UK Illustration courses

[Jaxsbudgie]

Hey, just thought i'd drop in and give my account of where i am

I'm at Kingston, which people on here seem to not enjoy so much
And i can understand why, at a first look i didn't fancy it myself
And the interview turned me off even more, the tutors seemed really up themselves, they were totally relentless, and yes the studio did look a bit shabby, but that's only because it's an old building, and all the money goes to more important things
The facilities are great, the print room is great, desk space for everyone, which is great for a London based uni (of which Camberwell doesn't have)
The tutors are hardcore, but in a good way because they push you, huge class crits, which are nerve racking, but good in the long run when having to present design ideas to a board of people
The projects started off poor, but they've grown more and more exciting and interesting, i think Kingston really lives up to it's reputation

The last project for example was called The Supper Club, we were put into groups of 3 and given a character from the past, our group got Louis Pasteur, we had to design what his table area at a dinner party would look like, it was mainly a 3d project of which i normally don't like, but it was great, but not only did we do that, we had to take turns and dress us, be in character and interact with the others at this lavishly decorated table, great fun, plus our entire class were walking around Kingston town with painted on mostaches, glasses, rosy cheeks and other things ...

Anyway ...
But from what i've been told, it's stupidly hard to get into, they accept around 60, because the course is Illustration and Animation, and you have to specialise by the second year, although you are allowed to do animation projects even if you're doing illustration, and visa versa
You can also spend your thid year at a design company, Kingston and especially Illustration have very good ties with design businesses due to it being one of the longest traditional standing Illustration courses

The course is very life drawing driven, having 9:30-5:00 hour sessions of intense life drawing a week, including a lot of location drawing
Which is another great thing, it's in London, so everything is literally at your doorstep
Oh and the timetable is intense as well, mondays are lectures, tuesday-thursday are studio days, and fridays are reserved for life drawing or location drawing
Then weekends we have for self directed projects, work work work

There, done.

[Jaxsbudgie]

JaxsBudgie - I just graduated from wimbledon :) although I'm guessing you were at Palmerston Road not Merton Hall ;) Congratulations on getting into Kingston, and your distinction!

~^-^~

Well, i was at Russels, the viscom part of the foundation, but in a different building, very close to the main uni though
I used to go to the library a lot and the shop too, maybe we saw eachother?
Did you do fine art?
I know some girls that are doing Theatre Design.

[Elz]

I've read through a few of the pages on the thread but lacking time I skipped to the end so i could ask some questions - The thread's been very insightful, but I didn't see any mention of Lincoln University.
The problem with me, I dont want somewhere insanely far away, I dont want accomodation - So Lincoln is ideal as I can get there on the bus every day, which I dont mind.
Lincoln looks a nice place, and it does Illustration BA Hons, which is what i want to do. I've been told by my tutors at Grimsby Institute of art and design, that Lincoln isn't good enough for me, and I should aim for much bigger.
But does it really make a difference? They wanted me to try London and I really dont want to go there, I've looked at Bristol too and it sounds good, but Im just not seeing the immense difference. :(
I was planning on going to Lincoln, but now they've said that (well, only 2, after a review day) it's confused me a bit. Universities confuse me as it is and I dont want the fuss. :c
Any insight/advice would be helpful!
Is it really that terrible? One of the tutors (fashion/textiles) sounded disgusted that i wanted to go there... :x

[lefran]

have you visited them?
Also living at home instead of accomodation means that you miss out on a lot of the social side of Uni, which is the best bit

[Smarty]

ELZ!!! who are you? I just graduated from GY institute, basically In exactly the same position as you one year ahead. Grimsby, especially Raj, love the london uni's but as far as illustration go theyre not that good. I visisted my friend daz (he went back to give you all a talk i tihnk a couple of weeks ago) theyre this weekend and its great for fine art or conceptual graphic design but tbh not traditiotnal illustration.

I would say Its worth getting out of your confort zone, Bristol and Falmouth are good, Lincoln is not bad. My advice is, even if you do go to lincoln, still move out of your home, the halls theyre are some of the best in the country.

[Elz]

Haha, thanks for the replies! :)
I don't like the idea of Accomodation and although people say its the best bit, its not what im going there for. There's a few problems at home and stuff so I'd like to stay where I am, but as long as Lincoln isn't bad, I dont mind. I just wanted to know if it was a load of crap or not, I dont think it is, though - Looks quite good to me. Just the reaction I got from my review when I said it.

Haha, Smarty, Debbie suggested London to me, Raj said the accomodation was crap there when he went but they did Fashion anyway, I believe. You wouldnt know me, I didnt get to know any of the other students haha :P
But its weird that there's another GY student! :O Im not alone ;P

I want to do illustration but apply that to digital as well as a bit of traditional, but Im kind of limited in the sense I really dont want to move away. I must be one of the very few who dont want to leave home whatsoever. Im only 17, and my life at home is great. XD

[B u r l]

Elz - living away is the best. I didn't wish to move away (I moved into student halls at Falmouth) but after a week things where awesome, and the more you get to know people the better it gets - and this comes from a highly nervous and anti-social fuck. The 'student life' as everyone calls it for me is over-rated, and I didn't get into it as much as everyone else did (which can make it a bit awkward living in halls), but it's still definitely worth it.

[Smarty]

Elz, thats all very nice, but i think your just delaying the inevitable, fair enough your still 17. The best time to do it is when their is loadsa help available to you and everyone is in the same boat, ala uni.

The reason i say your delaying the inevitable is that I know Grimsby and Cleethorpes, and even with all the local galleries begging you to put up work and becoming the 'go-to' guy for illustration, theyre simply isnt enough, it is and always will be an industrial town. To become an illustrator after universtiy you stand a much better chance in a creative city, which is gona be harder after your degree.

Ryan requested i leave a load of my work behind btw for you tykes, so its kicking about somewhere, maybe ask him about it. He'll know me as Kyle T Smart.

I'm coming back next week over christmas so i need to catch up with them lot i guess, give us a shout if your still at a loss.

[Shantih]

Kyle hit it on the head there - you're going to need to be somewhere where the creative industry is active and there are links to the industry, and it doesn't sound like you're going to get that at home.

I don't know how I'd live without lefran across the hall to supply me with use of her scanner, reminders of where I'm actually meant to be and a constant flow of sweets :blah:

[Elz]

You have very good points haha, but I just really dont want to leave. :(
I think I'd like to go to Lincoln to do a BA Hons, and continue saving up, and see where I go with that. Afterwards, I'd like to try for a Masters Degree (I think its a Masters, anyway) and move away then, when I'm older. I'd like to try Bristol for that, if possible.
Would that kind of plan work? Lets say I have some funding going on but i wont be getting it for a couple more years, plus im adding to that with my own.

[Jaxsbudgie]

Well i commute to Kingston every day, so i'm not living in halls
It isn't too bad, at the beginning it was hard, because everyone already knew eachother from halls, and living in halls forces you to talk to people
Whereas living at home, you can get away with not talking to anyone, and not bothering in general
But after you get over the initial bullsh*t, it isn't too bad
Sure you don't get in on all the action halls has to offer
But i'm still somewhat sociable, there are house parties, clubs, events i'm all invited to
And people offer for me to stay at their halls if i can't get back, so it's alright

But that's coming from someone at a London university
And London, like people have mentioned, is a creative city, bursting with exhibitions, galleries, events etc all the time
And the majority of London universities have great ties with the creative industry
I doubt Lincoln does, and i doubt Lincoln has such a thriving atmosphere as London

Apply to a London university, seriously, after a few months in, you won't regret your decision

(I'm even thinking of moving into a house with people in the second year)

[TZA]

i've applied to bristol route A and im still thinking about my route b's. anyone got any advice for my interviewand portfolio?

[etoeto]

i got a letter today from the arts institute in bournemouth today to say i have an interview on the 28th, boy was I happy! :D

I got a letter from derby and an e-mail from UWE saying they got my app but nothing about interviews yet, they said they were processing.

I'm on route A for everything, because i seriously couldn't decide what to choose as a first option.


How are you all getting on interview wise?

[markey2d]

what course is that for?

[wookiedabo]

hey there uk application folks. was just wondering whether anyone else has applied for falmouth route a, and if so, what the hell they make of the essay that they set? good luck to all you fellow hopefuls.

[FeasibleRegion]

Hello everyone

Glad I found this thread, as I am having some serious route b dilemmas. For a while I was pretty sure I wanted to go to Brighton, and even went as far as putting it as my first choice route b. But in last few weeks, after seeing some student work I have started having doubts, as it seems quite modern and conceptual based, and my main interests are the more traditional disciplines of drawing and painting.

I also just found out about UWE, and after seeing some of their students work online (which was very impressive), it looks like this could be a course that would suit me better.

So I was just wondering If any of you people who have experienced either Brighton or UWE could enlighten me a bit about the kind of stuff you do on the courses. For instance do Brighton put less emphasis on drawing etc?

Ah all these big decisions are scary...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated... thanks!

