<p>Can anyone share anything they know at all about the comic arts major at MCAD?
What I'm most nervous about is if it has a really well-developed curriculum for comic arts.</p>
<p>I live fairly far away from Minnesota, I won't know anyone there, and I don't exactly know how I'll cope in an art school.
And though I've wanted to do comics since I was in the 2nd grade, my parents aren't exactly too supportive of my decision because it's such a "risky" career.
So since I'm basically taking a huge leap of faith with this decision, I just want to know if you've heard anything about it, know someone in the program, attend MCAD or anything-
let me know if the learning experience is truly worth it.
Thanks for reading through!</p>
<p>is redbug taking dayoff?
there are mom and D team, D goes to MCAD, they can tell you.
what kind of comic?
manga, superhero, graphic novel, or like cartoons? newspaper strip, political or editorial?
it affects where you should go and what you should learn.
but yeah, job prospects are not that great. your folks are right to worry.
now let’s wait for redbugs</p>
<p>I’m here, just checked in a little later than usual, lots of work today!! Yes, my D goes to MCAD. She’s an illustration major with an interest in comics, and will be taking Intro to Comics next year. She just finished her foundation year, and she her best friend is a comic major. From what I understand, MCAD is one of 3 schools in the country that offers a comic major. I will see if I can get my D to post some more info, but meanwhile I will tell you what I know and observed while there on Parent’s Swap day last April. The comic majors have their own studio with large tables that are open for anyone to work on. D spent time in there working on her illustration project while her GF worked on a comic project. Kids were hanging out in there all the time working on something, and it all looked awesome. At the end of the year, the seniors had their capstone projects posted in the galleries and the comic work was impressive (to me anyway!). I did not see any manga the entire time I was there. Before she attended, we went on a school visit and by chance their Annual Comic Expo was going on where students make their own comics and sell them in book, pamphlet form, etc. Here are some links to that, so you can see what kinds of things the kids are doing. </p>
<p>[Holy</a> Comics, Batman! Mini Comic Expo and Gallery Talk | Flickr - Photo Sharing!](<a href=“http://www.■■■■■■■■■■/photos/mcad_photo/3426659123/]Holy”>Holy Comics, Batman! Mini Comic Expo and Gallery Talk | Flickr)
[MCAD</a> mini-comics expo on March 25, with guest Kevin Huizenga - Minneapolis Comic Books | Examiner.com](<a href=“http://www.examiner.com/comic-books-in-minneapolis/mcad-mini-comics-expo-on-march-25-with-guest-kevin-huizenga]MCAD”>http://www.examiner.com/comic-books-in-minneapolis/mcad-mini-comics-expo-on-march-25-with-guest-kevin-huizenga)
[Scary</a> Terry’s World: MCAD mini comics expo](<a href=“http://terrybeatty.blogspot.com/2008/04/mcad-mini-comics-expo.html]Scary”>Scary Terry's World: MCAD mini comics expo)</p>
<p>I can see where your parents would be concerned about your choice as a stable career. Bears is right, parents worry when their kids choose a risky path in life. My D’s one of these kids who could do anything she chose, but can’t do anything but art, if you understand my meaning. If we forced her to go to business school, she’d be unhappy – and she’d still be doing art someplace, in the basement, in the closet, but she couldn’t NOT do it – she’d find a way by hook or by crook out of that business school and into art. That’s how most of the kids at her school struck me. They didn’t have to be there but that was their passion. How much art other than comics have you done? Do you have a portfolio? High school art classes? If you could not go to school for comic art, what would your second choice be? You need to look at all your options for your sake as well as your parents. Look at the MCAD’s website along with other schools with a comic major. See what the kids are doing, and see if you can find alumni from there and what they are doing as well.
