Intro to Computing Art – Page 2 – Brittany Spencer // Papermaking & Graphic Design

Intro to Computing Art // OMG American Gods

January 14, 2017January 12, 2017brittanyspencerLeave a comment

Fall 2016: For students to refine their skills using Adobe Illustrator’s Pen Tool, my students accepted the challenge of the OMG project, as in “Oh my gosh, this is so challenging and time consuming!” But the effort is well worth the outcome.

In the past the theme has been to recreate a movie scene. This semester to mix things up, the theme was to recreate a god or goddess in modern society. Students researched Greek, Roman, and Aztec mythological figures to learn about their core characteristics, and brainstormed how to apply them in our current culture.

They photographed themselves, friends, or family as their models. Then they used that photo as a template to make a vector illustration in Adobe Illustrator. Tiny solid shapes make up the entirety of the photo to make a realistic representation. They spent about three weeks on the project. The process is like creating a digital painting! Below are some examples that were turned in. I also included the outline imagery of a couple illustrations to show the number of shapes that were created to make up the compositions. All have aspects to be improved upon for their portfolio, but overall I was very pleased with their results! These illustrations are sure to blow your mind!

* I have permission from my students to promote their work on my website.

Americangods — Huitzilopochtli by Moesha Wright

screen-shot-2017-01-12-at-10-34-26-am — (Outline of shapes)

screen-shot-2017-01-12-at-10-33-19-am — (Outline of shapes)

Section1_Kaitlyn-Upton_Poseidon copy — Poseidon by Kaitlyn Upton

03_April_Porter_Aeolus — Aeolus by April Porter

aphrodite [Recovered].ailast — Aphrodite by Bethany Smith

Section3_Gerald-Wicks_Dionysus — Dionysus by Gerald Wicks

section03_maryemily-moore_Karpo — Karpo by Mary Emily Moore

Section3_Parker-Webb_Hephaestus — Hephaestus by Parker Webb

Section4_Canaan-Griffin_GodnessHekate — Hekate by Canaan Griffin

S4_morgan_helton_demeter — Demeter by Morgan Helton

Intro to Computing Art // Creature Cartoon

November 21, 2016May 8, 2017brittanyspencer1 Comment

Fall 2016: In Intro to Computing, students learn the basics of Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. In the past, their first project was creating an illustration based on an idiom in Illustrator. It was time to retire that project for awhile and try something new that challenged fresh ideas. This semester, I teach 3 sections of Intro to Computing for a total of about 40 students.

I am proud to admit that this new project was something I conceived on my own! For Creature Cartoon, each student pulled words out of separate bags– one for a physical trait, one for an action, and one for an emotion. Then they had to illustrate a unique creature that accompanied all those traits successfully in Illustrator.

After receiving their words, students brainstormed and submitted a series of thumbnails of their ideas, which were then narrowed down to their top three when I visited them in class one-on-one. Those three were turned into well-drawn comps that were drawn with Sharpies and Micron pens, and critiqued by their entire class. The best drawing was scanned into Illustrator, and vector shapes were placed on top. The focus of this Illustrator project was learning the Pen Tool and conducting organized layer management.

For even MORE fun, my students turned their illustrations into animated GIFs when we started the Photoshop segment. See how the GIFs turned out HERE.

Below are some illustrations that were turned in. All have aspects to be improved upon for their portfolio, but overall I was very pleased with their results!

* I have permission from my students to promote their work on my website.

section1_andrea-osby_creature_joyfulshellsmellflower_marley-01 — by Andrea Osby: joyful, shell, smell flower

section1_ashley-rude_creature_curiusclimbshortlegs_sticky-01 — by Ashley Rude: curious, climb, short legs

section1_austin-smith_creature_bashfulantlersupsidedowngiraffaconstrictor-01 — by Austin Smith: bashful, antlers, upside down

section1_hannah-livingston_creature_boredtalkingonphonesharpteeth_wesleye-01 — by Hannah Livingston: bored, talking on the phone, sharp teeth

section1_kaitlyn-upton_creature_angryflywhiskers_melvin-01 — by Kaitlyn Upton: angry, fly, whiskers

section3_april-porter_creature_webbedfeetanxiousfloat_sail-01 — by April Porter: webbed feet, anxious, float

section3_bethany-smith-creature-surprisedflybeak-geegle-01 — by Bethany Smith: surprised, fly, beak

section3_brittany-riland_creature_madlongarmsswing_uggo-01 — by Brittany Riland: mad, long arms, swing