[lefran]

UWE has a lot of free reign, great facilities- and you can draw in the way you want to draw and the tutors give really good feedback, but give you opportunity to paint, 3d, print etc so you have choices, do you have any specific questions about UWE because im sure we could answer them

[Smarty]

yer i second that, UWE is what you make of it, everything is available if you want it, but no specific direction seems to be pushed on you.

[FeasibleRegion]

Thanks for the replies..

When you talk about UWE being what you make of it, i assume that they do still set you specific briefs, hold life drawing classes etc? Obviously being allowed to be free with your work is good, but i wouldn't want to be on a course where I was just sort of left on my own and expected to produce work... (I know some people on fine art courses who complain a bit about this)

Anyways, I am going to an open day this weekend, so hopefully that will give me a better idea about the course structure and the like.

And then I guess I will just have to make a decision, as otherwise my application will be sent off on the 12th with Brighton as my first choice. Eep

[Shantih]

You do get set briefs, life drawing is an open session that's free, but it's not in your timetable. Not all the time anyway, I suspect it will be in our next module. We tend to only have to be in two days a week (not including Visual Culture), so it's up to you to fit in things like life drawing, etc, on the rest of the days.

[Spratt_attack]

You do get set briefs, life drawing is an open session that's free, but it's not in your timetable. Not all the time anyway, I suspect it will be in our next module. We tend to only have to be in two days a week (not including Visual Culture), so it's up to you to fit in things like life drawing, etc, on the rest of the days.

Wow, that's interesting. I'm at least a year and a half away from University, but I've been looking into UWE based on various sources saying it's one of the best places in the UK to study illustration. But to be required only 2 days a week puzzles me a little.

I assume Visual Culture is some sort of module looking in depth at art styles or something, and maybe a little bit of history? I don't know, but leaving it aside, you have 3 days of not being in Uni?

I've read threads, and agreed with the posts in them, that to go to a uni with a really good attitude and work ethic is one of the main, if not the main, thing to get right, and that where you study doesn't matter all that much.

I guess my question would be this: those 3 days you're not in uni, (again, not including that visual culture module thing) are they spent completing assignments, or for the most part do you have to inspire yourself? Obviously, going back to that point about work ethics and attitude, you should be doing this anyway, but a guy I know is doing a Fine Art degree in Liverpool (not known for it's art courses whatsoever) and he claims to be left to his own devices for much of the time he's there.

I suppose the part of me that is even the remotest bit responsible with money (not much at all) wouldn't want to be saddled with debt, just so I could live the student life in Bristol, as nice a place as I imagine it to be. As a two-time uni drop-out, I've had enough of that.

Big post there, sorry.

[lefran]

well uni is all about a progression from A levels etc anyway, so you would be working on your own, its not really them teaching you how to draw because you should be able to by then, its about developing your own ideas,composition work and technique, the 2 days a week is required, but theres also another day of life drawing which you can attend, and sometimes workshops on the thursday or friday so we're told for the next module. But you should be working off your own back anyway, not someone telling you to work, the tutors are always there for advice etc, so you can go in and work when your not 100% required.

Visual culture is a lecture on artist movements, history and all that sort of stuff the essay sort of questions were
- must you reject styles of the past to produce work today etc
-does technological advances blah blah,
-what is creativity
etc etc

the days you are in uni, are usually tutor led, with a brief to follow, but you interpret it how you want, but your meant to inspire yourself its not their job to do so, they can help you develop ideas but you have to be interested enough in what your doing, we always have work to do, its just up to you how much work you do, no ones gonna forc eyou.
Bristol is a great city to live in as well.

[lefran]

by the way, im really enjoying the course- i think most people are, the only ones who arent so much are the ones that cant handle critique as well and expect ass pats, their critiques are really good but i guess some people dont like being told they need to improve

[Spratt_attack]

well uni is all about a progression from A levels etc anyway, so you would be working on your own, its not really them teaching you how to draw because you should be able to by then, its about developing your own ideas,composition work and technique, the 2 days a week is required, but theres also another day of life drawing which you can attend, and sometimes workshops on the thursday or friday so we're told for the next module. But you should be working off your own back anyway, not someone telling you to work, the tutors are always there for advice etc, so you can go in and work when your not 100% required.

Visual culture is a lecture on artist movements, history and all that sort of stuff the essay sort of questions were
- must you reject styles of the past to produce work today etc
-does technological advances blah blah,
-what is creativity
etc etc

the days you are in uni, are usually tutor led, with a brief to follow, but you interpret it how you want, but your meant to inspire yourself its not their job to do so, they can help you develop ideas but you have to be interested enough in what your doing, we always have work to do, its just up to you how much work you do, no ones gonna forc eyou.
Bristol is a great city to live in as well.

You make some really good points there, thank you.

I do appreciate the fact that there is a certain standard required to get into university in the first place. I had just imagined art courses to be quite intense; not just with inspiring yourself and learning on your own, which is understandably a huge part of uni life, but also that lectures and life drawing etc, would form a large part of it too.

I assumed, wrongly it seems, that although you're going in there with skills to begin with, they'd be hammering that home day in day out, making sure you don't forget any of them, and helping you learn new ones too.

The second time I went to uni this happened to me, although it wasn't an art course. We had a few lectures through the week and that was it. The lecturers, apart from the course leader, didn't care about your progress at all. I managed to get to the first day of second year, then quit in disgust after being given the timetable (sparse is not the word). I guess I just don't want to get burned for the 3rd time.

Thanks again for your reply. And yeah, Bristol does look like a nice place to live in, with a vibrant art scene (so I hear, anyway).

[Smarty]

the actual set timetable is kinda sparse, mostly their just to give you feedback. But the worj you have to be getting on with will require you to be working alot more than those two days a week. You get the keys to the studio so it's essentially open 24hours. The feed back is the most precise and honest I've ever had, even more so than here.

[Spratt_attack]

Sounds like a good place to study. Obviously I've got a foundation course to do first, but I'm definitely going to come down for an open day at some point and have a proper look around.

[Bad_Ballistics]

Hi ALL!

just a quick question on applications...

im Applying to Plymouth (route A) De Monfort (route A) Swansea Met (route A) and have got interviews with them all already.

Then `route B is Bristol first choice and Portsmouth 2nd choice.

is anyone else applying to these places...??

also il get a new sketchbook done on here sometime this weekend, with photos of my Route A portfolio pieces.

[Smarty]

good to see your still at it ballistics!

[FeasibleRegion]

Hi

Another question: I visited the campus today, and the guy who showed me around (Paul i think he was called) mentioned that there are 3 tutors. Is this for all three years? It doesn't seem like very many - 1 tutor for every 40 odd students... courses at the other Uni's I've looked at seem to have a lot more.

When I went on the website though, it seemed to suggest that there are three other tutors, but you couldn't click on their names like the other ones... I'm a bit confused!

Apart from this issue though the course really looked like it would suit me.

[TZA]

Got my interview at bristol on the 20th of Feb, anyone eles got any soon?

[lefran]

if you mean 3 tutors for uwe, then thats true there are 3, they have a year group each, but all three do teach each year group, and mark each year group, theres also guest lecturers for specific areas, and junior fellows which help if you ask, and also the print lecturers, so theres more than 3, but with the 3 there are, theyre really really good and you can talk to them a lot

[lefran]

theyre there at bush house most days btw, so you can always talk to one of them

[Smarty]

Yer like those 3 are who you will be getting the 1 on 1's with and general talks about big projects and they asses your work. BUT, like we get taught by more specific people for different things. Their are 4 different people for print, 3 fellows (like mini tutors), and then usually a guest tutor for certain workshops. Like painting workshops or papercraft workshops have guest people in.

[nye99]

Hi ALL!

just a quick question on applications...

im Applying to Plymouth (route A) De Monfort (route A) Swansea Met (route A) and have got interviews with them all already.

Then `route B is Bristol first choice and Portsmouth 2nd choice.

is anyone else applying to these places...??

also il get a new sketchbook done on here sometime this weekend, with photos of my Route A portfolio pieces.

me and my friend are applying to de montford, we are going there for an open day on 18th. we are also looking at bolton and newport.

[TZA]

whats bristol's feelings towards digital art? most of my more refined and finished works are going to be digital.

[lefran]

I dont think they have a preference as to what medium you use, ive done digital, traditional, and mixed both, i dont think it particularly matters because they can critique things like composition etc regardless

[wookiedabo]

wahey, essay for falmouth completed, 3000 words is a fair old amount. Shameless dig, but if anyone fancies checking out my portfolio, perhaps giving some comments...... www.woopatworks.blogspot.com. oh, and does anyone know how to make a pdf portfolio? Ah'm stumped.

[etoeto]

I've got an interview for DERBY tomorrow, and BRISTOL on saturday.

all route A. Because i was unsure what I wanted to do a couple of months back.

Now I know and I pray to God I get these places. I didn't get into Bournemouth and I'm revising my portfolio NOW... at midnight.. D: Putting everything into A1 instead of A2.. and more work.

[Spratt_attack]

wahey, essay for falmouth completed, 3000 words is a fair old amount. Shameless dig, but if anyone fancies checking out my portfolio, perhaps giving some comments...... www.woopatworks.blogspot.com. oh, and does anyone know how to make a pdf portfolio? Ah'm stumped.