One of D’s fears that since she was coming a long way as well, she would not know anyone, but she has many friends there, from all majors. She has done art since she was young too, lives and breathes it, loved foundation year although it was extremely intense. You can see her general post after the first semester here:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/1005291-mcad-experience-long.html?highlight=mcad[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/1005291-mcad-experience-long.html?highlight=mcad</a></p>
<p>If you have any particular questions, feel free to pm me if you like.</p>
<p>Redbugs daughter here, In general the program is intense. Many students didn’t make it past foundation year. The kids at MCAD are not ‘maybe I want to do…’ They’re ‘I will do.’ The senior classes of all of the majors are small, the comic majors breathe fire. They’re tough and strong, like (And I call artists that can ‘make it’ this:) dragons. The studio is wonderful, big tables, storage drawers (Usually seniors ‘reserve’ those, they deserve that space regardless), we all run macs. Macs are in there, wacom tablet screens, two couches (Usually a student is sleeping on one from working all night). My friend is in the program and loves it, I’ve heard good comments towards all of the professors. I’m taking the intro this semester with a professor I had for my 2D class, he worked on one of the DC comics for years and is well known in the field. If you draw manga, they will beat it out of you. To get into MCAD drawing manga, they have to see something more in you. I have a friend whose work is based off of manga, but they’re working with her so she isn’t a cookie cutter. They respect manga as a style, but do not worship it as a god. MCAD lets a good amount of students through the door, but many do NOT make it even the first semester. An internship is required for graduation, and I’ve heard the comics major is the hardest to find one for. I do know of a alumni who is making it pretty good after he graduated: [TomPreston</a> on deviantART](<a href=“http://tompreston.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/]TomPreston”>http://tompreston.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/) It is a huge leap, the difference between those who make it and who don’t are the ones who fling themselves into the abyss vs. the people who take a running leap and reach towards the other side at the same time. The senior projects are strong, many are already getting their foot in the door by the end of Junior year. The comic major kids are some of the nicest kids you’ll ever meet, but when it comes to their work, they claw each other into shape for each others sake. I’ve seen some tough, tearful and cutthroat critiques in school, but it’s for your own good. My mom is right, I’d claw my way into the art field regardless of where I was, you have to when you’re driven by passion. The art world is hard, and it’s scary, and there are times when kids are eating pounds of ramen with cockroaches as pets, but artists usually wouldn’t have it any other way if that’s what they HAD to do to do art. I ask the same questions as Bears and my mom. Do you have a portfolio together, online? People have this assumption that we wear barrettes, smoke cigarettes and paint french girls all day. Well, no one I know dresses like they’re french save a few classmates, a lot of kids DO smoke, and I’ve never had a french model. What we do do is work harder than normal public college majors. Our tests are critiques, and with art there isn’t always a right answer. It’s TOUGH, like my mom said, feel free to PM her (Me) with any questions.</p>
<p>Wow! Thank you so much for your in-depth answers. Your usernames are actually very familiar to me, as I’ve done some research around these parts. :)</p>
<p>Ah…well, this is tough.
I’d like to confidently say I’m incredibly passionate, but the truth is, I was definitely sugar-coating things when I said I’ve been wanting to do comics since the second grade. I only started actually drawing out pages from the 5th grade.
What’s worse is, I’ve never taken a proper art class. I’ve always been self-taught.</p>
<p>A lame excuse as it may be, everyone in my surroundings were dissuading me from immersing myself into the art world, it was almost like telling me I’d fail before i had even tried. And I realized too, too late that my head was full of desires of pursuing art. Another regrettable tale is that since I was self-taught, there was one point where I didn’t see myself improve anymore. Past anatomy and perspective, I was absolutely lost. I went into a terrible artistic slump, and I only had some sense knocked back into me not too long ago. (and I’m ashamed to say because of this, I also lack a portfolio. 
)
So from where I stand, I assume comparatively, my drawings are nothing special. But i’m prepared to work extremely hard, Im just worried if my efforts wouldn’t be enough to succeed in a school filled with amazing artists.
