Learn Illustration Online!
- Combine handmade artwork and Photoshop.
- Learn professional skills and shortcuts.
- Add brilliant images to your portfolio - build your career!
Hi, and welcome!
Questions about my online illustration course? Please email me!
Bill Wright
Handmade/Digital
In this online course we work first by hand, then digitally.
The results are vibrant illustrations that are easily modified.
Laura Harvey made 3 quite different images using the same handmade lines and watercolor. They’re luxurious and sophisticated. Well done Laura!
Nuts & Bolts and how-tos
DrawColorClick, is an online illustration course packed with practical tips and methods.
There’ll be new learning materials twice per week in five of the course’s seven weeks, which will let you build up your skills progressively.
The emphasis is on simplicity, tricks of the trade and achieving quality without tons of work.
You’ll have online access to videos, PDFs, and files about:
- Handmade Techniques
- Digital techniques
- Illustration styles, genres and practice
Printable, work-along PDFs
style/ideas
You can easily see the difference between Laura’s work, above, and Chloe Belloin’s. We’ll explore the role style plays in illustration.
But illustration is also hugely about ideas, and in this course you’ll learn about creating images that tell a story, express concepts and capture your audience’s imagination.
< Look how Chloe chose to represent ENVY in her study of The Seven Deadly Sins.
How would YOU represent ‘Greed?’ >
Or ‘Lust?’>
Working with ideas and concepts will give you a chance to experience the flavour of a full-time BA illustration course, like the one I teach on in London.
Images shown may be from either my live or online class. Thanks, students, for permission to use them!
Illustration as practiced
Building a successful career as a working illustrator is too vast a topic to cover in this online course. However, the good news is that you’ll get an excellent feel for how illustration is practiced by the nature of some assignments, teaching materials and exposure to working professionals.
Talented illustrator Alice Tait created this illustration for the UK Daily Telegraph. She’s one of the professionals you’ll meet through videos in which they discuss their work and careers.
BTW, the course has more than 30 videos - demos, critiques and presentations about illustration.
Your portfolio
If you're creating a professional portfolio one for a university application this course will be of immeasurable help. You won’t make enough images in this class to complete a portfolio, but I’m sure you’ll get some really fantastic work. Illustrations you create will appear in both the Course Gallery and your personal portfolio, where your coursework will be on view, and you’ll be able to show it to your friends, colleagues and others.
I like to tell both live and online students that by the end of the course they’ll be amazed by what they’ve done.
And that always seems to happen. And that makes me very, very happy. :)
structure /schedule
This illustration course runs numerous times each year - see Dates/Costs/Enrol in the header at the top of your screen. It is presented over 7 weeks, but you may take up to a year to complete it. You should expect to spend 40 to 60 hours on it total. If you're inspired to create and post additional illustrations, please do!
Course materials and assignments are issued in each of five instructional weeks. Within the 7-week rollout of lessons, there are two weeks to catch up on work, and post and comment on work by others.
Straight away you’ll be linked to the rest of the class via a Facebook page and chatting with fellow students about your projects.
Work completely at your own pace! Other students will be ahead of you, behind you - how fast you take the course will make no difference to your learning. There is no fixed time you have to 'be in class.' Your DrawColorClick course materials will be accessible onlline for 1 year.
Projects you’ll be working on are similar to those in my live illustration classes. Generally, they don’t have rigid requirements - they’re only a framework. There’s lots of flexibility built in.
Who should take this course?
The class usually has some people with interests in art - drawing, design, fashion, illustration - and others that are tech-savvy computer users, like web designers, graphic designers or architects. All ages are welcome.
Must you be an accomplished artist?
Do you have to know about Photoshop?
No and No.
Artist Joannah Layla (work right) had never manipulated her work digitally. Scientist Pierre Jean Alet (work below) didn’t normally use traditional art materials. Both did brilliantly in my live class.
Your classmates will include students, professionals, hobbiests, and established and aspiring illustrators who live all over the world.
It’s a great mix!
The main prerequisits are enthusiasm and willingness to put effort into learning and doing.
What you’ll need
You’ll get detailed info when you enrol regarding art materials and digital requirements. Your costs? The short answer is you can easily take this course on a very tight budge - see below.
Art Materials:
To start with you won't need much more than a pen or pencil and paper. Then you’ll get more info about materials as the course proceeds. You could do a very good job with just £25 worth of art supplies (about Euro 35, $40 US).
Computer Stuff:
You'll need access to a computer and scanner.
And Photoshop installed on the computer. You can download and use Photoshop free for 7 days, and work with another similar program (Photoshop Elements) also free, for another 30 days. After 37 days you'll have to either a) switch to another computer and get the free trials again, or b) subscribe to or buy one of the programs.
BTW, here’s a high quality, low-cost scanner that I love: Lide by Canon. +/-£45/ $60/ 55Euro
Work Place:
You’ll be working with paints, inks, pastels and spending time manipulating work digitally, so it’s a good idea to have a reasonable work place. This isn’t a course to take primarily by phone on a train, though that would work fine for parts. And developing your work on a laptop is easy to do anywhere.
questIons?
| ?email inquiries | ??frequently asked questions | If you have a question, you're welcome to email the course. But please allow a few days for a response. You might also consult Freqently Asked Questions - FAQs. |
thanks for your visit :)
Thanks for having a look!
If DrawColorClick might be for you, I look forward to having you join a class. If you do, you’ll soon be learning, exploring and doing remarkable illustrations!
Bill