Introduction to Digital Art

Subtitle: Basics of Art & Design with Adobe Creative Cloud
Author: Kristen R. Kennedy
Editor: Kelsey Smith

This book was created with the help of a grant called the Open Textbooks Pilot grant. This grant came from a group called the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), which is part of the U.S. Department of Education. However, the ideas and information in this book aren't necessarily what the Department of Education officially believes. You should not assume that the U.S. government has approved everything in this book.

License Information:
This book is shared using something called a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License. In simple terms, this license means people are allowed to copy, change, or build on this book—even to make money from it—as long as they give credit to the original source and share their new version under the same kind of license. If you use material from this book somewhere else, you should give credit to the College of Lemoore in Lemoore, California.

Some parts of this book, however, are not covered by this license. This includes material that came from other sources with different Creative Commons licenses, such as "ND" licenses (which don't allow changes to the original work). It also does not include material that copyright holders gave the author special permission to use. Some examples of student work appear in this book with the students' permission, but that work is protected—it cannot be copied or shared outside of this textbook.

Image Disclaimer:
The pictures and diagrams in this book are either openly licensed, in the public domain (meaning no one owns the copyright), or used because of "fair use" rules that allow limited use of copyrighted material for education. Some images were made by students; these are used with their permission, and all rights belong to them. If you own the rights to an image in this book and did not agree to have it used this way, you can contact the author at kristenkennedy@whccd.edu to have it removed.

Cover Design: The cover art was created using an AI art program called DALL-E 4.0.

How AI Tools Were Used to Make This Book:
An AI chatbot called ChatGPT (versions 3.5, 4, and 4.0) helped create this textbook in several ways:

• It helped build outlines for each chapter based on the course's actual learning goals.
• It acted like an editor and art teacher, helping to make the writing clearer, cutting out repeated information, and suggesting extra details.
• It helped write citations (source credits) in MLA format and build a glossary (a list of important word definitions).
• It helped format the practice assignments.

The AI program DALL-E 4.0 was used to create original AI-generated images for the textbook.

Another AI tool, called Grammarly, was used to check grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. While writing, the author used Grammarly's AI to make sentences more direct, more persuasive, simpler, shorter, more detailed, more constructive, more assertive, and to catch mistakes.

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Contents

Preface
About this Textbook .......................................................................... 9
Authors' Intentions .......................................................................... 9
How to Use This Textbook ................................................................ 10
Our Educational Philosophy .............................................................. 10
Acknowledgments ............................................................................ 10

Foreword ....................................................................................... 12

Chapter 1: The Digital Art Revolution ............................................ 15
Learning Objectives ......................................................................... 15
Introduction to Digital Art ................................................................ 16
What is Digital Art? .......................................................................... 16
Evolution of Digital Art ..................................................................... 16
Cultural Significance of Digital Art .................................................... 16
The Creative Process in Digital Art .................................................... 17
Evolution of Digital Art ..................................................................... 18
The Contemporary Digital Art Scene .................................................. 21
Conclusion ....................................................................................... 23

Chapter 2: Digital Art Foundations ................................................ 24
Learning Objectives ......................................................................... 24
Introduction .................................................................................... 25
Digital Art Studio Set-Up .................................................................. 25
Exploring Digital Art Software ........................................................... 28
Adobe Cloud Software ...................................................................... 31
Interface Metaphors ......................................................................... 33
Exploring Digital Color Management and Color Profiles ...................... 35
Resolution ....................................................................................... 37
Conclusion ....................................................................................... 43

Chapter 3: Web Wizards & Digital Sources ...................................... 44
Learning Objectives ......................................................................... 44
Introduction .................................................................................... 45
Legal and Ethical Considerations ....................................................... 45
Image Search on the Web ................................................................. 45
Advanced Search Techniques ............................................................ 46
Copyright & Licensing Your Work ....................................................... 52
Appropriation ................................................................................... 55

Chapter 4: File Organization for Creatives ....................................... 58
Learning Objectives ......................................................................... 58
Introduction .................................................................................... 59
Digital Art Asset Management ........................................................... 59
Best Practices for Storing and Sharing Files/Data ................................ 62
Conclusion ....................................................................................... 64

Chapter 5: The Digital Design Process ............................................ 65
Learning Objectives ......................................................................... 65
Introduction .................................................................................... 66
The Concept and Design Process ....................................................... 66
Ideation in Digital Art ....................................................................... 68
Compositional Elements and Principles of Design ............................... 70
Compositional Concepts of Design ..................................................... 73
Compositional Techniques ................................................................ 78
Visual Hierarchy in Design ................................................................. 80

Lesson 1: Vector Graphics (Adobe Illustrator) .................................. 84
Vector Assignments ......................................................................... 84
What is Logo Design? ........................................................................ 85
Gestalt Theory in Relation to Figure-Ground Studies ............................ 86
Quick Tool Tutorials: Vector Graphics in Adobe Illustrator .................... 90
Additional Resources ........................................................................ 96
Vector Graphic Exercises ................................................................... 97
Portfolio Project: Reimagining a Popular Logo with a Humorous Twist .... 109

Lesson 2: Digital Photography (Lightroom) ...................................... 112
Photography Assignments ................................................................. 112
What is Photography? ...................................................................... —
History of Photography .....................................................................