Skip to main content
Short course

Illustration Drawn to Digital Short Course

Illustration Drawn to Digital Short Course | On Campus
Combine handmade and digital techniques in Illustration Drawn to Digital. Experiment with old and new technologies.

Next start months
January 2026
March 2026
July 2026
Tutor(s)
Augusta Akerman
Price
From £700.00

Course description

Course overview

Join this short course and experiment with combining old and new technologies to create beautiful illustrations, bringing together the handmade and the digital.

You'll start with handmade drawing, printmaking and mark-making and be encouraged to develop drawings and texture libraries.

With the guidance from your tutor, you will be encouraged to explore the transition between these two ways of working to create projects that can be printed and manipulated digitally, while still retaining the hand of the artist. By working in this way, you will be able to make digital technologies work for you and gain the confidence to use these to support your current practice.


Who this course is for

Any artist, designer or illustrator looking to use more handmade elements alongside digital work. Suitable for those looking to keep the traditional methods of mark-making alive without abandoning the benefits available with digital methods.

An ideal course for those wanting to find new approaches to their practice and find inspiration from working within an experimental environment.

Key information

Topics covered

  • Artist research, inspiration boards and project development
  • Creating handmade textures
  • Image and texture libraries
  • Printmaking (stamps, stencils, collage, mono printing)
  • Experimental painting
  • Specific areas of Adobe Photoshop
  • Cleaning of images
  • Adding digital colour
  • Digital Collage
  • Digital pattern repeats
  • Preparing artwork for print

Learning outcomes

  • An understanding of how personal artistic practice can be enhanced by digital means
  • Uploading work onto the computer to learn how to manipulate your designs in Adobe Photoshop
  • How to clean up images
  • Adding and experimenting with textures
  • Playing with the possibilities of pattern repeat and digital collage
  • Confidence and skills in using Adobe Photoshop to use the application in your own time to find new ways to add personal style to digital images
  • Digital badge and certificate of attendance

Materials

  • A laptop with access to Adobe Creative Cloud, plus a mouse if you have one
  • Please note: If you do not already have Adobe Creative Cloud, please sign up for a free 7 day trial of Adobe Creative Cloud for the duration of the course (to coincide with the start of your course)
  • Sketchbook and loose sheets of paper - size A4 or A3
  • Pencils for sketching
  • Access to a scanner, camera or smart phone to create digital images of your work. The device that you use should have the capability to transfer images to your laptop
  • Craft foam sheets - size A4 Craft Foam roller, Jakar or similar for rolling ink
  • Black printing ink
  • A perspex sheet or an old tray for rolling out ink - size A4 is fine or A3 is better
  • A scalpel
  • A cutting mat or rigid piece of card to cut on
  • Tracing paper size A4

Tutor

Augusta Akerman

Augusta Akerman is an Illustrator and Graphic Designer with 16 years experience of working across various creative industries. After Graduating from the Glasgow School of Art in 2008 with a BA Hons in Fine Art Photography she has worked as a Set Decorator and Graphic Designer for film, television, and commercials, before studying for an MA in Illustration at Camberwell College of Art in 2013.

Since 2014 she has been commissioned by the South London Botanical Institute to produce a bespoke wallpaper and was nominated as a 'One to Watch' in the Homes & Gardens Fabric Awards. She has exhibited her artwork in London and Edinburgh and has been a Senior Designer with MinaLima, the graphic design studio for the Wizarding World™, Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films.

More recently Augusta has worked with HarperCollins and The National Trust producing 24 illustrations for Britain's Ghosts by Anna Groves.

Book a course

Loading