Some awesome stuff there mate. Love the two of the statue and your dad (I think that's what it says). In fact, all your sketchbook pieces rock.

Although I have to say, that American Superheroine piece doesn't seem to fit all that well with everything else. I don't know, it's just to my eyes it seems to be the weakest part...by some margin.

That's only my opinion though, take it with a pinch of salt, cos I don't know much :)

Just a quick question: what did you have to write about in that essay?

Oh and by the way, I'm gonna follow your blog if that's all right. Fingers crossed you get into Falmouth, and I wouldn't mind seeing what sort of stuff you produce there (I've been reading up on that place, looks good).

[EddTQ]

hey ballistic! when's your plymouth interview man?
we've been kind of snooping on all the soon to be first years each open day, have you been to one yet?

[Hypnos]

Hey I should be heading to Bristol on saturday for the UWE interview. I dont have a clue on the inspiration panels though :s any help to anyone who knows?

cheers in advance

[TZA]

i'm doing the inspiration panels as we speak for tomorrow. I finished one, which I painted onto with oils... now I need to figure out how to let it dry haha.
the second one I did on the computer and printed it, and the 3rd one is just gunna be a photo of a film.

let me know if any of your CA'ers are there tomorrow too.

[Hypnos]

let me know if any of your CA'ers are there tomorrow too.[/QUOTE]

yeah I should be about on the open day tomorrow, pretty excited but also freaking out about the whole portfolio thing. Hopefully ill get talkin to ya even though I have no friggin idea what anyone looks like, good luck for getting in.

[Smarty]

good louck tomorrow guys! unfortunately , I think most of us UWE CA'ers are going to the CA UK meet(yay!) in London so won't get to see us. Points to those who recognise my work desk and leave me a note or similar absurdity.(I'm first year.)

[lefran]

double points if you wreck it all MUAHAHAHAHA (jokes)

[Caramel E150d]

As usual I've been lurking around the thread but not posting.
I had an interview at UWE yesterday. Had lots of fun leafing through some CAers' actual sketchbooks.
I think the interview went OK. Also for some reason the woman told me she liked my hair :S

[Hypnos]

Yeah I was at UWE on saturday there, flew over from Northern Ireland, I recognized some stuff there, the works with the tigers, and a lot of self portraits by some guy, they were awesome. The interview was sweet, I also voluntarily looked into drawing and applied arts, but im not sure. Id like to talk to some more students about it if anyone's got the time. Hope all went well, I talked to like 2 people from CA, after asking like 7 out of 20 people. Blimey theres alot going on in that course, good luck guys anyway with your feedback. :)

[Smarty]

5th ape, I think everyone in my year group is from route b to be honest. Me and Danny found it strange that so many are opting route a this year :S

Hypnos, If you want to draw smells, sounds and textures, and be encouraged to not directly draw from life but your interpretation of it then DAA is for you. Personally, If their was a course the polar opposite to what i would want to do, DAA would be it.

[Shantih]

Yeah...a DAA girl told me, Smarty and DannySketch in life drawing the other day that she knew we were Illustration students because we "could draw". I feel this implies something about DAA.

I do need to do something with that giant tiger on my desk. There's only so many places you can put a tiger though.

[fishandchips]

anyone knows about or is currently doing the illustration major under graphic design course at london college of communication / central saints martin? if that's the case, are those schools really good for illustration?

[Hypnos]

yeah the tutor wanted me to take the course, he seemed really enthusiastic but when I saw the work I didnt think it reflected the same standard as the illustartion course, plus it looked almost to post-modern influenced. I just wanna find a place that will stretch me to my fullest potential, or at least motivate me to do so. thanks guys

[Rob!T]

My interview at UWE was a big disappointment
I went on the same Saturday for the Illustration interview.

Here's how it went:
I spent hours like the rest of you waiting for the interview, which I had specifically been preparing for for the last half a year, and was eventually led into a room with the head of school and another guy.

They didn't ask me any interview questions, nothing that related to my art, what I'm like as a person or my influences. Didn't ask me to comment on one of my pieces like everyone else had the opportunity to, and didn't suggest once that I might not be right for the course so I had no chance to even try to impress them, in fact I came out of the interview thinking, 'wow I didn't even have to do anything, that must have gone well'

my interview took about a minute before they sent me out of the room. no explanation, nothing, just very confusing.

please visit my sketchbook to see the kind of art that I do

My art is good, I'm confident enough in it to say that, and so it should be, I spend every waking second these days just doing art, and I had a shit load of variety in my portfolio, and had answered everything they said to on the brief.

They rejected me yesterday, and now all the plans I had been making, and working towards for months, and pretty much all of my artwork has been completely brushed off in under a minute, with no explanations.

I don't mean to sound cocky, but I don't see any reasons that I would be a bad choice for the course, let alone enough reason to reject me without even asking me any questions.

I'm in the process of writing an e-mail explaining to [edit] ask them how I can improve on my portfolio for my interviews at the other two universities, because I really don't know what I could have done better.

I feel numb, and confused, and I still can't figure any of it out.

And by the way, I had an interview at Anglia Ruskin for illustration, who did talk to me, and they said they loved me and my art, and said that with my portfolio I would get into any university I wanted, no problems.

[lefran]

dude, i can understand you would be annoyed, but really really would strongly disuade you from writing an email. They won't just write you off, and the majority of the people get in via route B, i had a much much stronger portfolio by that time, so i didnt bother with route A. UWE is still an option.
If you write an email its sort of like writing yourself off, i think take time out, calm down and reconsider sending the email. The staff are good, it could be that they were only accepting a certain amount of people via route A or something? I'm not saying your art isnt good dont get me wrong because it is good, just perhaps reconsider and apply route B

[lefran]

and put it this way, it also happens to a lot of other people, if you let it dishearten and discourage you then its setting you back instead of a, ok ill show them how awesome i am type approach. I hope Dan doesnt mind me saying, but Dannysketch ( whom i assume you met in london) didn't get into UWE last year, and he's one of the best on our course, he was accepted this year, theres probably just blips now and then

[Shantih]

The interviews are nearly always that long, in mine I said hi, talked about a piece of life drawing and then asked where the loo was. All done.

Think about it - Everyone spent hours in that room, everyone had a very short interview, everyone's spent months on their portfolio. What will you be complaining about if you write to them - the way it's run or, if you're honest, the fact that you didn't get in? Getting back to your work and trying again on Route B would be a far more constructive use of time.

[lefran]

yeah i agree, i think its just a take it on the chin sort of experience. My interview was longer, but that was probably because i was one of the last of my block of people, and they probably just had time to waste, i was in there like 5 minutes, but ive been told that they basically decide before they meet you just based on your portfolio (not entirely but the biggest factor is your portfolio), so the interview doesnt make that much difference i would imagine, i hope this isnt sounding harsh, but i just dont want you to shoot yourself in the foot by sending an angry email

[Rob!T]

I explained myself wrongly, I'm not writing to have a go at them and I am not angry at them, I'm just completely lost as to what I did wrong, and quite unsettled as a result, I can't think of a single thing to do better. so I'm writing an e-mail, just to ask what the hell happened. And the fact that I feel they dealt with me unprofessionally (which I'm not going to mention in my e-mail, for obvious reasons), I just want to have a logical explanation for.

I would still give anything to get in, and I'm considering applying to them via route B also, but here are the reason why I think that is not such a good idea:

1) If like you said Lefran, they judged me based on my portfolio and I didn't get in purely because they didn't like my art, then I have no idea what to do, I don't know if I can risk my last choice on applying again to a uni that brushed me off so easily the first time.

2) The benefit of you applying route B was that you had more art, and you were more prepared. It's been a year since I did my foundation, and I've been preparing for uni for longer than that still. I have no idea what they want from me past what I already showed them. Hence the e-mail I'm going to send them to understand what I could do better.

3) Will they just see that I've already applied and failed to get in the first time, then reject me instantly?

4) Right now I feel that however much work I do It just won't be enough to impress them, because basically I think they just don't like my art.


And yes, I'm not going to lie, I'm very annoyed. But I'm not going to have a go at them, don't worry. The angry sounding bit was stupid talk, for the purposes of letting some steam off. I didn't really mean it, your comments are really helpful right now.

[lefran]

oh well thats good to hear, im glad. I think perhaps it would be a good idea to put your portfolio in one place on here, like a blog or something, so everything in there is all together and we can see whats in it, then perhaps ask some people what you could improve upon i know some people you could ask, what did they ask you exactly in the interview?

[lefran]

also, the sheer amount of applicants they saw is ridiculous- they saw so many rob, i really really doubt theyd remember individual portfolios no offence, and not only that, the tutors will not have time to answer emails like this they are constantly busy. Your best bet is to ask your peers on CA and recent graduates and professionals here on CA who would be willing to lend an eye and opinion

[Rob!T]

Thanks for the suggestion Fran, you're completely right, I've just had trouble thinking straight since I found out.

But I still don't know whether it's worth the risk of giving up my interview with Kingston, (which is the only other place I'd be prepared to go) for a second interview at UWE, where my portfolio will only be a little bit better.

