<p>Sorry if I’m posting in the wrong place… I’m considering going to RISD for illustration, and would like to know some opinions from people who were in illustration. So, was it mainly digital or traditional?? Can you give any examples of the projects covered??? The description on the website was really super vague. How many figure drawing classes are offered per week, and can you opt to take more?? Oh, and also, did you get many portfolio pieces out of the program?</p>
<p>Thanks. Sorry I can’t be of more help i<3art, but I’m kind of in the same position… haha. It’s a hard choice to make to do pre-college, and I’m still not 100% sure on RISD either.</p>
<p>Hey, I just wanted to add MICA Tuscany to the list. I went there last year, and it was an AMAZING experience. If you just want to work on developing your portfolio and gaining technical skill, then it’s probably not the place to go. If you want a more artistic experience, a really fun time, and incomparable subject matter, then you really may want to consider it. I can honestly say that the people I met there are the best friends I’ve ever had, I started a facebook (which I had been intent on avoiding) just to keep in touch with them, and frequently reminisce about moments from the trip.</p>
<p>Tuscany is absolutely beautiful, I don’t think you could possibly find with more artistic appeal (except maybe the Amalfi coast, but it’s just a different beauty). Hiking up the small villages and communicating with locals is incredible, and really gives you a feel of the countryside. Also, the local teenagers are hilarious, after you get over some of them stalking you around the town square and singing your name, lol. You get incredible exposure, including trips to Siena and Florence, and also to various sculpture gardens and the coast.</p>
<p>Technical instruction, however, is virtually nonexistent. Having gone on the trip hoping to learn how to use acrylics (I’m mostly into photography and drawing), I found myself set loose in Tuscany with my supplies, completely overwhelmed. By the time I asked for instruction, the course was halfway over, and only towards the end did I finally start to get a good grasp of acrylics and watercolors. If you don’t know how to paint before you go, I would suggest learning to avoid the situation I was in. However, I improved drastically, which is probably the best I could have hoped for in less than 3 weeks.</p>
<p>If you have any questions about MICA Tuscany, I would be happy to answer them!</p>
<p>I wasn’t an illustration major, but two of my best friends were. It seemed like an AMAZING class. Each class does diff. projects (two classes of illustration), but as i remember my friend’s projects were: three page comic illustration of tortoise and the hare (no dialogue), illustration of a crash (drawing), and a 3D piece. I think there may have been others but Idon’t remember. They definitely learned a lot about illustration. Seemed like one of the best classes. I would do it.</p>
<p>Sirensong, thanks for the info about the MICA program! I had seen it before but kind of forgotten about it…the experience does sound amazing. Were the instructors good and did you need to know the language, or were you able to use english?</p>
<p>The instructors…well, there are two of them: the one is really good during critiques and gives some nice feedback, but she doesn’t really offer much in-depth help otherwise. The other instructor is pretty much incomprehensible, he told me to shrink parts of my painting and change the background color in the 5 minutes I had left during the night painting.</p>
<p>As far as languages…you get to use as much italian as you know, which for most people is only a few key phrases. Mostly it’s just saying “ciao” to the locals as they pass you walking to their homes, and smiling/nodding as they talk about your painting in italian. You really don’t need much to get you by, but a few people in the program had taken 2 years of italian, and they got to use it frequently. The local teens all spoke english, as do many of the other people you encounter (although many will try not to let you know).</p>
<p>There are only 2 instructors? How many people are in the program, and whats the living situation like? I don’t think this is a program I would od this upcoming summer, but maybe the summer afterwards when I am better at painting and more self-reliant with it. Thanks again for answering my questions!</p>
<p>You live in a barn re-done to be apartment-ish style housing. Everything’s pretty nice except for the showers (which don’t actually close), some people complained about bugs in rooms, but it’s really not bad at all. Somewhere from 2-4 people per room.</p>
<p>That sounds pretty cool… except for the showers of course But its ok, I’ve gone to sleep away camps for 6 years, so I’m pretty used to bugs, bad plumbing, etc</p>
<p>Does anyone know who the staff is for any of these programs? Do any of them have professors from the school teaching there, or are they teachers from the continuing education program?</p>
<p>Has anyone ever come out of a summer program with at least one item for their portfolio? If so what program. My d attended Suffolk U last year and it was great but she was not ready for portfolio work. The instructors were very good and she loved the experience. No housing. Not intense but a very good pre-college experience in Boston.</p>
<p>My D2 did the MICA pre-college program in Baltimore 2 summers ago. Some good things about it are: she got 3 college credits and was graded, all the teachers are regular MICA teachers (not true at RISD, I’ve heard), you need to submit a portfolio to apply (helps keep out the dilettantes), and she got many pieces for her portfolio from her 4 weeks there (painting major, but they did drawing too). Michael Weiss was her painting teacher and he was great!</p>
<p>There have been several discussions of pre-college programs on the Visual Arts Major forum, you should look there too.</p>
<p>If you’re still considering summer art programs, a friend’s daughter went to MN last summer for painting – felt she grew a lot as an artist and came out with awesome portfolio. She’s going to SAIC. KCAI also has an excellent summer program as do the others in the Northeast that were discussed earlier on this thread.</p>
<p>"Summer Young Artist Residency
July 7, 2010 - July 30, 2010
Application deadline: May 17, 2010
International application deadline: March 12, 2010</p>
<p>The Summer Young Artist Residency Program is available for a limited number of students who will be entering their junior or senior year of high school Fall 2010. Accepted students choose a full schedule of courses from the Summer Pre-college Session and live in the Lesley University residencies. Evening and weekend events, local transportation, and meals are provided at no additional cost. The residency program, complete with successful coursework and activities, carries six college credits."</p>
<p>I’m going to plug SAIC Early college program. I came out of that class with at least 3 portfolio-worthy pieces.</p>
<p>I did Painting/Drawing for 3 weeks and it was excellent. The BEST part is that oil Paint is provided so you are encouraged to go really large scale, and their teachers really are encouraging (but also extremely critical), I learned so much.</p>
<p>Basically, 6 hours of class every day, 3x a week there are optional supplemental classes you can take (figure drawing, contemporary art, and body casting), and 2x a week there are after-class workshops. </p>
<p>There is some figure painting, on-site drawing, a little bit of more-exploratory/abstract painting. But most of it is figure painting. You’re really encouraged to take risks and explore yourself.</p>
<p>The studio space is pretty cool. You get to make friends with a bunch of people taking writing, architecture, Advanced Projects, graphic design, and so on. I felt that most of the social aspect was in the studio at night, and I couldn’t have met cooler people. Art schools are often like that. There were also daytrips, groups going out to dinner, and so on.</p>
But its ok, I’ve gone to sleep away camps for 6 years, so I’m pretty used to bugs, bad plumbing, etc</p>