Looking to make your mark in the digital arts? The Digital Arts Online Training Program will give you the education you need. You'll gain hands-on experience in fundamental technical and creative skills in digital imaging, traditional drawing, and digital illustration. You will master the intricacies of Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, build your understanding of color, and explore the representation of form through vector illustration and drawing.

Hands-on projects focus on core skills and provide you with experience in traditional and digital media. Class assignments include digital imaging, vector drawing, traditional drawing, color and composition, and editorial illustration.

Upon registering, you're given an initial thirty-six weeks to complete this program.  Should you need more time beyond the thirty-six weeks, an extension of six months is available with a fee.

As a student, you will learn the following:

1. Digital Imaging:
   Your work will demonstrate entry-level professional Photoshop skills and effective decisions in selecting and editing images. You will be able to improve images for professional publication by retouching and correction, and create realistic or imaginative images by compositing or collage.
2. Color:  
   You will develop distinctive color palettes based on the principles of color harmony. Your work will exhibit a sophisticated use of color and contrast, the ability to research colors and make choices that are appropriate for each client and project.
3. Vector Art:  
   You will develop entry-level professional skills in creating vector art illustrations in Illustrator, using shape drawing and freehand drawing/tracing tools, Pen tool, type tools, and basic effects. You will be able to create simple, stylized logos, icons, and illustrations for effective visual communication.
4. Basic Drawing:  
   You will be able to create basic line drawings using pencil and paper following the principles of perspective and proportion. You will be able to identify and draw positive and negative space in a drawing subject.
5. Advanced Vector Art:  
   You will develop an expanded range of skills in Illustrator for creating photo-realistic illustrations, complex patterns, and richly illustrated designs. You will be able to use color sampling, meshes, blends, masks, 3D tools, and tiles to create both realistic and stylized artwork.
6. Intermediate Drawing:  
   You will develop drawing skills that show the ability to analyze a subject, represent realistic form and perspective, manipulate value and color, and reflect contemporary stylistic approaches. Your work will be informed by subject, lighting, color, and media choices.
7. Vector Illustration:  
   You will be able to create straightforward, clear, balanced, and stylized icons, sequential illustrations, logos, and editorial illustrations using Illustrator's shape tools, freehand drawing tools, and classic illustration techniques. Your work will show an ability to communicate complex graphic and editorial concepts in digital form.

1. Photoshop Basics
2. Color Theory
3. Illustrator Basics
4. Intro to Drawing
5. Illustrator Advanced
6. Drawing I
7. Digital Illustration Advanced

This program consists of seven required modules. Module descriptions are as follows:

Photoshop Basics
Get a thorough grounding in Adobe Photoshop, the premiere digital imaging program for graphic and digital designers. Hands-on projects show how to select, enhance, distort, color, scale, and manipulate images and artworks—or create them from scratch. Every designer must tame this creative powerhouse of a program.

Color Theory
Focus on developing appropriate color systems for graphic design projects. Projects explore the principles, terminology, and applications of color theory, with an emphasis on manipulating color. A working knowledge of the expression and perception of color, and color interaction, lends credibility and sophistication to a designer's work

Illustrator Basics
Build a working knowledge of Adobe Illustrator, the graphic designer's vector program of choice. You’ll explore selection tools, drawing tools, layers, the pen tool, transformations and distortions, type tools, and modifying paths and shapes. Tapping into the power of vector software allows you to produce detailed and scalable art for almost any application.

Intro to Drawing
Learn basic drawing techniques and how to see and think about form and space. You'll get a better understanding of visual forms and representing those forms on paper. Class projects involve sketches of contours, negative space, and simple and complex forms.

Illustrator Advanced
Gain a working knowledge of Illustrator's advanced features, from tough Pen tool challenges to gradient meshes, symbols, and effects. Students learn how to create photo-realistic illustrations, complex patterns, and rich designs, speeding their efforts with workflow features. The course builds on basic Illustrator skills to tackle high-end projects with depth, dimension, and wow-power.