But let me just say, putting aside my mistakes in the past, I’m now prepared to do my best and work really hard at it.</p>
<p>As for my style, I guessed earlier from previous research that MCAD wouldn’t exactly be encouraging towards manga, and focused more on American comics. I guess I was always more leaning toward manga because I like their use of dynamic panels, but I’m open towards all forms of comics as long as it allows me to tell a story with pictures. I think the American style of comics is awesome, there’s a certain “mood” to it that the Asian forms don’t have. But since I grew up in Asia, manga is what I grew up with as well, so naturally I adopted this style. So now, I’m guessing SCAD might be a better match after all. But this is a definite NO from my parents because Savannah was ranked higher in crime than Los Angeles (we live in California and know friends who have been hurt/ threatened to be killed here…so its no wonder this scares them).</p>
<p>So, is MCAD looking unfavorable in my conditions now? I ask for further advice…thank you!</p>
<p>Girl, yes. 
And thank you so much for the link, it’s incredibly helpful. I see some totally relateable statements (scary enough, my current SAT scores are the same as hers) I’m surprised I never came across that one.
This brings me to another worry of mine… Of course I’d like to get started on learning everything I can about comics straightaway, but maybe if I’m not such a good match yet for an art college, should I go to a good “academic” school first, and reserve art for graduate school?</p>
<p>I’m a to-be senior, unweighted (academic) GPA: 4.0, weighted: 4.42. I will have taken 10 honors/AP classes by senior year. Possibly might be salutatorian (maybe not, I have one B+ in PE from freshman year)
So far, I’ve gotten all 5’s on my AP tests. (European history, biology, japanese, Eng.Lang)
SAT: 680 math, 710 CR, 720 writing…2110. (Planning to take it once more.)
SAT subject tests: Korean 800, Biology 740.
My extracurricular activities aren’t spectacular at all, but it’s focused. I operate a professional movie camera once every week that I’ve been doing since I was a freshman. I have about 200+ hours of community service, 300+ by senior year. I think it’s a plus since it helps with angle studies and I’m also somewhat interested in storyboarding as well. (Sadly, another incredibly rare major to come across.)</p>
<p>Writing is my strong point. I’m not crazy about anime at all, but I do love manga. I want to get my stories out, and comics is the way I want to do it.
(Wait! At this point, I want to make it clear that I’m not the stereotypical anime-obsessed crowd. I like to think, and if I ever do publicize my writing, I’d like it to be a “thinking” piece, too. I know manga sometimes doesn’t have the greatest reputation, so I just wanted to clarify…)
But I might have realized this too late, I don’t know how art school is, so I don’t know if “I’m going to work hard from now” is enough to pull me through, though I am incredibly serious about it… so I ask for your opinion on this “educational college first” (plan B) idea… does it sound sensible?</p>
<p>that is creepy… same SAT score???
have you seen this thread from page 2?
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/1160242-urgent-sequential-art.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/1160242-urgent-sequential-art.html</a>
there nice low residency comic school in VT.
and horrors!! I found out that now masters, PhD. in manga form one Japanese art school if you can somewhat nail Japanese!!!</p>
<p>I am now almost done this book
<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Calvin-Hobbes-Unconventional-Revolutionary/dp/1441106855/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1311217665&sr=1-1[/url]”>http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Calvin-Hobbes-Unconventional-Revolutionary/dp/1441106855/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1311217665&sr=1-1</a>
this is about the creator of Calvin and Hobbes strips and solely about newspaper cartoons.
but many artists are self taught, struggled rejections galore.
one trait I noticed, however is it helps in long run to get brain degree in anything UG rather than art. Bill Watterson majored poli sci at Kenyon and he is not the only alum cartoonist there.
many artist did academic majors in rather nice schools, were involved in school paper or magazines, during meetings got connected to upperclassmen who’d be in publishing or advertising after graduating and will remember/ recommend you later on.
and surprise surprise, world’s biggest cartoon library&museum is in Ohio Sate U.
