< ECU Directory

Robyn Drage

Continuing Studies Instructor

Availability:

Bio

Robyn is a visual artist, writer, designer and educator with a BA in Creative Writing from UBC and 10 years of experience in the animation industry as an editor, background artist, designer and art director. Her work has been exhibited in Vancouver and Toronto and is held in collections around the world. She joined ECU as a Continuing Studies instructor in 2025 and aims to help students develop their practices in physical and digital mediums, investigating what art making reveals about ourselves and how it connects us to communities and the people around us.

Websites:

Research Interests

Along with 10 years in animation, Robyn has worked in graphic design, communications and UX/UI design for public and private sector clients. In her personal practice, she works with paintings and text, exploring themes of history, memory, place and belonging.

Courses

Course Name Department Course Code Term
Painting CSPN 100 CS26/SU

Description

Embark on a 36-hour intensive course spread over 12 weeks. This course is an enhanced program based on student feedback, adding an extra 12 hours of immersive learning compared to our previous offering. Explore the core principles of painting as an expressive medium in this introductory course. Working with acrylic paint and mediums, you will study and practice paint-handling techniques such as blocking in, building up texture and glazing along with colour mixing and compositional strategies. Through exercises, material and technical demonstrations, presentations and exploration, you will learn the fundamentals of painting. While the focus of this course is the technical foundations of painting, students are encouraged to go beyond the basics and explore their own conceptual interests within assignment frameworks. Designed for students with little to no experience with painting, instruction includes preparation and use of materials, sketching for painting, and painting from observation.

Material List: Be prepared for your course. Download the material list to purchase items before your first class.

Pre-requisites

No prerequisites.

Software Essentials CSSO 101 CS26/SP

Description

Adobe Illustrator is industry-standard illustration and design software for vector artwork. In this introductory, technical-focused course, explore Illustrator's potential to create logos, custom typography, complex illustration, and design layouts for any media through short practical exercises. Create and transform shapes with paths, strokes, colour, gradients, brushes, blending modes and effects. Arrange objects and images with groups, layers, and clipping masks. Create typographic compositions and transform a raster image into a vector using image trace. Export your work for use with other Adobe software and media.

Material List: Be prepared for your course. Download the material list to source and purchase your supplies before your first class.

Upon successfully completing this course, students will receive a digital skills badge through Accredible, a digital credentialing service. To learn more about Accredible or to opt-out of receiving a digital badge for CS courses, please complete this online form.

Pre-requisites

No prerequisites.