Art School with these Qualities?

College Majors Visual Arts and Film Majors
1

<p>Hi everyone!! I'm really not sure how to compare art schools with academic schools that have art programs, but I'm looking for a school that best matches this:</p>

<p>One with VERY GOOD academics as well as great art INSTRUCTION. I want to learn as well as having creative freedom. I'm not sure if most art classes are like the ones at my high school, but we basically just get an assignment and do it, with no instruction or techniques on how to make it look beautiful. This being said, things that require some more learning aspects (like mixing color, painting in general, ceramics and art metals, digital art) are all based on things i've looked up at home on youtube, so even though i have taken classes in all these areas, my skills are not that great. i have developed pretty good drawing skills, however, and this is what I would like to pursue.</p>

<p>Now, keeping in mind that I am only a sophomore in high school, and will inevitably grow and develop skills much higher than the ones I have now, this is my work (not a portfolio, just my deviantart):
emollience's</a> deviantART gallery
also keep in mind (like i say in the descriptions of most of the pieces) that these are very bad quality photographs of my drawings!!!</p>

<p>Seeing this, do you think that I will improve enough to be RISD quality?
I'm asking because I have found that RISD and Brown have a dual program with academics and art that spans five years and would satisfy my want of an academic and artistic education!
If anyone is involved in this program, or knows someone who is, can you please give me some insite in it? It is too overbearing with work? is it extremely hard to get into? I don't want to drown myself too much that I don't have time to have a life outside of school, but I don't want a half-a**ed education either!</p>

<p>The only other art schools i've looked at in depth are Pratt, the art program of University of Chicago, and the school of the art institute of chicago. So far, I like the dual program in Providence the most, and my sights are set there.</p>

<p>So, are there any other schools I should look at? What do you know about this dual-program? Is Pratt a better art school than RISD?</p>

<p>Questions!</p>

2

<p>ah. This is the reason I’ve been looking at unis in large arts cities. Even if the school’s art department isn’t the best, there are dozens of galleries, museums, and studios nearby.</p>

<p>Ivies tend to have great art departments… so do large unis. </p>

<p>I applied to UChicago… and was looking at NYU, Columbia, UCLA …</p>

<p>The arts cities I was looking at :</p>

<p>LA
NY
Chicago
Seattle </p>

<p>Large cities [that are rather artsy] will tend to have really good art studios and classes as well… so don’t limit yourself to ONLY an art+academics school. </p>

<p>If i were you, I would talk to the art teachers at school and your academic counselors. If you plan to go into a highly academic major [science, math … etc.] and plan to study art seriously as well… you will be really overwhelmed. Both require much time, dedication and work. I’m not trying to discourage you, just trying to get you to be realistic about this. </p>

<p>Plus, what kind of art were you planning on studying at college? [that would help this discussion a bit]</p>

<p>As for the Brown/RISD thing… I do know people who got into the program but decided to go to other universities… and I know several friends who go to RISD only. They really enjoy it there :] </p>

<p>I could try to get back in touch if you have specific questions.</p>

<p>THE FOLLOWING IS CRITIQUE ON ART. YOU CAN CHOOSE TO IGNORE IT</p>

<p>Also, when you’re doing celeb portraits and the sort… [colleges don’t like seeing that in portfolios x_o … but anyhow…] Draw what you SEE not what you think you see. Look at your pieces in the mirror every so often to look for imbalances…</p>

<p>AND, most importantly, study from life. Despite the bad photos, I can see you are copying shades more than copying shapes. Study facial anatomy [bones, muscles… ] and how the muscles fold and stretch as you make different expressions and/or speak. </p>

<p>Your shading is good considering you’re a sophomore… but pay attention to anatomy! D:</p>

<p>I had the problem when I was freshman/sophomore too… </p>

<ul>
<li>try not to achieve the same level of detail on all parts of the face. Imagine looking at your own face in the mirror. If you focus on the tip of your nose, most of the rest of your face will be in various degrees of blurry-ness [depending on how far they are from the rest of your face] Paying attention to things like that make it easier to produce a convincingly photo-realistic piece.</li>
</ul>

<p>I’m a senior. People usually ignore crits unless there’s something to prove that the critiquer actually does art.</p>

<p>Here’s my DA : [wackypenguin</a> on deviantART](<a href=“http://wackypenguin.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/]wackypenguin”>http://wackypenguin.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/)</p>

3

<p>wow! your DA is amazing!! I know that I shouldn’t be drawing well known people but they’re the only HD photos I can find to draw from :stuck_out_tongue: But yeah I totally get what you’re saying on the shapes instead of shading, that was really great criticism! That’s the kind of insight that I DON’T get in my art classes at school. </p>

