First Time With Illustrator

After finishing our first sketch, we moved into Illustrator. We learned how to use the shape tool, the pencil tool, and the shaper too. For the first project, I made an owl. We sketched it out first so we knew what we were doing. I used smooth lines and stars, for texture, to make my owl. Even though it doesn't look like an actual owl, I like to believe its recognizable. I used mostly gray colors, but I gave it yellow eyes and a red bowtie. I sued curvy shapes and made sure it filled up the space. I didn't add too much depth, but I wanted it to be that way. I did, however, make the wing and feathers a darker gray then the body.

I had a bit of trouble getting used to Illustrator, as moving to a new platform isn't always easy. We watched video tutorials to learn how to use the tools, but it tok a bit to get them to work the way I wanted. Whenever I tried to use the eraser, it would add lines where the eraser had gone over. Once I finally got the hang of it, it wasn't too bad. I tok awhile trying to get the body done, but everything went by a lot faster after that.

For the next project, we used the shaper tool. We had to recreate what we had seen in the video to get used to using it. Mine was giving me a hard time because it wouldn't erase certain lines I was trying oh so hard to get rid of. After awhile I just turned it in as is. I had time left over, so I decided to recreate the Colorado flag, because a step in the process reminded me of it. Though that one seemed easier, it still gave me a bit of a hard time. I couldn't seem to get the lines in the background to go straight across, but I got them as close as I possibly could.

Its been two weeks since we started using Illustrator. Im happy to say that I am starting to warm up to it. I has a very simple design the makes it good for beginners and experts to use. I am excited to see what the rest of the quarter has in store for us in graphic design and what the rest of the semester has in store for us in e-Comm.

First Graphic Design Project

     For our first project in graphic design, we were supposed to draw what graphic design meant to us.  I drew the fist thing it reminded me of which was the apple logo and apps. In my drawing, I had the apple logo in the middle with a bunch of apps surrounding it. I was going to have them fade in, but I remembered too late to add that in. I simply used the colors that were in the logos, but i would have liked for them to be brighter and bolder.
     I used color throughout my entire picture, except for where I didn't have any apps. There wasn't much texture to the picture, but I think that the way the closed pencils look against the paper counts. I made the apple logo the biggest and made the apps smaller, demonstrating size. I used the apple logo and squares with rounded corners for shape. I used spacing by putting the apple logo in the middle and putting a bit of space between it and the apps around it. I had a bit of value in my picture, but would have had more had I gone through with my plan to have the apps fade in and get bolder as you moved away from the center.
     I am very proud of what I was able to make for my first sketch. We had a prompt that was very linient and you could take in any direction you wanted. Sure, there were some things that I could have done or added in, but I think the work I have done is great. I really enjoyed the process of thinking of and sketching out your drawing. I am looking forward to the rest of the quarter in graphic design.