I'll scan my stuff in when I can and show everyone, it's a lot of stuff to scan. But there's the much more urgent problem of whether or not to change my route B choice, and If I don't decide before Kingston reply to me, then I won't have a choice. And I can't really have all the questions from the previous post answered unless I hear it from them personally.

I guess I'll probably just risk it all and apply to them again. Hopefully I'll get some amazing crits on my portfolio from you guys.

[Rob!T]

Well, apparently I can't change my route B choice now, In fact I'm just 1 day too late to do so. So that's it. Going to focus on getting into Kingston now.

Out of interest, do any of you UWE guys know whether the course accepts transfers in the second year?

And is anyone else here applying to Illustration and animation at Kingston?

[lefran]

im not sure, i'll find out tomorrow if i remember

[Zero Sum]

Hi everyone, I know i'm not a massive poster on these boards but I'm looking for some advice from UWE people. I got a letter from UWE yesterday saying I didn't get into the Illustration programme but did get an offer for the Drawing and Applied Arts programme. I was thinking of accepting the offer then after a few weeks into the course say the it's not for me and change my course to illustration.

Is this possible? Or do you know anyone on the current course who has done something similar?

Thanks for any advice.

[lefran]

im not sure if this is possible, we've had people transfer off illustration to fine art, but not the other way round as illustration is more competitive and more full as a course, so im not sure, it might be possible though but ive not heard of it

[Smarty]

hmm drawing and applied arts is actually quite different in my opninion... A lot of them there are in the same boat as you. The tutors and campus are completly different. I dont know in regards to drawing and applied arts whether it might be possible to swap over but I overheard an interview with animation student who wanted to come over to illustration. The head tutor deconstructed everything he did and he was rejected.

[Hypnos]

Hey Zero Sum, I think we got the same letter I too was rejected for illustration but was accepted for DAA,I actually asked in my interview would there be a course more suited for me such as fine art, they were impressed with my portfolio but still sent me to DAA which I had no idea about. The guy there looked at my stuff while I looked around at there work (It was ok but I wasnt uber impressed with everything), but the guy there was like 'I really like you artwork, and please get in touch if when you have the chance'. So I think that question kina screwed up my chances, I was gonna try and do a transfer to illustration a few weeks in but dunno if I wanna risk it, ah well

[lefran]

i kind of think, if they didnt accept you the first time there must be a reason why (sorry to sound harsh but is the truth), when the course is then full, i think the chances of taking on extas is slim in the first place, let alone someone who didnt make it on the first time, i dont think it would be possible

[Hypnos]

To true Lefran, By the way RobT, were you one of the last interviewed? I went back into the room to get my coat and wished some guy luck, don't know if it was you or not I cant remember, dosnt matter anyway. It is strange, considering everyone on this forum such as RobT has exceptional talent, point is we werent sent out because are artwork is bad, I saw some of the first year work at UWE, there was one guy who's work was pretty awesome, he did lots of self portraits on bristol board. There were lots of other cool work there aswell, but it was all somewhat animated a bit, almost cartoony. Good luck with your choices though RobT.

Dont really think Ill take up the DAA offer, it was pretty post-modernist

[Anucu]

I'm a little confused. What is A and B route? I'm in my first year of A level and I haven't had this explained to me >.<' And is UWE the top Uni for Illustration in the Uk then? Sorry for sounding so stupid.

[lefran]

Route A is applying around January time and thats chosing 6 places ( as far as im aware), but you have less of a chance to get a portfolio ready, route be is around april and you apply in rank order to 3 places, bristol only accept first choice applicants. I think UWE is generally considered one of the best yes, but i would take a look at several places and the course contents and have a look round the uni's before just taking peoples words for it

[newDorling]

I'll post my experiences with interviews so far.

Route As

Bournemouth Arts Institute. Before anything we were given a piece of paper to write about one of our favourite things, be it a film book or whatever. After that, a Group talk, followed by 10min interviews after they had observed our folios. We had to present together a piece of work to demonstrate either one of three things she had said, mine being 'overcoming a problem' or something. Interview left a lot to be said a lot about my portfolio arrangement. Loose sheets and unfixed drawings, I can begin to suspect why she said she saw me more as a fine artist, hehe. As a result I wasn't accepted, but it prompted me to look at my portfolio arrangement. If I could suggest anything, be up on your understanding of practices and the like, the course seems to be quite editorial based but that's my opinion.

University of Plymouth. Coming from essex I didnt get much sleep for the day but it was worth going. Interview times are done on an individual basis, first come first serve. They began in the afternoon so we had time to tour the area and have a look at the course structure. The place is new and the levinsky building is a nice practical environment. The interview was relaxed and you had 20-30mins to go over your work. I was offered a conditional there, the guy particularly enjoyed some of the more experimental pieces. Plymouth is a very good place with all-round facilities. They don't seem biased in terms of what sort of illustration you want to branch off to, hell I think some used animation to answer the briefs. They also put a lot of emphasis on employment opportunities.

Route Bs

UWE. I had to produce three influence panels as stated. I got there for the morning session (half dead from flu.) They interviewed in the same fashion as bournemouth, as they were going over everyones portfolio we headed of to bush house too look at some of the first year work. Everyone had a different approach. A few students were there to talk about the course and stuff (one particular one that stood out was Ig, if only because of his name, in a good way hehe) when we got back we were assigned tutors who would call us for interviews. I was assigned Gary and was one of the first. Him and one other saw me for 10mins to talk about a piece of work, my understandings of illustration, influences and questions. I had revamped my portfolio since so when they said the work 'spoke for itself' I would hope that it was in a good way. He liked my models I done as part of foundation (I had previously done architecture so I had a bit of experience from that.) I'll be hearing in two weeks.

Portsmouth still to come, though if I've heard good from UWE it won't matter. It wouldn't hurt to visit, Plymouth holds strong as potential study location, afterall it's what you make of it.

[lefran]

market gate is quite nice but more expensive, drake house and nelson house are in the best location, and they are still pretty big, my room is one of the smallest, but is still pretty big, others are much bigger than mine. Each flat has 2 toilets, one with a shower if its 5, or 2 with a shower if 6, so tbh i dont think ensuites make that much of a difference unless your very particular about your space

[Shantih]

I've never felt the need for an ensuite and I live with a girl and three boys :P In Fran's flat they've arranged it so that her and one of the guys have one of the loos, and the other three have the other, which I guess would help with cleaning responsibilities if that's what you're worried about.

My room is huuuuuuuge, here's a pic from the beginning of the year -

http://i42.tinypic.com/205d27c.jpg

I've since moved the bed and filled with it a lot more crap, but there's still a lot of room. It's actually bigger than it looks in that photo. It's just plain luck how big the room you get is, but none of them are too small, there's a big desk and floor space in all of them.

[Smarty]

the onsuite's at market gate are lame. you just get a smelly toilet in your room which take up 2/3'rds of the space which would otherwise be your room. Everthing else is the same.

PS that desk with loadsa self portraits is either mine or Dan's, we both use Bristol board but I'm not sure if he left all his ther

[newDorling]

An update on my university applications:

I got a conditional from UWE!

[sleep]

yyyoyoyooyo

got a conditional from uwe. music to my ears.
anyone else whose heading to uwe to do illustration, check out the facebook group, just search uwe illustraiton 2009-12
peace XXXX

[Smarty]

well done guys!

[ErikStorstein]

I got an offer to get into Bournemouth, and my place will be held untill 31st of May. . I've been doing 1 year of illustration in Norway, but it has been terrible really, and I'm not going to pay to go there for another year. I was offered a spot at Falmouth as well, but I'm not sure if I still have it. (I'll have to send an email to find out).
Anyway, I wondered if any students at either school could maybe tell me some about either Falmouth or Bournemouth?

[lefran]

I know someone in year 2 at bournemouth illustration, ill point her in this direction for you

[Scriar]

I have a Conditional to Plymouth university for the Illustration degree. And a Conditional to Huddersfield university for their game art and multimedia degree. I already know my grades (mature student) so only need to accept either course to get in :)

I think I will go with Plymouth, went down there for a 1 week break whilst having the interview and found out about 20 minutes ago that I have got in. Seems like a really nice university in terms of the facility and the staff/students there, the people there were very helpful and friendly both at the university and in the general area. Was really surprised at how close everything is in Plymouth itself.

Only thing left to do now is try to get accomodation, hopefully being 21 wont put me at a disadvantage to getting a place, guess Ill have to wait and see. :)

[sleep]

zilrion: talk to naomi aka quicksilver. shes at bournemouth, last i heard she liked it (and shes the sensible type)

scriar: any degree actually centered around games/game design is, as a rule of thumb: a load of shit. from what ive heard, professional companies dont look for people from game courses, they look for people from all manner of different disciplines (industrial design, illustration, animation). game design courses look and sound attractive but generally turn out to be a waste of money and time.

then again ive never actually been on one. but this is the strong impression ive got from lots of other ppl. and age wont affect ur chances of accomodation...

[Scriar]

Sleep:

There are alot of game art design courses/multimedia courses that are shit. I know what you mean, it is why I started to look into Illustration. The main problem I have with most of the game art design courses was their seemingly lack of a focus on actual drawing skills, practice of anatomy, and strong traditional backgrounds.