I sort of wish I had known this, I did go see CCAD but didn’t think to go see Ohio state for my kid.
Their art programs have nice bells and whistle hanging with it, if not necessary teach you how to do manga but do you many good.
maybe you could get easy merit money?</p>
<p>If you are looking at SCAD as perhaps being less intense than MCAD, I wouldn’t count on it. From what I understand, Foundation year in the BFA programs everywhere is intense. It weeds out the kids who thought art school was an easy college choice, and opens up your mind and experiences to other art forms. You might go in thinking you want to do illustration, take a 3D class and discover you love sculpture. It’s a way of giving you an insight into other forms. For example, in the first year, D did 2 3D projects, one a soft sculpture, and one was a metal project. She could not do the mig welding due to an eye condition, so she did spot welding instead. She also did 2D projects in acrylic (and discovered it wasn’t as bad as she thought), charcoal, ink, pastels, and pencil. On top of this, there were writing classes and art history. </p>
<p>Since you say your writing is your strong point, your choice might be to do a regular university or LAC that has a strong program in writing and minor in art to get your skill level up, then combine the 2 in graduate school. If you are very interested in writing, look into KCAI in Kansas City, Missouri. It is an art school where you can major in writing. It was my D’s second choice. It is a safe area too. Also, the University of Iowa is known for the best creative writing program in the US. Very good school and very safe but don’t know what they have for art.</p>
<p>Make sure you look at illustration programs as well - many schools do not have a comic book major per se, but instead it is woven into the illustration major. My D does children’s books and uses both her illustration skills and and storyboarding if she does a comic type of story.</p>
<p>I did some checking and did not see a comic or illustration major at U of Iowa, but check out KCAI’s illustration major as well as thier Asian studies program - looks like might be an interesting side area. KCAI is knows for good merit aid as well.</p>
<p>[Illustration</a> | Kansas City Art Institute](<a href=“http://www.kcai.edu/academics/majors/illustration]Illustration”>Illustration - Kansas City Art Institute)
[Creative</a> Writing | Kansas City Art Institute](<a href=“http://www.kcai.edu/academics/majors/creative-writing]Creative”>Creative Writing - Kansas City Art Institute)</p>
<p>[Asian</a> Studies certificate | Kansas City Art Institute](<a href=“http://www.kcai.edu/academics/Asian%20Studies%20concentration]Asian”>http://www.kcai.edu/academics/Asian%20Studies%20concentration)</p>
<p>I’m not sure I made myself clear, I didn’t consider SCAD to be a better fit because of the level of its intensity, I’m prepared for whatever they throw at me effort-wise as long as my skills can follow up…I just thought SCAD would be better in terms that they’re more accepting of the manga style in their sequential arts development.</p>
<p>That being said, I will take your suggestions into consideration and look into them as well. Thank you for your help!</p>
<p>Redbug, your post struck a chord with me. Right now D1 is managing to not even complete her drawing class at community college… so the professionals that are involved with her (social worker, therapist) are talking about having her take a nonart class at the cc in the Fall. It looks more and more like she will not be going back to MICA. I have been advocating that she needs some sort of skill set (preferably in math or science) that she can use to support herself. Book keeping. Accounting. something. But she can NOT do art. She lives and breathes art. And okay, while it’s true that she doesn’t seem to be able to manage/organize formal school art work, she is still a fantastic artist in her own right (she has ADHD, depression, and maybe some sort of developmental disability – her sister has Asperger’s Syndrome, and while D1 may not exactly fit the AS clinical criteria, there’s clearly some sort of autism spectrum issue going on that has been masked by her high IQ and test scores for some time). I’m not sure what she will do going forward, but I did want to comment on that ‘can’t NOT do art’ thing. I see my manga girl saying she ‘has’ to go do art (every day)… it’s like some need bottled up inside that has to come out.</p>