Assignment for Jan 21st:

For those of you who may want to rotate your rectangles, you can rotate any object by hitting the R key, or clicking the rotate tool icon in the toolbar to the left.

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In the first two days of class, we have covered a few basic tools!  To better familiarize yourself with the interface, we are going to use the most basic of these tools to create a self portrait!

Directions:  

Use the rectangle tool to create a self portrait with personality! You are allowed to use an image from photo booth as reference.  The main requirement for this project is that YOU ARE ONLY ALLOWED TO USE THE RECTANGLE TOOL!

You can still create multiple layers to arrange your work, or use the selection tools to modify your work as you see fit.

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STEPS FOR ACCOMPLISHING PROJECT:

1) Create a photo to use as reference!  In class, we took photos using photobooth.  You can save that image to your desktop, or your documents folder.  Once saved, you can bring that image into illustrator by the following:

1. At the menu above, click on FILE ----> PLACE  to load an image onto the workspace.  You will have to scale the size of the image to use it.
2. (The easier approach)  Click and hold the icon of image wherever it is stored on your computer.  Drag that icon into your blank workspace illustrator, and the image should automatically pop up.
• ********We had some issues with using this particular skill on our accounts, so you may have to work on "Student" to get adding a reference image to work.

2) Create your image!  I am expecting to see a basic treatment of the background as well.  Apply the knowledge you have to create a color scheme that enhances the photo you took!  I showed some examples in class, and I'll include the example I made below:

The picture above has a very direct interpretation of my reference photo.  If you look at the image, you can see that there are a variety of approaches you can take to create your portrait:

• Layering rectangles on top of each other to create lighting.
• Using a variety of large and small rectangles to create patterns.
• Selecting specific colors to enhance the mood of your image.  (not done so much with this example, but you are allowed to go much further with yours)

WHY ARE WE DOING THIS PROJECT?
The best thing we can do is understand that the software we use in class is nothing more than a tool.  Because of this, this project is designed to show you that it is possible to create something interesting using the bare-minimum of tools.  Grading wise, I am mostly interested in seeing you become familiar with these tools, so feel free to experiment in this project!  Future projects will have much more specific parameters for grading.

Please have this project completed by tuesday, and email me if you have any questions!