Project

2 – Doodle Brush MGD112–Illustrator 1

OVERVIEW ______________________________________________________________________________________
Adobe Illustrator is the industry-standard in drawing and illustration software. Drawing and sketching, whether you are
a full-time illustrator or simply sketching raw concepts and prototypes, is critical for a professional designer. Having
a foundational understanding of Illustrator’s drawing capabilities and tools is necessary for a designer at any level.
Whether you scan hand-drawn doodles into Illustrator or draw using Illustrator’s pencil & brush tools you can turn
any drawing into a vector image, color it, and add layers of texture. Handmade brushes are a fun & unique way to
customize your compositions—adding layers of depth, texture, value, and color beyond Illustrator’s basic shapes and
lines. This powerful combination of tools can take your design from flat and simple to dimensional and complex.

OBJECTIVES ____________________________________________________________________________________
In this assignment we will focus on turning your own hand-drawn doodle into a vector illustration and applying colors
using Live Paint. You will also create your own personal brushes and apply them as textural elements to your doodled
illustration. This project begins exploring design principles, elements, and overall composition. You will develop your
Illustrator skills using masks, layers, advanced drawing tools, live tracing, live painting, expanding images, grouping,
using the eyedropper tool, creating color palettes and themes, scanning images into Illustrator, and incorporating your
own Photoshop brushes. At the end of this project you will create a realistic, one-of-a-kind, professional illustration.

INSTRUCTIONS __________________________________________________________________________________
Size: 11x17 (portrait or landscape)
Part 1: You will sketch (by hand) in your sketchbook a minimum of 3 DIFFERENT “doodle” concepts of anything that
interests you. Your doodles can be an abstract shape design, an animal, a detailed cityscape, a natural landscape/
scene, or anything in-between. Your doodles need to focus on lines that connect to create shapes and planes. This is
important for the Live Painting technique in Illustrator. Do not get caught up with perfection, this project is about the
skills you will be learning in Illustrator and Photoshop and not the quality of the doodle itself. Your doodles need to
focus on lines that intersect to create shapes and planes. This is important for the Live Painting technique in Illustrator.
Make sure you have a minimum of 12 separate planes that can be painted in Illustrator. Use at least 6 different CMYK
colors in your design.
Part 2: You will create your own brushes in Photoshop using the technique you learn from the demo in class.
You will then bring your Colored Doodle into Photoshop to add depth using your custom brushes, layering the two
techniques into one final piece. Create a minimum of two unique brushes to add texture and depth. You must use
layers for adding texture in Photoshop. The more layers the better.

Final Presentation: Communicating with others and talking about your work is vital in the design field. Be ready to
talk about what you created. This will be digitally presented.
Upload a PSD file AND pdf file of your final art into Assignments under Project 2 as
LastnameFirstInitial_Ai1_P2Doodle.pdf AND Lastname.Firstname_P2Doodle.psd
LastnameFirstInitial_Ai1_P2Doodle_BrushDrawingScan.jpg REVISE after
LastnameFirstInitial_Ai1_P2Doodle_DoodleDrawingScan.jpg Critique, turn-in
LastnameFirstInitial_Ai1_P2Doodle_DoodleDrawingColored.ai next class
Upload 5 sentences minimum to Comments explaining your concept/rationale

MATERIALS • Flash Drive • Sketchbook • pencil • Illustrator

SCHEDULE

W 2/10
Wk 4 Demo 4. E4-Live Trace. Introduce P2 Doodle HW3: Doodle Drawing

M 2/15 Due HW3: Doodle drawing. Demo 5. E5 Creating Brushes. Work Time HW: P2
Wk 5
W 2/17 Work Day. Small Group In-Progress Critique P2

M 2/22 Work Day. HW: Complete P2, print

Wk 6 P2 Doodle Brush Critique Digital Presentations HW: Make changes to P2, final files
W 2/24
due by start of next class

MGD 112 Illustrator 1

MGD112–AI 1 P2 Doodle Brush Rubric Name:

Pts Avail Grading Element Avl. Earned Notes

Understanding: Met project Objectives

11x17 PSD file (portrait or landscape) 2
Created unique doodle 3
12 planes minimum 6
Used 6 colors minimum 3
Six colors are CMYK 3
Created/used 2 brushes minimum 4
Brushes added texture and depth 5
50 pts
Entire composition considered (negative
5
space, element sizes, etc.)
Completed piece looks finished–doodle
5
and brushes compliment one another
Demonstrated use of Live Trace/Paint 5
Used layers in Illustrator & PS file 6
Pushed the boundary of simplicity 3

Upload Files by deadline (1 pts)–used correct nomenclature (2 pts)

Uploaded final P2Doodle.psd layered file 5
Uploaded final P2Doodle.pdf file 5
25 pts Uploaded BrushDrawingScan.jpg file 5
Uploaded DoodleDrawingScan.jpg file 5
Uploaded DoodleDrawingColored.ai file 5

Presentation
Prepared for critique (file accessible,
10
presentation of work fluid, etc.)
25 pts
Participation in Critique 5
Reflection write-up is insightful 10

Lose up to 10 points for not making

-10
changes following Soft Critique.

