Color Theory in Adobe Illustrator.

After I go over color theory, it's best to put that theory into practice. I generally have the students create a twelve-color color wheel that is "out of the ordinary" (not the usual circles with colors in them) to show their knowledge, and then move the unit towards a Monochromatic Portrait. By the end of the color unit, the students know color theory, portraiture in Adobe Illustrator, and acquire awesome Pen Tool skills.

Here are some examples of the color wheels, and the requirements/rubric sheets:

Color Wheel Requirements

Color Wheel Rubric

Moving on in this post...once the color wheels are/were completed, the students begin/began their Monochromatic Portraits. I used to just have the students pick someone they like to trace in Adobe Illustrator and turn them into avatars. This year I decided to get a little "deeper" and have the students choose someone they consider a hero to portray. I actually created a hero unit in a grad class, and wanted to use one of the lessons from that, so this became the hybrid.

At first the students felt a bit overwhelmed when they saw examples of what they were going to do. Once they actually began the assignment, they liked their work. The requirements sheet and rubric are pretty self explanatory with what the kids need to do. I will also include a homework sheet I made up before the students began the assignment.

Hero Homework

Monochromatic Portrait Requirements

Monochromatic Portrait Rubric