ESP Biography



COURTNEY HILLIARD, MIT electrical engineer and digital artist




Major: Course 6

College/Employer: MIT Lincoln laboratory

Year of Graduation: 2010

Picture of Courtney Hilliard

Brief Biographical Sketch:

Courtney "Drew" Hilliard has been drawing since she could pick up a pen, to varying degrees of efficacy. She has worked in many media: Micron pen, pastels, oil paints, acrylic paints, graphite pencil, colored pencil (Prismacolor), and her primary medium, Photoshop.

When she isn't doing art, she is an electrical engineer who aims to improve brain-machine interfacing, work in neuroprosthetics, and specialize in analog design.



Past Classes

  (Clicking a class title will bring you to the course's section of the corresponding course catalog)

A4290: Costume Makeup 101 in Splash! 2010 (Nov. 20 - 21, 2010)
This isn't your grandma's makeup! Play around with costuming makeup and gain some tricks of the trade. Learn how to make fake wounds and scars; use props and prosthetics to change your look; experiment on yourselves and each other. You _must_ inform the teacher if you have an allergy to latex, aluminum, or any other compounds that may be common in makeup or costuming materials. Liquid latex is very common in costuming, and we'll be using a lot of it, so use your judgment.


A4291: Drawing Fantastical and Alien Creatures in Splash! 2010 (Nov. 20 - 21, 2010)
Want to do better than the loads of crappy dragon art out there on the Internets? Or maybe draw aliens that don't look like Star Trek characters? Want to sit and art with your pals while learning from each other and a teacher? This is the place to be. Drawing Fantastical and Alien Creatures is an interactive art class. Students will bring their own pencils and paper (or other art supplies) and learn how to create plausibly structured fictional non-human creatures. The class is question-based; what material is covered depends on what students ask, and they will brainstorm among themselves as well as receiving answers from the teacher.Want to do better than the loads of crappy dragon art out there on the Internets? Or maybe draw aliens that don't look like Star Trek characters? Want to sit and art with your pals while learning from each other and a teacher? This is the place to be. Drawing Fantastical and Alien Creatures is an interactive art class. Students will bring their own pencils and paper (or other art supplies) and learn how to create plausibly structured fictional non-human creatures. The class is question-based; what material is covered depends on what students ask, and they will brainstorm among themselves as well as receiving answers from the teacher.


A3043: The Basics of Drawing the Human Form in Splash! 2009 (Nov. 21 - 22, 2009)
Students will learn basic techniques for drawing people: the proportions of the human body, basic prominent musculature, some widely shown stances, and facial/hand structure in particular. Time permitting, shading may be introduced, but the class centers on using just line drawing to depict humans realistically. (No nude models will be used in this class.)


S2022: Basics of Circuit Design in Splash! 2008 (Nov. 22 - 23, 2008)
A basic introduction to circuits, including resistors, capacitors, inductors, and basic equivalent circuits. May extend to RLC circuits if mathematical background allows. The first half of the class is a lecture; the second half is a build-your-own project.