Art Degrees Online

Do you think in pictures? As an Illustration major you will develop your personal style of drawing and painting, with an emphasis on telling stories.
A Foundation in Drawing and Painting

Successful illustrators are masters at drawing and painting. In the first two years of our program you will focus on perfecting your fine arts skills:
observational drawing
figure painting
life drawing
still life painting
landscape painting
the study of human anatomy
and more.

While you’re developing your technical expertise, our instructors will challenge you to learn how to simplify and focus the meaning behind your images.

Illustration Gallery

Check out recent student projects in the Illustration section of our Online Gallery.

Read More >>
Computer as Paintbrush

Computer aided drawing has made a significant impact on the illustration industry. As your training progresses you will learn about and use illustration software and techniques. And along the way you’ll discover the computer’s place in the creative process.

I was surprised that the assignments and professors were so flexible. Depending on the course, the content is mostly up to us as long as it includes the project requirements. There’s freedom in the work, so it’s enjoyable. And we have room to learn, because it’s not restricted.
-Ashley Vanstone, Illustration class of 2010
The Lure of the West

RMCAD offers the only illustration program of this caliber outside the hectic environment of the East and West coasts. Our free-spirited and supportive culture provides an ideal incubator for your creative abilities.

You will graduate with a world class portfolio of work and a network of personal and professional contacts. Plus the ability to portray virtually any concept as a compelling image.

I knew that RMCAD’s Illustration department was the best place or me because of its analytical and intellectual approach to teaching art. I believe artists need to be intellectually fit before they can be creatively fit.
-Nate Baldwin, Illustration class of 2009

Check out our classes, learn about our faculty, and read about some of our past and current students’ accomplishments. When you’re ready, our Admissions Staff is only a phone call or e-mail away.

Our Illustration Foundation course, based at Sussex Coast College Hastings, will provide you with an understanding of the function and scope of illustration. You will have the opportunity to approach the discipline in a way that is individual, questioning and innovative. Cultural and critical theory provides a basis for subject practice. Business awareness and vocational skills are raised through work-related learning and links with employers.
Areas of study

You will explore how meaning is conveyed through all visual images. The use of media is wide ranging with the opportunity to specialise in year 2 in printmaking, type and image, digital technology, animation, book arts, and mixed media. For the most part, it is drawing in all its forms that will inform your experience on this course. It is the wide-ranging nature of the experience offered, together with an emphasis on the understanding of the critical and contextual dimensions of illustration, which will challenge you to develop your own personal style and working method. This, together with a strong emphasis on professional practice, will provide you with a sound basis on which you can draw throughout your career and in response to ever-changing professional environments.

You will have access to research and information resources at the University of Brighton.
Syllabus

Year 1
Drawing
Ideas Generation and Development
Graphic Narration
Animation
Specialist Practice
Personal and Professional Development
Culture, Context and Meaning

Year 2
Concepts and Ideologies into Practice
Specialist Pathway
Presentation project
Professional Practice
Culture, Context and Meaning

Career and progression opportunities

Opportunities for illustrators are generally on a freelance basis whether within editorial, book publishing or advertising. In addition, illustrators may exhibit their artwork and develop a range of creative ideas and applications from which they develop their own markets. Students have successfully undertaken work placements at Coley Porter Bell, London; understudied leading illustrators within the work place in Hastings and Brighton; organised an illustration event entitled Alternative Fashion using paper clothing; and produced window displays for environmentally focused shops in Hastings as well as an exhibition at the Rye Gallery.

We endeavor not to just teach students how we do things but why in order to enable them to develop their own personal style not just imitate their instructor. In addition to teaching the methods of photography we strive to instill in our students a knowledge of industry standard business practices, ethical standards, and respect for intellectually property.

Whether an event is a fast breaking news story, the introduction of the latest sports car, or wedding of high school sweethearts the story will be most dramatically and effectively told by photographs.

At Pellissippi State we educate and train individuals seeking to become professional photographers, in a variety of fields, including commercial, corporate, editorial, industrial, and portrait/wedding.

While photography is both art and craft our approach is to teach photography as a method of communication. A strong emphasis is placed on technical and artistic skills as well as the underlying science, history, and psychology.