Which I guess I have wanted to focus on as it is sort of a basis around here for how to learn art in general and used to build on to lead into concept art.

Huddersfield deffinatly offers the above, I believe there are a few others in the uk as well like that but they are very few and far between. So I see where you and your friends are comming from.

I feel Illustration would be a better option anyway, as you get that kind of education, but you are taught to think more in a business sense, and can take that anywhere you want. Rather than just being pigeon holed into just game art design.

As for the age thing, I have been told that priority goes to younger students for accomodation since there are so few places, hence why I hope that it wont put me at a disadvantage.

Im refering to the university owned accomodation though, which I would like to get into idealy. Shared housing doesnt have those restrictions I would assume, but it is more expensive.

Thanks for the response btw, its nice to hear lots of different views on these things since it is such an importent decision to make.

[Smarty]

The main problem I have with most of the game art design courses was their seemingly lack of a focus on actual drawing skills, practice of anatomy, and strong traditional backgrounds.


No illustration course in the UK will teach you this either I'm afraid. It's a rarity to get this in a schoole anywhere anymore. Generally because those things require a very simple equation, Quantitiy= Quality. Maybe theres a couple of pointers to help move it along but most courses won't have someone sit over your shoulder and critique your anatomy. Illustration courses in my opinion are their to teach more intangible things. A cumulative effect of how we realte our drawings to whats happening or what we want to depict happening. Composition, visual narrative, communicating and conveying alot with your drawings. Whos to say that after you master all those attributes you mention that your work won't be..... Boring.

[Scriar]

No illustration course in the UK will teach you this either I'm afraid. It's a rarity to get this in a schoole anywhere anymore. Generally because those things require a very simple equation, Quantitiy= Quality. Maybe theres a couple of pointers to help move it along but most courses won't have someone sit over your shoulder and critique your anatomy. Illustration courses in my opinion are their to teach more intangible things. A cumulative effect of how we realte our drawings to whats happening or what we want to depict happening. Composition, visual narrative, communicating and conveying alot with your drawings. Whos to say that after you master all those attributes you mention that your work won't be..... Boring.

I understand what you mean, I feel however if you get a good grasp of traditional skills you can combine it with what they teach on an illustration course and make your work much more desirable for a client, and interesting to the viewer.

Even if they dont teach it at the course Im going to I can still go about teaching myself anything I feel the course may not address. I guess it is quite a specific thing I was looking for when trying to find an art course.

Ive actually chosen Plymouth because they seem to encourage you to go in whatever direction you want, and they will help you with it to the best of their ability, they offer life drawing classes, and there is a strong art communtity in the area, so everything is there to aid me in to becoming a better artist/illustrator.

Even if the course is not specific in exactly the areas I would like I feel I can still use it to get to the same point I would like to be in 3 years time, ie to be a competant and versitile illustrator.

At the moment game design is something I am using as a goal to aim for, but I would like to be able to go into other areas if my opinion or interest change within art in the next few years.

Which is why I was looking for that specific traditonal art background as I feel you can take that kind of background and expand into anything you want.

[sleep]

I understand what you mean, I feel however if you get a good grasp of traditional skills you can combine it with what they teach on an illustration course and make your work much more desirable for a client, and interesting to the viewer.

i dont think smarty was knocking traditional skills. combined with good old practise there are more than enough resources on the ca forums alone to give u exceptional technical skills. throw some good books, dvds and other websites into the equation and you can easily teach yourself. you just need a good head on your shoulders

really its just a matter of taking responsibility for your own learning and realising that hard work can compensate for anything a school lacks

[Kagemusha22]

Composition, visual narrative, communicating and conveying alot with your drawings.

I recently got a conditional offer from Loughborough Uni, and during the interview alot of focus was placed on ideas and communication. (The course itself is called Visual Communication (http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ac/mainpages/viscomm/illustration.htm)) I really look forward to learning about those things Smarty lists, as I can always teach myself anatomy, persepective, lighting (I've got to my current level through personal perseverance) and use this site to build up my technical skills. All I need is time and patience.

[EddTQ]

Scriar : Plymouth is AWESOME! :D hahah - when was your interview? did ashley interview you?
Being a mature student wont be frowned upon at all! (To be honest in illustration first year 21 is about the average age.. )

[Smarty]

As sleep said I was'nt knocking traditional, fundamental stuff at all. Infact if you look at my sketchbook you'll notice thats pretty much all I do. I'm just saying you really don't need a teacher for that.

[Scriar]

Scriar : Plymouth is AWESOME! :D hahah - when was your interview? did ashley interview you?
Being a mature student wont be frowned upon at all! (To be honest in illustration first year 21 is about the average age.. )

Yeah I think it was Ashley that interviewed me, the interview was on the 29th of April. The interview went well, he said he really liked my Photoshop work, as well as the Loomis and Bridgeman studies I showed him as well.

He wanted to see more traditional work, specifically life drawing and painting that I mentioned I had done for a short time in the interview I was unable to bring them down though due the size.

And some written work which admittedly it had not even occurred to me to bring, I was on an IT course previously we did no written work. So I sent him a 3000 word essay I did for Falmouth to try and make up for it. Seems to have worked ;)

Its nice to hear that the average age is 21, last courses I have been on were mostly 16-17 year olds with the occasional adult. I was a bit worried when I was the only one without a parent on the day. lol

Smarty: Sorry I must of come across wrong in my response, I get that is what you meant. I was trying to say in my response that I feel that if the illustration course also had a strong traditional background that it could only help to produce better work.

I agree completely that you don’t need a teacher to teach you traditional work, or any art at all for that matter, university I believe is 90% all on your shoulders to make it work for you.

I think part of the problem I had with trying to find courses is that I have not come from an art background so only had this site to go by for most of my information about art courses.

I was trying to find a course like the ones they seem to have in America that have a strong focus on traditional skills and then put that in the context of illustration, game design, entertainment design etc which I had thought were the meant to be the recommended choice of art students. I guess I found out thats not really how it works here.

-----

Anyway, cant wait to go to university now, although the amount of hoops Im having to jump through to get funding is a pain. Seems getting a place in university is only half the struggle :)

[Rob!T]

Recently got accepted into UWE to do Animation! very close 2-month long shave.

If anyone else is doing the Animation course PM me. It'd be cool to already know at least one person before term starts :)

[Yther]

Hey got conditional from UWE for Illustration .

[Smarty]

well done rob! all wokred out in the end then :D

Well done Yther too, will have to say hello next year. :D

[Spratt_attack]

Recently got accepted into UWE to do Animation! very close 2-month long shave.

If anyone else is doing the Animation course PM me. It'd be cool to already know at least one person before term starts :)

Much respect to you for not letting your previous bad experience there get you down. All the best for when you start.

[Bad_Ballistics]

Yo guys. LONG time no post, cool to see everyone is doing well with applications and current courses!

didn't get into UWE or Plymouth which was a shame as they were some of my top choices. however got conditionals from Swansea met and De Monfort (game art design).

Had my Portsmouth interview yesterday and he told me in the interview that they would deffo be offering me a place on the illustration course. So Portsmouth it is for me!! just gotta wait for the official offer and try and sort out some accommodation.

Good to be back, even if it's momentarily. :D

[ErikStorstein]

Bournemouth for me next year :D

[markey2d]

which Bournemouth are you going to, the arts institute one or Bournemouth university one. im going to the arts institute one to do animation.

[ErikStorstein]

I guess it's the arts institute, even though they're becoming a University College next month. Doing illustration :)

[mai .d]

Hi everyone -- my name is Michael, I'm 17, just finishing my first year of ND visual communication in Eastbourne, and since they've abolished route B, I'm looking to apply to a BA illustration by the end of this year. I have lurked this site for a while without making any major posts. I'd like to soon get productive and scan some work to show some work on CA.

So far I've been to the Kingston open day, which I liked, but seems not entirely up to my hopes. I have heard good things about Portsmouth, UCA Maidstone (a few others) and obviously since reading this thread lots of good things about UWE, which (predictably) has become my favourite. I don't have any good examples of work online, though a few bits and pieces on an old DeviantArt (mostly things from my induction to the ND) digital-mage.deviantart.com.

So yer... Not that anyone REALLY cares but I just thought I'd like to join the discussion.

[Scriar]

Thought I would do a small update, I have just been informed my place at Plymouth is now unconditional.