section3_christopher-gates_creature_singshortlegsgiggle_songster-01 — by Chris Gates: sing, short legs, giggle

section3_gerald-wicks_creature_excitedclimbinglongtail_scansorialsaurus-01 — by Gerald Wicks: excited, climbing, long tail

section3_laurahicks_creature_squishycheeksafraidsmellingflowers_beedo-01 — by Laura Leigh Hicks: squishy cheeks, afraid, smell flower

section3_maryemilymoore_creature_bigeyesbrokenheartedeat_fuzzler-01 — by Mary Emily Moore: big eyes, broken-hearted, eat

section3_olivia-kethum_creature_happysharpteethread_triroceros-01 — by Olivia Ketchum: happy, sharp teeth, read

section3_ryan-guillory_creature_hornsexerciselazy_grumbalodile-01 — by Ryan Guillory: horns, exercise, lazy

section4_alice-hanson_creature_longarmscalmunicycle_granola-01 — by Allie Hanson: long arms, calm, unicycle

section4_anngray_flowers_creature_maneboringsmellflowers_flowerchild_ai-01 — by Ann Gray Flowers: mane, bored, smell flowers

section4_josie_goodman_creature_squishycheeksjoyfulupsidedown_wild_chimahusky-copy-01 — by Josie Goodman: squishy cheeks, joyful, upside down

section4_meredithmorris_creature_tentaclesfloatingmellow-01 — by Meredith Morris: tentacles, mellow, float

section4_morgan-helton_creature_beaksleepyread_karen-01 — by Morgan Helton: beak, sleepy, read

section4_ques-nevels_creature_grumpywebbedskate_solestealer-01 — by Ques Nevels: grumpy, webbed feet, skate

section4_sarah-ferguson_creature_sadjumpingshell_sheela-01 — by Sarah Ferguson: sad, jumping, shell

section4_taylor-knight_creature_bigearsbashfuleating_rosie-01 — by Taylor Knight: big ears, bashful, eat

UPDATE: See GIFs created later during the semester here.

Intro to Computing // Simple Logo & Resumé

September 4, 2016September 1, 2016brittanyspencerLeave a comment

For Intro to Computing’s final project, they built simple personal logos in Illustrator and constructed resumes in InDesign. This project was meant to create an awareness of how much or how little they have accomplished during their first years of college, as well as give them a little experience with logo development and InDesign. Many of the students had not typed a resumé before, and they found this project useful as they prepare to apply for part-time jobs and post-graduate jobs. The layout needed to be organized, easy to read, and fluid with a sense of style. Creating hierarchy with text was a new challenge to most of them.

Below are some resume examples that were turned in. All have aspects to be improved upon for their portfolio, but overall I was very pleased with their results!

* I have permission from my students to promote their work on my website. Contact info is purposely fake for their protection.

Fall 2015 // 2 sections

by Abbey Rigdon

by Alleigh Moffett

by Carly Melton

by Jeffery Daniel

by Joanna Bauer

by Katie Erickson

by Haylee Upton

By Justice Williams

by Lauryn Rody

by Maddie Marascalco

by Matthew Rogers

by Rebecca VanHorn

by Sarah Cuevas

Spring 2016 // 1 section

by Cara Moore

by Conner Booth

by Katherine Huang

by Darby Taylor

by Victoria Allgood

Intro to Computing // Pen & Pixel

September 2, 2016August 31, 2016brittanyspencerLeave a comment

My students’ second Photoshop project was entitled “Pen & Pixel,” in which they had to construct a self portrait. It was a requirement to scan in textures, drawings, paintings, or items they could edit to become a part of the image. Many students demonstrated impressive concepts about themselves. Below are some examples that were turned in. All have aspects to be improved upon for their portfolio, but overall I was very pleased with their results!

* I have permission from my students to promote their work on my website.

