools and the Pen tool.
Topics Discussed:
  • Select Tool (Black Arrow)
  • Direct Select Tool (White Arrow)
  • Shape Tool
  • Line Tool
  • Brush Tool
  • Blob Brush Tool
  • Pen Tool
  • Anchor Points
  • Convert Anchor Point Tool
  • Shape Builder Tool
  • Layers Palette
  • Symbols Palette
  • Arrange Documents

 

Assignment:

Create a new Illustrator Web landscape-oriented document with all the default settings and one artboard. Call it “YOUR NAME – Sub Battle”. Using the two-up Arrange Documents method we first learned in Photoshop (it works here, too), copy the yellow submarine you drew in the previous assignment to the new artboard. Then, using the tools and techniques demonstrated in the videos and discussed in class, draw an underwater battle scene that contains all of the following elements:

  • A Hero Sub (your original sub drawing)
  • Three “Bad Guy” subs (you may alter the original sub’s symbol to create these, but they must look different from the Hero!)
  • One Animal (any kind of undersea life: a fish, a starfish, a shark, a whale, a squirrel in a diving suit…)
  • One Vegetable (any kind of undersea plant: seaweed, kelp, coral (which is actually dead animal matter, but this is Graphic Design, not Marine Biology), a pineapple under the sea…)
  • One Mineral (any kind of underwater rock or rock formation: a boulder, a mountain, an undersea volcano, a mysterious cave, a stone Moai head statue…)

All of the above mentioned elements must be hand-drawn (no professionally-drawn symbols). They must be converted to symbols and I would recommend you put each item on a separate named layer. Good luck and happy drawing! 

Assigned: January 21st, 2014
Due Date: January 24th, 2014

It’s super effective!