I found out a couple of days ago that my grades were no where near what I thought they were so I was expecting to be turned down.

p.s It was Tom not Ashley that interviewed me, just remembered ;p

Good Luck to everyone, I hope you all find a university/course you like :)

[Yelllowcardas]

hi to you all!
Where are a lot of questions i wanted to ask you all, but first probably i talk about my situation. Im living in Lithuania and studying Multimedia Art( BA 4 years) in Siauliai University ( i know what does not make for you big scene but still i need introduce myself, also my name Arunas) okey getting to business, as i said im Multimedia Art student:) so basically i working with video,effects,photography design and illustration too:) so basically all stuff i touched little, and now i know whta i want to do for my life draw:) and im really in digital painting, traditional drawing,digital art,design and illustration think is the best thing where i feel myself comfortable( so i know because i tried in my studies everything from editing movies to creating projects) So next year its gonna be last year in university and after what one thing i really know i will go abroad, and i decided to go to uk,because i love people,i love cities a love beer and football to :D i been erasmus too, i was in summer in Ireland as street performer,drawend people in the streets and get some money) so i hope have so experience in being abroad and my english isnt so bad and i be able to pass english exams to study abroad.
So what is my motives to study in uk, basically i want knowledge, alot of what, and high quality of learnin, smart lecturers other things isnt so important,because i know what feels to be student and how system works, so really looking for seriuos unversities with experienced lecturers who can beet shite out of me,as person im really determinated and hard working,so not sleepin and drwaing or doing works to university is the way i living.
So folks what i really want from you is to hear solutions,guides to universities,how and what they teach, what to expect me from apply as international student, how system works to EU students, i hope i will have more easier because i allready ended studies and i know something about art.
( i have possibilty to go straight to Norwitch to do MA but i dont wanna go where because its realited with my unversity and i will meet same people as in Lithuania). So i hope i get help from you:) i know i want study illustration, i hope in kind big city with high level of studies, i wish was last and worst student of all when i have to push myself hard as i can. Probably i said what i want and now i leave with my works just to have idea what i do and what im looking to learn,maybe you have suggsetions to me from my working style witch universities like what style and i can improve where:) so here is my - deviantart works - http://yellowcardas.deviantart.com/gallery/ sketches and doodles - http://yellowcardas.deviantart.com/gallery/#_browse/scraps
and maybe some movie stuff as i hope one option to combine illustration with animation - http://www.youtube.com/user/Yellowcardas and work done to Norwitch - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QYeLkIPoAE

So guys i really appreciate your help in all questions and solutions:) have nice summer days and be ready for university! good luck lads ;) sry for my english

[Stormon]

wow heh, just wanted to say, had a look at your art and all i have to say is, amazing.

ive been looking for a course that is exactly as you described 'a little bit of everything'. so trying to find a multimedia art course in the uk.

ill message you back when i find a few colleges you might be interested in.

[Yelllowcardas]

So i recomand you Norwitch they are strong in videos and performencas,what my subject taught a bit of everythin,whats not good because you avarage in everywhere but not good at something,and my level studies,well after second year im bored, but in other hand i tried mostly everything so i know hot to make photos,video editing but still i feel i need to learn much more and the best thing is concentrate on one spot - my desicion illustration, so im read this thread, search some info and my now number one probably be bristol, the city is big enuogh, a lot stuff going on the city , have Bristol Fc and they pretty good and from web, your solutions is one of the best in uk, and i feel they are seriuos about art.
Thanks mate i can only suggest try,whats all after you tried everything in life you will know what to choose.;)

[Stormon]

heh, i dont want to be average in everything, but i want to know more than 1 thing. which is why im going to focus on animation and conceptual/illustrative art/games deisgn, i think most likely i will end up going to university in huddersfield as they have the course im looking for.

but man, your art is wow :O, heh i doubt you are just 'average'. shadow of the sun is brilliant heh, how long have you been working on your art?

[Yelllowcardas]

it depends what are you compering,because myself still feeling begginer i always keep my mind with new trends,ideas through searching best digital art in deviantart,cgtalk,conceptart where are a lot really great artist, and i hope after studies in uk i can be good just good, someday i wanna reach level as Jason Chan,Andrew Jones but it gonna be long journay to make yourself good artist.And about my art usually i work 2-5 h in painter or photoshop for sketching doodling with brushes after i see what i want to draw,all so to be good you need time and a lot of hard work, no one born with skills,they learned it, and im in digital painting something about year,selfthought.

[Yelllowcardas]

so still searching info in internet,but didnt find yet what im looking for.I thinking of creating seperate thread but maybe where will be someone helping my out in here, so i would like to know more abou Uwe, Bournemouth,Livingston,Falmouth universities, how to apply for them,because i will end my Ba Multimedia Art studies in Lithuania 2010,and after that i want go study Ba Illustration, so i wanna help from international students or who have same problems as me,or have friends who is in your course from abroad who had same situation as me. I hope i will find questions and solutions from you, i dont wonna make this thread trashy so you can pm me ;) thanks and now i will go looking for information

[Stormon]

hm, to apply you need to go to ucas.ac.uk you need to create an account and stuff, it will tell you what you need to do to join the courses, you need to find out course 'numbers' and stuff too.

its fairly basic, and i think the deadline for apps is jan of the year you are planning to join for route a, and may for route b.

[Eihs]

I know this thread hasn't been active for a couple of months but I noticed that some people were accepted at the University of Plymouth?

I was wondering whether any of you could share your experience of it, I've read just about everything on the website but I think it's always better to hear it from someone who's studying/has studied there?

I'd like to know more about the quality of students' work, accommodation (in particular Francis Drake Hall if possible) and the option to study abroad during the second year.

Any information at all would be appreciated.

[Scriar]

I know this thread hasn't been active for a couple of months but I noticed that some people were accepted at the University of Plymouth?

I was wondering whether any of you could share your experience of it, I've read just about everything on the website but I think it's always better to hear it from someone who's studying/has studied there?

I'd like to know more about the quality of students' work, accommodation (in particular Francis Drake Hall if possible) and the option to study abroad during the second year.

Any information at all would be appreciated.

First years like myself have only just completed freshers week so we cant tell you much, think there are some second/third years browsing the forum so maybe they’ll be able to answer from more experience. But Ill try to answer on what I know so far.

The course seems great at the moment, really laid back attitude by teachers and students alike. Everyone is very helpful, and so far I have had a lot of fun, despite spending all my spare time dealing with student finance delays so I cant tell you about all the extra freshers activities.

There is a lot of space to work, and multiple studios you can go and work in. Such as print rooms, ceramics, computer rooms, our main studio is huge, with lots of space for you to spread out. The studios are spread between the Roland Levenski Building and the building right next to it, the name escapes me lol

Theres also the library which is huge btw lots of books study space and computers to use, cafe etc right next to the building so you can always quickly pop out if you need something.

From what I have experienced so far you are given a brief and left to it, the first week was aimed at getting know everyone, and so far it has worked well. Its a very diverse mix of people, although everyone likes art so you have something in common straight away ;p

Teachers and other students, as well as all the campus staff seem very approachable. It’s genuinely a fantastic atmosphere to be in.

I’m currently in Francis Drake building, and have an ensuite room. To tell the truth I think it is a bit overpriced for what it is. You do get a lot of space, and I personally share a kitchen with just 3 other room m8s.

But stuff like door handles coming off, constant noise from generators and rather audible people directly outside the windows is a little off putting. We all so had a fire alarm test a a day ago at 10pm, wonderful experience when your asleep lol

However you also get plenty of shelving space, everything is within a few minutes walk, plenty of room in the kitchen well in my kitchen at least lol, warden right down the hall if you need anything, cleaners everyday, with post delivered everyday as well, at least from my experience any problem I have had has quickly been dealt with.

Free internet access in your rooms, lots of plugs if you have a lot of electrical equipment all though you cant put like a hoover on for instance or you’ll blow them out. Ensuite isnt bad, although I must of been lucky getting one that hadn’t been cleaned correctly, but again that was quickly fixed.

The noises while annoying I have started to get used to. I would say it is adequate accommodation and really it will be down to you to way up the negatives and the pluses.

Personally I went for the student accommodation because I havent lived away from home before so I didnt want all the fuss of multiple bills, dealing with shared rent, etc that I will be dealing with next year. It might be worth looking around at shared housing, and at the private letting agents linked from the uni site as they all offer 1 rent pays everything deals.

As for Plymouth itself it is quite a busy little place, everything is within walking distance, tons of shops, lots of things to see and do, from what I hear lots of pubs and places to eat havent been able to check them out myself yet :/ And again everyone is very friendly from what I have experienced and helpful.

Theres the Unimedical centre across the road from Francis Drake so you dont have to travel far for any medical attention, and there are a lot of NHS and private Dentists around.

Student union is very helpful, theres a gym on campus that is easily accessible.

Everything is at your door step basically. I would say 90% of the time I have had here so far has been fantastic and much better than I initially thought it would be. The other 10% is mostly because of unrelated issues.

Oh and I have to say I have never seen so many good looking women in one place at any time in my life. But of course you shouldnt be going to uni for that ;p

Anyway hope that is helpful, perhaps ill do an update in a couple of months and say what I think of the course then :)

Edit: Oh you asked about student work quality, well one thing you will learn very quickly on this course that everyone is different and everyone starts off in a at a different skill level, the course is designed so that everyone can get the help they need to improve. As for what I have seen so far from current first years, its hard to tell we have been doing projects that just wont look good by any definition lol They were really just tasks to get us mixing, and it worked great have 6 good m8s already.

And I am sure Ill try to get to know the others on the course as time goes by. I think with regards as well to quality it is all down to how hard you work. Dont be put off if you come in and everyone is better than you iyo, or worse than you iyo, the idea is that you do the best you can do, and that you look for what will make you better as an artist/illustrator.

