Documentation

Required Reading:

Documenting Your Work

Why we’re doing this:
We will develop our professional skills by practicing digitally archiving our work. It is important to learn how to create effective high-quality photos because it will not only prepare us for the basic requirements of being an arts professional, it is also a skill that will help you in any field.

Additionally for art/design majors, in your senior year, you will be required to create an online portfolio of all your work, and it is easier to take these photos/videos semester-by-semester instead of trying to document everything during your final semester of school.

What’s required:

FOR FINAL DOCUMENTATION – create a NEW album “Your Name – FINAL” on Flickr

  • scan ALL your in-class watercolor drawings
  • scan ALL your projects (1, 2, 3, and final) [you can photograph project 1 because it’s so big, but the others need to be scanned]
  • sketchbook drawings 05, and 06

We will do this once at midterm, and once at the final. Photos or scans of all your drawings and sketchbook assignments have to be uploaded to our class Flickr page, AND put in an album titled with your Full Name.

Login: graphic_novels@yahoo.com
Password: spring2016

  1. The files must be 300dpi and at least 5 inches on its short edge. If you are scanning, make sure the color settings are set correctly (do a test scan to see if it is working), or if you are photographing, make sure the lighting is even and/or that you are color-correcting in Photoshop. The images you submit must look like your original drawings.
  2. Be sure to crop the images to include only the drawing (no spiral bindings or space beyond the page).
  3. All your images should be named as follows:
    LASTNAME_assignment_title.jpg
    Use these same file names as the captions for your images.
  4. All documentation must be uploaded no later than 1 hour before the start of class on the day it is due.

Grading Criteria:

  • Must be turned in on-time in order to receive any credit
  • All the assignments are included in your named Flickr Album – 2pts
  • Photographed from a level angle? (no slanted edges because you are above/below the drawing as you shoot) – 1pt
  • Lighting is even across each page/sheet – 3pts
  • Color quality must be accurate in comparison to the original piece – 2pts
  • Good contrast (not over-manipulated via filters/adjustment layers) – 2pt
  • Pages are cleanly cropped (no spiral bindings or backgrounds showing) – 3pts
  • Image Sharpness (not fuzzy/blurry) – 2pts
  • Correct file names/captions – 1pt
  • 300dpi – 2pts
  • at least 5 inches on the short side – 2pts

SCANNING in the McCuskey Lab:

Use the Image Capture application. Image Capture Application

How to COMBINE multiple scans into a single image (if your sketchbook doesn’t fit nicely on the scanner):

  • Scan both halves of the drawing. Keep both files open.
  • Follow the directions in this video (it can take a little while to load): http://screencast.com/t/ccgj289X

EXAMPLES OF GOOD & BAD documentation:

I scanned this sketchbook page (this would get an “A”):
This is what the student turned in (this gets an “F”):

This image is poorly lit, poorly cropped, crooked, it has a date/time stamp (NEVER turn on your date/time stamp when documenting artwork).  Additionally, the file was mis-labeled.