<p>I’ve talked with my art teacher about post-secondary education and basically all she’s had to say was that the local schools are pretty nice. MIAD in milwaukee, that is. Personally, I don’t want to go to school close by because I would rather not be expected to come home every weekend to visit family. It’s very stressful here and I’d rather be somewhat detached from home so I could focus on my studies.</p>

<p>As for my guidance counselor, they are pretty worthless at my school. I haven’t talked to the career counselor yet, as she is the only one who is willing to go and research colleges for students, but the basic counselors focus way more on the average students than the “gifted” ones. My grades and classes give me a very broad selection of schools where I could go, but our counselors focus on community college and scholarships for in state education.</p>

<p>I’ve talked to one person who is enrolled at RISD currently, and she said that her friends in the visual arts department really enjoy it, except for the fact that it is extremely time consuming and they don’t have time to take any of the Brown classes that are offered. However, the dual program that I was talking about is a 5 year program that allows you the time to pursue two degrees. Or, it says that at least. I guess was I was looking for is if this program really was as great as both schools make it out to be :p</p>

<p>The degrees I would most likely be looking at are (at RISD) a drawing one of some sort, either illustration, painting (if I develop some better painting skills) or graphic design if my graphics classes give me some decent foundation and (at Brown) something along the lines of Media studies, Gender studies, or Urban studies to give me some base on the workings of society that I could incorporate into art for future ad disigns or freelance art (depending on what career I choose). I love social studies and psychology, so these focuses would really interest me!</p>

<p>Finally, I understand what you’re saying about large cities, and I would eventually like to move to New York and live and work there, but right now, I don’t think I would be able to handle the transition from a pretty small conservative city to a large liberal arts one. Personally I would much rather be in the latter, but it would be huge culture shock on my part, and with moving out and starting college, I’m not sure that immersing myself in a whole new environment is the best choice!!</p>

<p>Thank you very much for the long post and the criticism and sorry for my super long reply :p</p>

4

<p>em, as a soph, have you considered a summer program at an art school? I would expect that MIAD would have something, SAIC has a two-week and a three-week program and Risd has a six-week one. Any of these would give you some of what you may want in terms of direction. There may also be weekend programs somewhere near your home at a university or college that you could look into. Good luck!</p>

5

<p>philly, I was planning to do a summer program the summer before senior year :slight_smile: I take summer school gym so that I can free up some time during the school year and not have to get sweaty during the school day, so that cuts right through the summer, making most programs un-do-able :frowning: But yes I have looked into the summer program at SAIC and MIAD and they seem pretty good! going all the way to rhode island from wisconsin would be a bit of a trip though :stuck_out_tongue: </p>

<p>and ViTong, I did what you suggested and tried to draw with shapes instead of shades :slight_smile: I worked for about an hour and focused on drawing all the basic shapes in the face and then went back and did some shading and detail (mostly on the eyes). I got two small portraits done in that time and they’re already looking better!! the shapes help to work out the proportions much better ^.^ Thanks so much for the advice ^.^</p>

6

<p>eminem:
RISD has a pretty good liberal arts program alongside their art curriculum. There is the possibility of declaring a concentration in the liberal arts section in addition to you major. So if you didn’t get into the Brown/RISD dual program you would still get a top notch education. My son is there now and has had great teachers in all of his liberal arts classes. During this upcoming wintersession his English class will be taught by a professor who teaches at Brown and RISD. Taking classes at Brown is a bit difficult because they run on different semesters. It is easier to do in the Spring. </p>

<p>There is something to be said for not being in a large city for art school. I believe it is easier to focus on YOUR OWN work. Places like Boston, Providence, Portland, Minneapolis and Baltimore have thriving arts communities and are not as overwhelming as NYC. </p>

<p>You have a good start to your portfolio. Most schools want to see drawing from observation and it looks like it would serve you well if you could enroll in a life drawing class outside of school. There are community art centers and small museums that offer this kind of thing. Your local community college may even offer it. If you don’t get around to it in the next year or so, make sure that the summer program you take after junior year offers it as part of the program.</p>

<p>Other schools to consider with strong art programs and strong academics:
Carnegie Mellon
Washington University St. Louis</p>

7

<p>MCAD in Minneapolis has summer courses, both college level, pre-college, and enrichment. It might also give you a feel for the art community in a city, as Drae mentioned. D goes there now and there is much to be said about going to school in a community that supports the arts.</p>

8

<p>These are not bad at all!.. keep improving and u can get into prestigious universities when you graduate =)</p>

9

<p>Thanks for the input guys :slight_smile: I’m pretty sure we get to work with more live models next semester in my art III class! If not, I’ll make my friends and family do some poses for me :)</p>