On a tall vertical art board in Illustrator (18 inches high x 12 inches wide), draw the facade of a house or another building you might see in a village. Set it in a winter environment, and leave room for a quote near the top of the picture plane.
The intention is that the designs will be enlarged to vertical (3 foot x 1.5 foot, or larger) banners to stand up as outdoor displays. Ideally, weatherproof vinyl mesh banners would be affixed to pole brackets in the Burlington Sculpture Park and would be on display during December and early January.
For alternative version of this project, click HERE.
Student Examples
Parameters:
Limited Color Palette: So that the various banners are unified as a set, use white, blues, silver (grays), and gold/copper. You may use a minimal amount of one other hue (such as violet) as an accent.
Using photographic references, draw the design in Adobe Illustrator, then use Photoshop (300 ppi) to add painterly effects, lighting effects, and textures.
You may incorporate your designs or patterns from one or more of any of your previous digital art work into this new design.
Objectives:
- Create a positive mood/atmosphere.
- Apply skills with tools and techniques of Illustrator and Photoshop together
- Create strong visual impact
- Work with others to create a series of designs that work together stylistically and in their color schemes.
Materials:
- FIRST, Adobe Illustrator for drawing
- THEN (possibly, depending on time), Adobe Photoshop for painterly effects, lighting effects, and textures
- FINALLY, Adobe Illustrator for typography
Grading Criteria:
- Design (Visual Impact)
- Technical Quality
- Personal Investment
To Start:
1. Study photos of homes and villages. Your drawing will be a straight-on view of the front of the building.
2. On paper, draw to develop your design. Create at least a few thumbnail sketches and some color studies using color pencil. In designing, consider the relationship of positive and negative space, visual movement, and other principles of art to create a strong composition.
You may use the this worksheet for a larger drawing or this thumbnail sketch worksheet.
3. In Illustrator:
Create a New Document
File -- New Document
Size: 12 inches wide x 18 inches high
Orientation: Portrait
Use the pen tool to draw, based on your best sketch. You may even scan or photograph your pencil sketch, and trace over it using the pen tool in Illustrator.
4. Open the EPS in Photoshop. When the dialogue box comes up, be sure to change the resolution to 300 ppi and the color mode to RGB. The size should be at least 12 x 18".
Add painterly effects, layer styles, lighting effects, and textures.
Flatten and save as a TIFF.
5. Back in Illustrator, use the Character and Type palettes to incorporate quotes about peace, love, and community into your design, integrating words and image.
Save as EPS, TIF, and JPG files: "winter yourlastname.eps", etc.