Drawing I
Learn how to analyze what you see in the world around you and communicate it on paper. Through hands-on projects, and guided by a professional artist, you will explore the critical concepts of line, mass, form, perspective, value, and composition, building a solid foundation for all your art and design work. And most importantly, you'll also discover that drawing can be fun. Did you know that spheres have inner edges? Or why artists measure with their thumbs? Grab your charcoal and chalk pastels... this course is your first step to developing your craft as an artist.

Digital Illustration Advanced
Learn advanced illustration and Adobe Illustrator techniques for communicating your creative concepts. Through detailed, step-by-step lectures, learn how a professional illustrator approaches creating editorial illustrations, icons, retro poster designs, 3D illustrations, and restaurant identity designs

The certificate program is designed for adult learners interested in building skills and portfolio for a design career. Students can enroll at any time, with monthly class starts. The program is open admissions: students must be 18 or over and provide high school or college transcripts prior to starting classes.

Students must have a computer (PC or Mac) and an Internet connection (56 Kbps modem or faster). For any courses with software requirements, computers must meet software manufacturers' system requirements. Required software and technology:

1.  Adobe Photoshop CS4 or CS5
2.  Adobe Illustrator CS4 or CS5
3.  A digital camera for photographing drawing work
4.  Basic drawing supplies including pencils and sketch paper.  The Intro to Drawing course and Drawing I course will provide specifics and a discount code for art supply site utrecht.com.

No textbooks are required for this program.

Students will receive critique and feedback from a faculty of art and design professionals. Instructors for this program include:

Andrew Shalat is an author, designer/illustrator, educator, and Mac expert. Since 1985 he has been designing and writing articles about Macintosh, Mac software, and publishing technologies that have appeared in Macworld, maccentral.com and macweek.com (for which he was a columnist writing "Shalat's Web"). He has been a regular speaker/faculty member at Macworld Expo since 2001 and has written three books: How to Do Everything with Online Video (McGraw-Hill, Osborne), Do It Yourself Mac Projects (McGraw-Hill), and MacDesign Out of the Box (Peachpit). Andrew is a regular contributor to design and Macintosh related sites including Inside Mac Radio, InDesign Magazine, and Creativepro.com. His design work covers a large range of media including book, CD and DVD covers, brochures, catalogs, outdoor signage, print ads, artwork, logos, Flash and Web design, and grocery lists. Over the past two decades, Andrew has taught literature, writing, Web design, and print design.

Jordon Schranz is a New York/New Mexico-based visual artist, musician, curator, and educator whose work focuses on the idea of social and political interaction and their underlying cultural structures. Jordon earned his BFA in Painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Currently he is working in Las Cruces, New Mexico on an extensive project based on security camera footage and themed around issues of privacy and surveillance. In addition, Jordon is an active member of the New York experimental music scene, regularly curating, performing, recording, and promoting avant-rock, free jazz, noise, and experimental music performances in addition to running Tigerasylum. Jordon is the Director of Fine Arts for the Sessions Online School of Fine Arts and an instructor at the Las Cruces Museum of Art and the Preston Contemporary Art Center.

Michael Hamm is a freelance designer and Web developer with over a decade of experience in the creative field. Based in Washington state, Michael provides design solutions for clients across the country through his company ClayEdward Design. Prior to working on his own, Michael worked for JPMorgan Chase in Houston, Texas as an interactive designer. His work has been published in various Web design books and magazines and he is a regular contributor to Layers Magazine. In addition, he has served as technical editor on several design books published by Friends of Ed. Michael recently co-authored Introduction to Web Design Using Dreamweaver published by Glencoe/McGraw-Hill. Michael is an Adobe Certified Instructor in Adobe Illustrator and has a Diploma in Graphic Design from the Art Institute of Houston. Michael is the founder, designer, programmer, and writer of PointsandPaths.com, a Web site that grew from his passion for illustration software and all things vector.