A few years ago when we toured art colleges, every admissions director told my daughter to focus on Figure Drawing and Sketchbook work for any student wanting to go into animation or the concept art industry. Figure Drawing is one of the hardest art forms to master, so the student work tells a lot about their abilities and is a crucial skill for Animation. The Sketchbook lets admissions people see another side of the student: what is inside their brain and how they think.
One of the best things your daughter can do it take summer pre-college programs at an art school. I say art school not because that’s the place to get the degree, but because they offer programs specifically geared toward the industry and are taught by industry professionals. Students learn a ton about their craft, as well as gain a lot of insight into the industry. These immersive classes will help your daughter learn whether this truly is the industry for her. Registration is usually not selective (ie: everyone gets in provided there is space) and begins in Feb/Mar each year, so act fast.
The summer between her sophomore and junior year, my daughter did the pre-college Animation program at CA College of the Arts (CCA: our local art school) and commuted daily from home. There she learned that Animation was too technical and tedious for her, but also learned about the other phases of the animation production pipeline and found where she wanted to fit into it – concept art. The next summer she took Figure Drawing and Character Design classes at Otis College of Art & Design while staying in their dorms. Her skills grew exponentially over the 4-week program and probably 75% of her portfolio for college came from the Otis classes. During the school year, she took countless Figure Drawing classes for high school students at CCA to build her skills. If you live near an art college, check out their program offerings for high school students or their extension classes, both during the school year and summer.
We tried hard to find art fundamental classes for my daughter (composition, color theory, rendering, drawing, etc.), but most were taught at community colleges during high school hours. Those classes certainly would have been helpful, but were not crucial. All colleges will teach those fundamentals as part of their foundation classes.
Your daughter should also look online to learn about the animation pipeline. There are many steps involved including character design, concept art, storyboarding, modeling, rigging, texturing, animation, etc. She may learn which piece interests her the most. For some of those steps a degree in Illustration is perfect, other steps require Animation. She should also get insights by reading interviews with those in the industry. Animation Career Review is one of the many resources online.
To get a sense of how good a college’s program is, use Linkedin to see where alumni (in her major) at a specific college are now working. You’ll see the person’s journey from graduation to employment. Compare the results between various colleges and even reach out to anyone whose journey interests you on to get some feedback.
We did all of the above. My daughter is now finishing her first year at an art school studying Illustration for the entertainment industry (Concept Art) and loves being surrounded by all the like-minded creative students. We are blown away by her work and how much her skills have grown. I agree that art school isn’t cheap, nor is it for everyone. There are plenty of traditional 4-year colleges that offer very good programs, and your daughter’s grades will be helpful for admission. That said, I suggest you don’t rule out art schools. Your daughter can apply to 1-2 whose program she likes, and see what kind of merit aid she gets. The only thing she has to lose is the cost of applying. Remember that you can also try to negotiate for more aid if you aren’t happy with what is offered, or decline the acceptance.
You are smart to start your research early!