Fall 2015 // 2 sections

Section1_Alleigh-Moffett_Pen-Pixel — by Alleigh Moffett

Section1_Amy-Farrar_Pen-Pixel — by Amy Farrar

Section1_Carly-Melton_Pen-Pixel — by Carly Melton

Section1_Imani-Smith_Pen-Pixel — by Imani Smith

Section1_Joanna-Bauer_Pen-Pixel — by Joanna Bauer

Section1_Joseph-Garland_Pen-Pixel — by Joseph Garland

Section1_Katie-Erickson_Pen-Pixel — by Katie Erickson

Section4_Alex-Cayson_Pen-Pixel — by Alex Cayson

Section4_Calli-Nelson_Pen-Pixel — by Calli Nelson

Section4_Lauryn-Rody_Pen-Pixel — by Lauryn Rody

Section4_Maddie-Marascalco_Pen-Pixel — by Maddi Marascalco

Section4_Matthew-Rogers_Pen-Pixel — by Matthew Rogers

Section4_Sydney-Armer_Pen-Pixel — by Sydney Armer

Spring 2016 // 1 section

Abbey-Goodman_pen-pixel-copy — by Abbey Goodman

Conner_Booth_Pen-&-Pixel — by Connor Booth

Dion-Coleman_pen-pixel — by Dion Coleman

Katherine-Huang_Pen-Pixel — by Katherine Huang

Stephen_Latham_Pen&Pixel — by Stephen Latham

taylor_darby_penandpixel — by Taylor Darby

Intro to Computing // Impossible Reality

August 31, 2016August 31, 2016brittanyspencer2 Comments

For my students’ first Photoshop project, I wanted them to think outside the box and create an “Impossible Reality”. They had to gather their original photography and make new photos as needed to compose their surreal image. The main artist of inspiration was Eric Johansson. He is an incredible Photoshop artist, but also kind enough to post photos and videos to demonstrate his entire process, which is great for beginners to see. Like Eric, they needed to produce an image that tricks the eye to appear realistic.

Below are some examples that were turned in. All have aspects to be improved upon for their portfolio, but overall I was very pleased with their results!

* I have permission from my students to promote their work on my website.

Fall 2015 // 2 sections

Section1_Abbey-Rigdon_ImpossibleReality — by Abbey Rigdon

Section1_Alleigh-Moffett_ImpossibleReality — by Alleigh Moffett

Section1_Amy-Farrar_ImpossibleReality — by Amy Farrar

Section1_Carly-Melton_ImpossibleReality — by Carly Melton

Section1_Imani-Smith_ImpossibleReality — by Imani Smith

Section1_Katie-Erickson_ImpossibleReality- — by Katie Erickson

Section1_Phoebe-Fitzgerald_ImpossibleReality — by Phoebe Fitzgerald

Section4_Alex-Cayson_Impossible-reality — by Alex Cayson

Section4_Haylee-Upton_Impossible-Reality — by Haylee Upton

Section4_Katherine-Moore_Impossible-Reality — by Katherine Moore

Section4_Lauryn-Rody_Impossible-Reality — by Lauryn Rody

Section4_Maddie-Marascalco_Impossible-Reality — by Maddie Marascalco

Section4_Nicolette-Johnson_Impossible-Reality — by Nicolette Johnson

Spring 2016 // 1 section

01_cecilia_lemus_impossible_reality — by Cecilia Lemus

Abbey-Goodman_impossible-reality — by Abbey Goodman

ConnerBooth-impossible-reality — by Connor Booth

Gerard-Woods-Impossible-reality — by Gerard Woods

Katherine-Huang_Impossible-Reality — by Katherine Huang

Stephen_Latham_Impossible_Reality_Cyborg — by Stephen Latham

Intro to Computing Art // OMG Movie Character

August 23, 2016August 22, 2016brittanyspencerLeave a comment

For students to refine their skills using Adobe Illustrator’s Pen Tool, my students accepted the challenge of the OMG project, as in “Oh my gosh, this is so hard and time consuming!!!” But the effort is well worth the outcome. The objective: Recreate a movie scene with your own models and photography. Then use the photo as a template to make a vector illustration in Adobe Illustrator. Tiny solid shapes make up the entirety of the photo to make a realistic representation. They spent about three weeks on the project. The process is like creating a digital painting! Below are some examples that were turned in. I also included the outline imagery of a couple illustrations to show the number of shapes that were created to make up the compositions. All have aspects to be improved upon for their portfolio, but overall I was very pleased with their results! These illustrations are sure to blow your mind!

* I have permission from my students to promote their work on my website.

Fall 2015 // 2 sections

Screen Shot 2016-08-22 at 3.30.37 PM

Abbey-Rigdon_TheHangover — The Hangover by Abbey Rigdon

movie — 22 Jumpstreet by Alleigh Moffett

section1_Amy-Farrar_OMG_TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly — The Good, the Bad & the Ugly by Amy Farrar

MeanGirls — Mean Girls by Isabelle Cottrell

section1_JosephGarland_BreakfastClub — Breakfast Club by Joseph Garland

COPYSection01_Kenan-Simpkins_TheOtherWoman copy — The Other Woman by Kenan Simpkins

Vector Illustration [Recovered] — Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Phoebe Fitzgerald

