Q: "What are some art school tips? Like getting into art school, being successful, best classes to take, etc."
Getting In
The first step to getting into a good art school is building a strong portfolio. While it's nice to show off your original characters and cartoon styles, the admissions guys at any art school would rather see life drawings. Sketches of your friends, your pets, that old coffee mug you left on your desk last week and never cleaned out. . . These are all perfect things to draw for your portfolio. Your portfolio should be at least 2/3 life drawing, with only a few personal pieces to show off your creativity. We all love to show off our creations, but art schools want to start you off with the basics of form and anatomy. They want to see that you're already getting an early grasp of these things.
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| Some pieces I would have had in my college entry portfolio. You want to demonstrate your skills with perspective, life drawing, value, expression, and so on. |
There are a few things that the admissions departments get really sick of seeing in portfolios. While there is nothing wrong with drawing these things, admissions departments usually take them as a hint of an artist who isn't serious. As unfair as it is, this is the sad truth.
Things to avoid putting in your portfolio:
- Fan art
- Anime-style drawings
- Dragons (This one really gets to me, but admissions departments have simply seen too many dragons in portfolios to take them seriously)
It's also a good idea to hunt down some weekend or Summer art programs to help you practice your life drawing and build your portfolio.
Simply the best thing to do for advice on your portfolio is to attend a National Portfolio Day. These are events where representatives from a huge range of art schools around the country will take a look at your portfolio and tell you what you should add or change to get into their school. You can also ask them questions and collect pamphlets on each school you're considering. It's a wonderful way to figure out your options. You can find all the information you need on National Portfolio Day, including their schedule, here: http://www.portfolioday.net/
(EDIT: For some reason, the Portfolio Day website seems to not be working right now. Hopefully it will be up again soon. If you want to know when and where your local Portfolio Day will be, leave a comment, and I'll gladly hunt down the information for you.)
Being Successful
There are two sides to being successful in art school: managing the college experience in general, and doing well as an art student. I've watched people struggle in both areas, so here are some tips on both.
College Life -
- Learn responsibility and independence. Grade school does a lot of hand-holding, but no one in college is going to baby sit you. You won't be constantly ordered and reminded to do homework, you won't have teachers policing the door for students skipping out on class. It's your job to do the work and listen to the lectures. If you don't take this responsibility, you simply fail class and get kicked out. No one will have sympathy for a slacking student.
- Stay on good terms with teachers and staff. You never know when you might be in desperate need of their help. Even if you simply hate one of your teachers, always treat them with respect. One day, your future may be in this person's hands. These people were hired to help you, not be your enemy.
- If living in a dorm or shared housing, always keep your roommate(s) and neighbors in mind. Ticking off your dorm-mates is a good way to get yourself kicked out onto the street, or at the very least a building full of enemies. There's nothing worse than dealing with someone who always yells and blasts music, or has no respect for your half of the room.
As an Art Student -
- Always accept critique from your teachers. You may not agree with what your teacher says, but it never hurts to consider their advice. Talking back or making excuses for yourself only tells everyone that you don't want to improve. You may hate what your teacher is saying, but the best response is to nod and say, "okay." You don't have to make the changes your teacher advises, as long as you're willing to listen to the advice without argument.
- Really take the time to do your homework. Some assignments will require 10+ hours of drawing, and your teacher can tell if you trimmed the time short. I'm a procrastinator myself, so I often pull all-nighters and go to class the next day on three or less hours of sleep. If you're a procrastinator too, stock up on enough caffeine and music to get you through the long nights. You WILL have days when you're awake for 24 hours straight.
- Draw outside of class. Classes teach you a lot, but you should always practice applying what you learn to drawings done in your own time. This is the best way to make sure you're really absorbing the information you're learning in class.
- Study the work of other artists at every opportunity you get. It's a great way to test what you've really learned. You may soon realize that your opinion of an artist's work has gone from, "That's really nice," to, "I love how the composition brings your eye to the figure, the high contrast and warm colors create a sense of fear, and you can just feel the tenseness in the figure's pose!"
- Make contacts. Try to stay in touch with the students and teachers you really like. Most teachers will be happy to give you advice and critique beyond class, and may even help you get a job someday. You also never know which of your fellow students may eventually run a prestigious gallery or be head of a company. It's always good to make friends and keep those connections open. (Similarly, try hard not to make enemies for the same reason.)
- Get to know students within other majors. You might not have much in common with that graphic design student or acting major, but they're always great people to know when you need a voice for your animation homework or a logo for your website. Plus they can give you fantastic insight or pointers that may help you with your own work.
Best Classes to Take
Every school will have a set curriculum that you will have to follow, so choosing clases will not be difficult. You'll most likely be required to take some form of entry-level still life class, at least one perspective class, and a swarm of figure drawing classes. This may vary depending on your major, but fine art, illustration, animation, and visual development (concept art for film) will all certainly require these classes.
If your school offers any animal drawing classes, I highly recommend taking them. The animal drawing class at my school is not required, but I strongly believe it should be.
Sculpting classes are also incredibly useful. There is a required figure sculpting class at my school, but I don't know if all schools require that non-sculpting majors take a similar class. Sculpting is important for understanding the planes of the human (or animal) figure in 3D space. It's amazing how much this knowledge will improve your drawings.
Overall, it's simply a good idea to take a wide variety of classes. Try not to get yourself stuck in one small area of art. While it's excellent to be an expert at one thing, it's even better if you know a little of this and that off to the side of our main focus. For example, my focus is storyboarding for animated film, but I've also taken classes in concept art, puppet making for stop motion, and I'm signed up for classes on game design this Summer. You can find more job opportunities after school this way.
As always, comment if you want to know more or have a question!
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