This course is an exploration of Photoshop’s Pen Toolset and Paths. The course will cover the creation, manipulation, and many uses of vector paths within Photoshop. Students will become familiar with using Photoshop’s Paths for a variety of real world tasks such as vector drawings, logo creation, clipping paths, cutouts and other effects that can be accomplished with Paths. Detailed step by step instructions as well as video examples provide the means for students to take control of this powerful but intimidating tool. Classes begin February 27th.

Your Instructor Kirk Nelson will cover the following topics and more.

Before Class

The Pen tool in Photoshop is one of the most avoided tools by the most Photoshop users. It may be explored or played with while using the program, but many users find in unintuitive and cumbersome to make a part of their normal workflow. There tends to be a strange level of intimidation regarding the Pen. This course is meant to change that. At the culmination of this class students should be as comfortable with the Pen as with any other tool in Photoshop.

Week One
The Pen is mightier than the sword, or the brush, or the clone stamp tool, or even the filter menu.

This week we’ll delve into what exactly the Pen does that is different than anything else in Photoshop, and why you’d want to use it. We’ll explore the interface and get some hands on time in Path wrangling.

Week Two
Now cut that out! Remove an object from a background without the Magic Wand tool!

Remove an object from a background without the Magic Wand tool!
This week we’ll see why the Pen is the “Anti-Magic Wand” tool. We’ll use it to cut an object out of the background of an image. We’ll explore the techniques the pros use and develop an efficient work flow for quickly creating precise clipping paths, and discuss why that’s a good thing.

Week Three
Illustrating in Photoshop, learning to draw a logo that can be scaled to any size without smudging .Learn to create tight vector illustrations in our favorite image editor. In a program where pixels reign supreme, the vectors tools are often forgotten. This week we’ll dust them off and see that Photoshop can draw!

Week Four
Keeping it real, practical path projects and Professional Pen practices

This week we’ll cover some real life applications of the Pen techniques and explore some of the secret tricks of the pros.

Open Studio Winter Session will begin on January 30th! Nocturne painting is a visual language that is often used within realistic treatments (such as Realism and Impressionism) to depict scenes evocative of night or subjects as they appear in a veil of light, in twilight, or in the absence of direct light. Many artists develop their own methods to create nocturnes unique to their styles. The particular method or style that an artist chooses to paint a nocturne may not be limited to realism. Nocturnal depictions have also been shown within impressionist and abstract works. Nocturnes are usually, but not always, inclusive of landscapes and cover the gamut of artistic periods, generally stretching from the southern and northern Baroque period of the early 17th century to the present. Artists often use various methods to depict nocturnes: washes of color, impasto methods, and linear treatments.

This class will experiment with the concept of nocturne painting which will include landscape, portrait and abstract. You will work with several brush categories such as Oils, Acrylics and Chalk to name a few. This class is perfect for the student whom wishes to paint from reference images or from scratch.

Join the fun in this creative and nurturing online class Open Studio and tradition for more than four years! Enroll Now