Introduction to Illustration

If you are an aspiring illustrator, learning to visualise text and ideas in both single images and in narrative form, then this course will provide you with a highly transferable set of skills for our visual contemporary culture. In the creative industries and beyond, being able to communicate ideas through visually arresting images is becoming increasingly essential.

Course aims and benefits:

The course is about learning the processes and techniques to communicate ideas through image-making. You'll be guided through the process of answering a brief and learn to research a subject, and generate and communicate ideas.

We'll introduce you to a variety of traditional and contemporary tools and techniques including collage, cut-outs, drawing, paint, 3D objects and digital, and will also help you evaluate the context in order to select the most appropriate.

There will be an exploration of the relationship between text and image and an introduction to different approaches in visual storytelling.

During the course you will create a portfolio of work using a range of media and be given an insight into what's involved in setting up an illustration practice.

Your teacher on this short course is an acknowledged illustrator, Alice Stevenson.

By the end of the course, you'll be able to:

• research, generate and communicate ideas to answer a brief
• explore working with a wide range of media and select medium appropriate to your subject matter
• explore the relationship between text and image and evaluate the context
• communicate a narrative through a single image and sequential narratives
• develop a print/web portfolio