Project Total /100

MGD 112 Illustrator 1

P2 –File Upload Cheatsheet
(All of these must be Uploaded to D2L

1. 2.

Final Doodle Project

1. PSD (with layers) AND
2. PDF
LastnameFirstInitial_Ai1_P2Doodle.psd
LastnameFirstInitial_Ai1_P2Doodle.pdf

Brush Drawing Photo or scan

Or if you draw in AI or PSD
jpg
LastnameFirstInitial_Ai1_P2Doodle_BrushDrawingScan.jpg

Doodle Drawing or Illustrator

Doodle before colored
jpg
LastnameFirstInitial_Ai1_P2Doodle_DoodleDrawingScan.jpg

Doodle Colored
ai
LastnameFirstInitial_Ai1_P2Doodle_DoodleDrawingColored.ai
P2 Doodle Brush Critique
MGD 112

Instructions:
1. Present your artwork for your breakout group to see. As the presenter, do not
contribute to the conversation about your piece until your group members have
fully discussed your piece.
2. For each presenter, discuss and answer the questions below. Each group
member should be answering at minimum 1 question about their peer’s
work. (Please write your name next to the questions you answer for points).
3. After your group is done discussing your piece, now you may contribute your own
thoughts to the discussion about your piece. Please contribute your own typed
explanation of your thoughts toward the critique of your piece for this discussion
as well. Things you could discuss could include:
a. Your thought processes behind the concept and creation of your piece.
b. What you think is working well in your piece
c. What think could be better in your piece

Group 1: Students A, B, C, D, E

Presenter: Student A

● Comment on the composition (placement of elements, organization of the piece)

○ It is obvious that the focus is the fish. The brushes and the color gradients
pull your eyes back to the fish. – Student B
● Comment on the color palette
○ The koi colors work very well. The teal/green fish contracts the orange-
red/firey fish and they complement each other. The gradient for the water
background has a subtle change and it’s not too dark and not too bright to
the koi. -Student C
● Comment on the brushes used (do they add depth, texture, etc. Can you tell
what the brushes are?)
○ There are so many different brushes and they give off so much texture
that I think it looks great. I like how one koi has more texture on the tail
than the other just because you can see that out in nature. The bubble
textures in the water fit very well and the floating leaves texture also give it
a very flowy feeling. -Student C
 ● What is working successfully in this piece? What about it is causing it to be
successful? (Composition, color, brushes, more planes, more contrast, etc.)
○ Very well balanced. It is easy to identify the focus of the composition. The
image beauty and serenity. – Student B
○ The detail in this piece works really well and makes the fishes to be very
interesting. – Student D
● What is not working successfully in this piece? What about these aspects could
be changed to improve these areas? (Composition, color, brushes, more planes,
more contrast, etc.)
○ It is excellent. Since I have to comment on something, I would contrast
the color green fish the same way the orange fish contrasts. That is the
only thing I can think of. It also doesn’t look like a grilled cheese lol. –
Student B
● Presenter’s self-reflection of critique
○ I really appreciate everyones feedback! I was concerned that I had to
many brushes but it sounded like everyone really liked the textures from
the brushes. I may look at tweaking the color of the teal Koi slightly so that
it pops a bit more. I also need to finish adding textures to the teal kois
scales.

Exit Ticket Final Instructions:

Choose a piece that you think is the strongest and send your answers in a private chat
or email to the instructor:

1. Whose piece do you think was the strongest?

a. I believe Student E had the strongest composition wise.
2. Why is it catching your eye?
a. The pastel color work, the interesting structure of the composition, the multi
directional cars, and the soft sunset gradient that the cars are in front of really
make the cars pop.
3. Why do you think it is the strongest?
a. Overall, though she still needs texture, and the black lines the cars are on
could stand to be removed, the interesting perspectives of the vehicles and
the overall color work were by far the strongest, and fit the best with the
overall theme and vibe she was going for. I think she has a really strong
vision of composition, and I think that with some more dedication it could
become a really interesting piece.