You might remember the post that I wrote over a week ago about the Skillshare class that I had just signed up for. The two-week long session (now almost over) titled Digital Illustration: Communicate with Color, Pattern, and Texture, has been lead by the talented designer / illustrator Brad Woodard. I went into the class with no abilities in the Adobe Illustrator program whatsoever. I’ve quite literally opened my ancient version of the program about three times in the past five years…attempted to draw something as basic as a straight line, only to be immediately baffled and scared away by how nonsensical it appeared to be.

But since Illustrator is something that I’ve always wanted to learn, I decided that this class could finally be the perfect opportunity to dig in and see how far I could get (even though I’ve been secretly terrified of making a fool out of myself). I do have to add, that my self-taught (sufficient at best) knowledge of Photoshop has most definitely been a huge asset to me over the past week of class, since a lot of that program’s functionality behaves similarly to that of Illustrator. Even still, it’s been a huge challenge…and I’ve loved it!

Click image for a larger view

The class assignment was to draw our own personal interpretation of either the word “loud” or “quiet.” Can you guess which one I picked? I’ve followed all of Brad’s lessons (taught by video) and explored all the resource links he has shared, and have gotten as far the illustration at the top of the page (a fully colored piece with no texture). There has been a lot of floundering for me along the way, but my fellow Skillshare students (who come from an awesome array of backgrounds and experience levels) have been more than willing to share helpful tips and tricks to keep me going. That paired with some serious gems of wisdom tucked inside of Brad’s videos have left me with an overwhelmingly positive takeaway from the class.

Unfortunately it seems that my lack of Adobe Illustrator skills may have finally posed a roadblock too large for me to overcome. After spending hours trying to get my decrepit Illustrator program to mirror the steps that Brad demonstrated for the creation of custom textures and patterns, I’ve realized that it is probably not going to happen. I’m truthfully really sad to get this far and then not be able to complete the rest of the assignment. Applying texture/patterns to my illustration was the part I have most been looking forward to. Obviously my piece would have also been improved upon through this final missing step…so that’s a bummer. In any event, I will keep trying (maybe I’ll get lucky)…but even without the icing to my virtual cake, I still cannot more highly recommend Brad’s Skillshare class. It was incredibly wonderful, inspiring, and more than worth the measly $15 I paid for such a massive amount of learning! If you missed taking the class this time around and were interested, be sure to head over and sign up for his next session. You won’t regret it! xo Ez

P.S. You can see illustrations from students who took this session, right here. There is some really wonderful work to be seen.

Right before leaving on our move, I posted a brand new illustrated print in my Society6 Shop: Fiona and Her Carrot Cake Ice Cream Cone. I love imagining the lives of the little creatures that I draw, and for this one I envisioned a cheeky little bunny who loves nothing more than to treat herself to a cone of her favorite ice cream flavor after a long hard week. Being a bunny is tougher than it looks!

You can find more illustrated prints (plus pillows and greeting cards) in my shop.