And that is pretty much the way the course seems to be run, its designed to make you better, not to make you feel pressured into a perticular way of drawing. There are some very good graphic designers, good fine artists in the traditional sense, and so on, everyone is going to be good at something or you would not be on a course that only has 41 students.

[slopii]

Hello!

I am a 23 year old working in the games industry as a creative services assistant (I put together the games packaging so I guess that makes me a print designer)

I'm considering re-training to work in more illustrative/concept art production side of things. Also because I'd love the chance to spend 3 years drawing for personal gain.... AWESOME.

The sort of course I am looking for will focus on skills, technical illustration, draughtsmanship etc... with free reign of good facilities.

The Bristol illustration course looks pretty good, its the only course with the word draughtsmanship in the description so I will be applying for that one. The only issue is that I probably need to live in london, my long term boyfriend, our flat, our cat etc.... would probably be pissed if I up and moved to Bristol for 3 years :P

Can any one recommend (or poo poo) a course in London? I have signed up for the open day at Brighton since I lived in brighton for 8 years and could stay with friends during the week term times. I went to an illustration open day at Camberwell and while the facilities looked fantastic the course was very conceptual and I wasn't convinced the students could actually... draw... lots of random objects placed near each other and called art....

Help really appreciated!

[slopii]

Has any one every taken a course at http://www.drawpaintsculpt.com/

How was it?

[slopii]

Ok well since there doesn't seem to be any London related feedback, I have booked open days at Camberwell, Kingston, Brighton and Bristol (which doesn't need any further reviewing since everyone in this thread seems to go to Bristol!)

If any one can recommend another course around/in London I'd appreciate it :)

[Yelllowcardas]

Well as me i sended ucas this week and i choosen:
UWE Bristol
Kingston London
Middlesex London
DeMontfort Leicester
and Bournemouth colleague
And all in illustration course only demontfort games art design,so now will waiting for they offers and what they expecting from me:)

[no87]

slopii - some info that i know on camberwell if it hasn't changed. there course is mainly aimed at people how want to go into illustration but has a very fine art influence to it. they don't like there students to stylizes or get stuck in any way of working for very long (they love experimenting but dont really understand digital much) . there course does get some amazing guest lectures from what ive heard and been too. oh and the another big point is third years don't get a studio which is great. they do have some really nice print studios tho. i personally think the course is brilliant seeing the last years end of year show but i no its up everyone's taste.
info i no from kingston ive found out from old students i've talked too is really positive. but i dont know too much about that one at the moment. i know its very intense tho.
the others i dont know much about others apart from bristol. :)

good luck Yelllowcardas :)


i'm also applying this year. did a foundation year in camberwell last year and never got in any where that time :/
anyways looking around at a few unis and building a decent set of work to show at the moment.

[Spirit]

If anyone would mind answering a question for me, I'd be very grateful! :)
Well I am looking at Uni's which do art courses, as I want to know which Uni's I want to apply to early, as I like to plan ahead. I was wondering if anyone studys art at Loughborough? If so, would you be able to tell me what the art courses there are like? I'm thinking of making this one of my options, as from what I've read on their website it sounds quite good, although I'll be going to open days etc to make sure.
Thanks!

[slopii]

I went to an open day this week at Brighton Uni for their visual communication (aka Illustration) course.

I have to say I wasn't impressed. The open day consisted of half an hour talks about student services (accommodation etc) and what its like to live in Brighton (I lived there for 8 years already, no fault of the talk but I was yawning by the end) and then a half hour talk by some senior arts faculty member who presented a show-reel of work by the lecturers and best students. The show reel was a mixed bag with almost as much photography and animation as illustration and I wasn't seeing much craftsmanship, it was all very edgy illustration for advertising/CD covers, posters etc...

We were then put in groups of 20 and assigned two first year students who took us on a tour. By which I mean they shuffled us through the studios past a hundred other tours and then abandoned us at the end of a completely uninformative silent shuffle round the building. The parents even had to be left behind because they weren't expecting so many people to attend (even though you had to book and register on arrival) so any parent who travelled from the far reaches got totally ripped off.

There was no opportunity to meet tutors or ask questions. The quality of the student work was ok, the presentation featured some quite old stuff (I could tell because there was some album covers that are a few years old) so I'm not sure if it is representative of the quality of the average student or the tuition.

If the uni is half as disorganised as the tour... Who would consider giving a 5 figure sum and 3 years of their life to a uni that doesn't give you the time of day to even sell it to you. No thanks.

Next stop Kingston.

[Tar1]

Hi slopii

In answering your question about LARA (www.drawpaintsculpt.com) I attend some of their night courses (I have a day job). As far as I am concerned they are the only art school that actually teaches skills to draw or paint to a high traditional standard. Unfortunately if you attend other schools you are likely to be inundated with a lot of superfluous modernist/post-modernist philosophy and teachers brought up under systems where skills were not taught. The teachers at LARA on the other hand have all been through the atelier system ie Florence Academy so the curriculum is similar. In effect the skills taught are similar to nineteenth century academic techniques. A couple of concept artists have attended full-time to raise their traditional skills up a notch. The school is relatively new so no-one is treated like a number and tuition is based on the student individually (ie the atelier method). If you want a taster you should just turn up to a Monday or Thursday life drawing course from 6.30-9pm.

Cheers

[ZenzybaR]

I need to finish applying for UCAS but i'm still unsure of what kind of course i should do. Right now i'm leaning towards game art but i'm not sure if this is a good choice.
I have a friend doing game art and he loves it, but i have another friend on the exact same course who was struggling because he didn't want to do digital 3d stuff.

I don't mind doing the 3d stuff, but I do want to build up my digital painting/drawing and analogue skills as well.
Fine art doesn't seem like the thing for me, and illustration looks good, but i don't know anything about it. Although i am doing research.

Does anyone know any good courses and universities to apply to?
Also i don't mind leaving London, but not as far as Wales or anything.

[Yelllowcardas]

Little Update:
Well The Arts University College at Bournemouth today sened to me email what where are no place to Illustration course,and im really disapointed how they pick who will study,because they dont asked me any portfolios or my artwork,so im little frustraded,how hell they decide who is right or not,i think eveyrone have equal rights to fight for his place,also they say that they offering my placa a foundation degree, well im in my country will end this summer Multimedia Art Bachelor so im not yellow chicken anymore and i know what im doing,well this kind my angry post,but i posted just to now does anyone had same problem,only yet one uni askde my protoflio (DE Montfort for Games Art Design) other probably will wait until spring or maybe new year.
So im bit dissapointed how things going on.Im hope you all will susceed.good Luck

[Shantih]

It's sadly not unusual for universities to fill places early or mislead people about how much space there is, it happened to a lot of people on my foundation course and they wound up having to take a year out and reapply, despite most of them being clearly higher quality applicants than those already accepted.

[Yelllowcardas]

Well where are still Bristol Uwe,Kingston,Middlesex and Demontfort and i hope they at least see what im doing and decide:) no matter what where is a lot chance because when one doors closed,other are opened. Where are some crazyness what big city will inspire me so London,Bristol or Leicester are interesting ones,i hope.

[Feral Friend]

Hey Yellow I applied to kingston and bristol (UWE). I just got my interview for bristol today :D Kingston hasn't even reached the submission deadline so I'm not expecting it for another month or so.

UWE have set a task '210mm x 210mm 3 panels depicting your 3 biggest influences'

I think this is the same task they always set based on earlier posts in this thread, I have a pretty good idea of what I will do for the project however I'd be interested to know from other applicants what the order of the day is. Do you interview before portfolio review or after etc...

:D

[lefran]

leave your portfolio there, then they do like, tour of studio and tour of bush house whilst they look over portfolios,your not actually there, then interviews

[Feral Friend]

Thanks Lefran, I eventually figured as much by reading this entire thread, I figure since I'm applying to uni anyway whats the harm in getting in trouble at work for doing NO work all day D:
After researching the interview procedure and portfolio guidelines I was feeling really well prepared, I have over a month until the first interview which is plenty of time to get my self together. No problem!

And then right before I left work a bomb dropped, I got an email from Kingston saying I have just over a week to submit a digital portfolio or my application is auto-rejected. Doesn't seem very fair when the application deadline hasn't even closed yet, giving later applicants a month extra to prepare. Plus the mass email they sent wasn't very friendly came across a bit aggressive and demanding.
We have considered your application and would now like to review your portfolio online to decide whether we wish to invite you in for a follow up interview.

You need to send us a reply email by 26th February 2010 containing the link to your portfolio online so that we can do this. In the header you must clearly state your name and UCAS ID number, or we will be unable to consider the portfolio online. Please note due to the very high number of applications we will not progress further with your application unless we are able to review your portfolio. If we do not receive a response by the deadline above we will assume you no longer wish to be considered for a place on the course and we will automatically withdraw your application.

It's totally irrational as I haven't yet been for an open day at bristol but I am totally favoring it based on how many good things people have said about it.

Plus the emails they send are excited and encouraging in tone, it's all 'Woo we'd LOVE to have you for an interview! Let us know if we can help at alllll' rather than 'If we do not receive a response by the deadline, we will presume you are an ass who doesn't love art'

[SLIMEface]

I got the Kingston email aswell, think of all the people who dont check their email so regularly! THINK OF THE POOR LOST SOULS.

