Sunday on Sunday

Sunday is homework day. I've just finished two pieces for my intermediate Illustrator class.

I take classes at American River College for two reasons. First, I want the free bus pass. I don't have much occasion to hop on a bus right now, but I want it in my pocket, just in case.

The other reason I take classes at ARC is to improve my skillset. I've got more than 30 years of experience in newspaper writing and editing. But, obviously, newspapers are not exactly hiring right now. So I've been expanding my skills with college classes.

So far I've taken a couple of classes in Linux, the Network+ exam preparation course, and a javascript class. I've worked my way through Adobe's Creative Suite, taking Flash and InDesign. (I have 20 years' experience with Photoshop, but I would be interested in an advance class if they offered it.) This year I'm working on my second Illustrator class.

I would love to find full-time work that put all of those skills together. Unfortunately, the only opportunities I've found have been entry-level jobs. I am amazed at what employers expect to get for $12 an hour. If I didn't have a mortgage to pay (and now a kitchen remodel), I'd take one of those entry-level jobs. I really like playing around with Photoshop and Illustrator. And having taken two classes in Illustrator now I'm kicking myself for never taking classes in Illustrator before.

The assignment due tomorrow is two drawings that include cars. We're practicing gradient skills. One drawing is supposed to be a monster car that starts with a pen and paper sketch. The other is a concept car. That too is supposed to start with a sketch, but my basic idea just needed a car to stretch. The only rule: No live-tracing photos to convert them to an illustrator document. We are, however, allowed to use the pen tool to trace and that's what I did.

I wrote about the monster car sketch in a post last week. (Here) Here's the final artwork:



For a concept car, I did a stretch Smart car. Everything on the illustration is created using the pen tool, except for word the "stretch."



I've got some of the other finished assignments online.

Illustrator Demos