Ramblings:
Classroom Demos
by Ron Hill

04.22.08
In my work as a Commercial Art teacher, I end up with a lot of
illustrations I created as demos before the class, some that
are unique enough from my everyday cartoon style that I thought
it would be fun to post here, with a brief description of the
accompanying assignment.

Pen and Ink Character Illustration
Uncle Einar from Ray Bradbury's classic short story of that name.
Assignment: Create a full-figure illustration of a character from
prose fiction. Assessment considers thought process, thumbnails,
final pencil sketch and final ink drawing.
Teaching Points: Figure construction, line art technique to
achieve shade and value
Core Subject Integration: Language arts, literature

Photo Illustration
Acrylic painting
Assignment: Using found images on the internet or creating their own digital
images, creating a photo-montage and applying a filter to unify the design.
Teaching Points: Design Theory, Technology, Photoshop tools and effects
Core Subject Integration: Language arts, literature

Mass Market Paperback Cover
Acrylic painting
Assignment: Using opaque medium, create a color cover
art and then scan and design the text to complete a book
cover sample for their portfolio. Assessment considers
thought process, thumbnails, final pencil sketch and
and painting technique, as well as the digital completion
of integrating text and graphics.
Teaching Points: Figure construction, color theory, design
process, typography, technology applications
Core Subject Integration: Language arts, literature

Science Spot Illustration
Watercolor
Assignment: This is a 1-day assignment. The scenarion
is that the student must complete a spot illustration
for a nature guide of a specific bird. They are shown the
style that is to be used, and they have to complete the
vignette by the end of the day (actual time: 2.5 hours).
Assessment considers thought process, thumbnails, final
pencil sketch and and painting technique, as well as time
management.
Teaching Points: real-world deadline situations,
watercolor and color theory
Core Subject Integration: Science, business

Click on an image to see a larger version in a separate window.

Scratchboard Illustration
Assignment: Create an animal illustration and render the drawing in line-art on
scratchboard, Then scan the art and add color using photoshop.
Teaching Points: Drawing, shade, value, impact of color, technology and image
manipulation using layers and brush tools in Photoshop
Core Subject Integration: Science

If you have comments on art or teaching, email me.

Art and comments copyright 2008 Ron Hill.