01_Tykia_Joseph_Love&Basketball — Love & Basketball by Tykia Joseph

Section4_Calli_Nelson_LegallyBlonde-01 — Legally Blond by Calli Nelson

Section04_HayleeUpton_CoolHandLuke — Cool Hand Luke by Haylee Upton

Section04-Justice-Williams-Mulan — Mulan by Justice Williams

Section04_Matthew-Rogers_Prisoners — Prisoners by Matthew Rogers

Section4_Nicolette-Johnson_PrincessMononoke — Princess Mononoke by Nicolette Johnson

Section4_Samantha-Sumrall_FriedGreenTomatoes — Fried Green Tomatoes by Samantha Sumrall

Section4_Victoria-Martin_SherlockHolmes-01 — Sherlock Holmes by Victoria Martin

Spring 2016 // 1 section

Cara-Moore_BreakfastAtTiffanys — Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Cara Moore

Cecilia_Lemus_FightClub — Fight Club by Cecilia Lemus

ConnerBooth_PhantomoftheOpera — Phantom of the Opera by Connor Booth

Katherine-Huang_Anne_of_Green_Gables — Anne of Green Gables by Katherine Huang

Section1_Dion_Coleman_Scream4 — Scream 4 by Dion Colemon

Stephen_Latham_Reservior_Dogs — Reservoir Dogs by Stephen Latham

OMG project — Harry Potter by Victoria Allgood

Intro to Computing Art // Idiom Illustration

June 26, 2016November 17, 2016brittanyspencerLeave a comment

FALL 2015

In Intro to Computing, students learn the basics of Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. For their first project, they had to choose an idiom (raining cats and dogs, hit the hay, you are what you eat, etc.) and construct an interesting, successful illustration. Brainstorming processes such as mind mapping and forced connections were introduced. Then they had to submit a series of thumbnails of their ideas, and narrow down to their top three. Those three were then turned into rough comps that were drawn with sharpies and micron pens, and critiqued with their entire class. The best chosen sketch was scanned into Illustrator, and vector shapes are placed on top. The focus in Illustrator was learning the Pen Tool and layer management.

Below are some illustrations that were turned in. All have aspects to be improved upon for their portfolio, but overall I was very pleased with their results!

* I have permission from my students to promote their work on my website.

Section1_Abbey-Rigdon_idiom-ill — by Abbey Rigdon: Pinching Pennies

section1_Carly-Melton_idiom-ill — by Carly Melton: Sleep Like a Rock

Easy as Pie copy — by Imani Smith: Easy as Pie

section1_Joseph-Garland_idiom-ill — by Joseph Garland: Eat Like a Bird

section1_Katie-Erickson_idiomill — by Katie Erickson: Broken Record

Section1_Phoebe-Fitzgerald_idiom-ill — by Phoebe Fitzgerald: Eye Candy

section1_Becca-VanHorn_idiom-ill — by Becca VanHorn: Sick as a Dog

At this point I would intend to feature the Idiom Illustration student work from my Spring 2016 classes, but I was unfortunately on medical leave. I am thankful my art department colleague and Assistant Professor of Graphic Design Suzanne Powney was willing to step in to instruct my Intro to Computing class while I was out.

Intro to Computing Art // Simple Logo & Resumé

May 8, 2015May 8, 2015brittanyspencerLeave a comment

For Intro to Computing’s final project, they built simple personal logos in Illustrator and constructed resumes in InDesign. This project was meant to create an awareness of how much or how little they have accomplished during their first years of college, as well as give them a little experience with logo development and InDesign. Many of the students had not typed a resume before, and they found this project useful as they prepare to apply for part-time after-school jobs and post-graduate jobs. The layout needed to be organized, easy to read, and fluid with a sense of style. Creating hierarchy with text was a challenge, as they have not taken typography classes yet.

Below are some resume examples that were turned in. All have aspects to be improved upon for their portfolio, but overall I was very pleased with their results!

* I have permission from my students to promote their work on my website. Contact info is purposely fake for their protection.

by Heather Hardman

by Reagan Huffman, pg. 1

by Reagan Huffman, pg. 2

by Morgan Linnett

by Sarah Tewolde, pg. 1

by Sarah Tewolde, pg. 2

Intro to Computing // Pen & Pixel

April 27, 2015brittanyspencerLeave a comment

* I have permission from my students to promote their work on my website.

Intro to Computing // Impossible Reality

April 24, 2015brittanyspencerLeave a comment

Below are some examples that were turned in. All have aspects to be improved upon for their portfolio, but overall I was very pleased with their results!

* I have permission from my students to promote their work on my website.