On a different note is anyone down in bournemouth tomorrow for the afternoon interview?
Should be good but UWE is still my number one choice.

[Feral Friend]

Auncer - have you been to a bristol open day? what did you think?

[SLIMEface]

Bristol was nice!
Libary looked good with lots and lots of magazines.
Your studio starts out as just a table but they give you more as you get further into the course.
Printing facilities looked really good with big silk screens, and they said that if you want you can use other courses facilities so if your into photography you can use their dark rooms etc.
Plus looking around the students blogs all the work looks of a pretty high standard which could mean the teaching is good or they are just picky with who they let on:P

[Feral Friend]

I'm hoping its fab teaching. I'm starting to get nervous I wont get into either course I applied too, I mean it wouldn't be the end of the world because I already work in the computer games industry doing marketing graphics so I am sure I can take a career path to something more illustrative but it would be AWESOME to spend 3 years doing somehting for the sake of it. ahhhhh WORRY GNAWR

[0blivionisathand]

This thread just doesn't die, ah well. I joined UWE Illustration last year and I have to say, and this is echoed off near enough everyone in my year, is that the initial projects can feel quite a drag. The tutors are not scheduled on a regular basis, but are around to talk to if you want it. It's not to say there's lack of good teaching, it seems to be getting better at this point. All I can really say is everything's at your disposal whether you choose to utilise it or not.

Good luck!

[lefran]

yup i agree, first part of first year is kind of a drag, but i think its to teach you to be more self sufficient and also for them to see what your capable of i guess. Second part of the year i really enjoyed, gets better from now on

[Feral Friend]

If you run a forum search for uk illustration courses it comes up :P its quite nice that there are several generations of applicants hanging around to give advice and support <3

Sooooo.... hello successful applicants from previous years. Who wants to help me with my portfolio? *biggest cheesy winning smile*

I'm 24, I didn't go to college or foundation (I'm doomed I know) but I have worked as a freelance illustrator and I currently work for a computer games company in the marketing department so while I don't have a massive body of work I'm hoping my 'relevant experience' will help.

I'm worried about my portfolio mostly because of the lack of sketchbooks. Without that academic environment I tend to just have an idea and draw it. Do you think I'll get away with filling just one sketchbook before the interviews? What advice would you give me on the whole process baring in mind I don't have a clue what's expected.
An example of my professional work can be found at www.pulppress.co.uk and personal stuff can be found in my sketch book.

Any help would be super appreciated and will be rewarded with doughnuts!

[Kyendo]

I'm in my final year at Uni here in Portugal and I'd really like to go on and get a masters degree in Illustration. I've been searching and they are a lot harder to find than BAs (but I can't afford to pay for another 3 years of college... although that would be nice).

So far, my best options seem to be Kingston, with their Animation and Illustration MA, and Camberwell, who have an Illustration MA. Does anyone have any experience with these institutions? Or know of any other MAs in Illustration that might be good?

[Feral Friend]

I have only visited them on open days, Kingston had great facilities and seemed to promote a 5 day work week, they had a focus on life drawing and drawing skills. Camberwell, I wasn't impressed with the students work, very conceptual and often didn't really display any skill, the tutors seemed more interested in telling me how great the reputation of the college was than showing good work, only exception being the foundation degree tutor (can't remember his name) who seemed really focused and employment orientated, still probably not what you are looking for. I'm sure there must be other uni's with Masters...

Have you looked on the UCAS website?

[Yelllowcardas]

Well hello to everyone.
Today i send my portfolio to Bristol Uwe and Kingston,well we will see what will happens but still have a bad feeling about this,well Demontfort rejected my application but i send ed portfolio one month later,so maybe i fucked up or maybe i was late and they don't get my dvd of my work,anyway i cant control anything and i do know not anything how they judge or pick students for courses,so probably i have to live year in uk to get better view how things going where,but my friend Irish man said you are totally stupid-head if you will try to study in uk again because i will end my Multimedia Art studies in Lithuania in summer so anyway i will have diploma maybe to no get in uni again is right for me because probably i will go mad to be with young folks and do stupid arty works again,so probably to search job in uk is best choice, work and try to go LARA is best option,well i see how things go with uni things,as i said i have bad feeling,maybe my artworks do not compatible with others,i really do not know or my qualifications are shity.Well i will keep up with news,if I'm in I will be until end. Good luck to you all:yayca:

[pages]

Whether part time courses are available for illustration in uk?

[Kyendo]

I have only visited them on open days, Kingston had great facilities and seemed to promote a 5 day work week, they had a focus on life drawing and drawing skills. Camberwell, I wasn't impressed with the students work, very conceptual and often didn't really display any skill, the tutors seemed more interested in telling me how great the reputation of the college was than showing good work, only exception being the foundation degree tutor (can't remember his name) who seemed really focused and employment orientated, still probably not what you are looking for. I'm sure there must be other uni's with Masters...

Have you looked on the UCAS website?

Thank you! That's good to know, since Kingston is the place I'm leaning towards the most, at the moment (a friend visited it and brought me some brochures). It's a shame there's no ARHC scholarships for that school though...

The UCAS website seems to only give me BAs. :/

I'm also looking into Sunderland (Illustration and Design MA) (http://www.sunderland.ac.uk/study/course/123/illustration_and_design). Can anyone tell me anything about this? I'm not so sure about the design part of the course, plus only 12 hours of contact/week seems a bit too scarce.

[heylister]

Hi everyone I'm currently doing a foundation art course in Birmingham. I'm applying to Illustration BA (Hons) degree at UWE, Bournemouth, Plymouth and BCU starting this September (London is a bit too far outside my price range).

Been lurking on this forum for ages and just wanted to say thanks to Ed and Leafran and others for all the help this thread as given me. I've got my interview with Bournemouth next Monday and will be uploading my portfolio onto here for other people to look at and critique and compare their own to.

[0blivionisathand]

To Fran, I agree that the project meant well in terms of self-motivation. For me to direct it for that amount of time was pretty new and if anything I should have just done loads more in the time I had.

Definately starting to look up. Buying loads of materials for binding. Life drawing is pretty good with all the mark making approaches. Print center is great so I'll make use of that. They said they've given us until the end of easter to submit a book, and that could be anything that's not a book by description. Yow..

[thesparrow]

Hello everyone!
I accidentally found this thread while searching for reviews of BA Illustration programs in UK.

I'm 20 yo, currently studying Electrical & Computer Engineering in Athens, Greece (5 year diploma course), but engineering has never interested me (dont ask why i got there..).

So I applied for BA Illustration in ECA, UWE, Cardiff, Camberwell and Coventry, so far I've got a conditional from Coventry.
It's really nice to know that there are other people around applying this year.
I would really appreciate it if someone could tell me some info about the above courses, so far I see UWE is a good choice. Any views on the other 4?

And good luck to everyone with the applications! :^^:

[Feral Friend]

Hey heylister! looking forward to seeing your folio, good luck with your application!

Also want to chip in a thanks to every one who applied previous years who gave their feedback on the process, been super helpful!!

Had to submit the Kingston online portfolio and got a reply back offering me a in person folio interview WOO

My kingston interview is on 13ths April, Bristol interview is the 15th of april. Any one else around on these dates?

:D excitement starting to buzz!

[Eihs]

I'm wondering if anyone knows what universities tend to like annotation-wise in portfolios?

I've only had one interview so far and they didn't mention it at all, and being the idiot that I am, I forgot to ask their opinions on it. I've got my UWE interview on tuesday so I'm kind of freaking out about stuff like this...

[Feral Friend]

Waaaa I haven't had any of my interviews yet so can't say. I'd be REALLY interested to know what happens and what feedback you get from UWE as my interview is on the following thursday.

GOOD LUCK!! :)

[SLIMEface]

Had my interview yesterday and not really sure how it went.

They asked me questions about what kind of novels I liked and why I would want to do illustration. They will ask you to talk about one specific piece and what you like about it. So make sure you have alot to say about something!
At the end they will ask you if you have any questions and you can ask for some feedback then.

I'm not sure if you will get the same questions because they split the lectures into pairs and they each interview four people to speed the process up.
Also while you are in the waiting room you get to watch an awesome ghost busters movie!

Anyway good luck guys and gals!:yayca:

[Feral Friend]

Thanks for the insider info Auncer! Looking forward to it. What did you do for your 3 influences? Massive fingers crossed for you :)

I had my Kingston interview today and to be honest I left feeling more unsure about if I wanted them than if they wanted me. I had a pair of interviewers who did a sort of good cop bad cop thing where one was nice and the other really rude, interrupting and negative. The mean guy seemed more interested in putting my off uni all together than questioning me, I'm applying as a mature student (I'm 24, hardly mature!) and he asked if I could bare to be surrounded by 19 year olds which doesn't say a lot about his respect for his students.

And we didn't talk about my portfolio once, they spent 15 mins going through it before I went into the room and it stayed closed for the whole interview.

Do you know roughly when we can expect to hear?

[SLIMEface]

No problem man, you can see my three influences in my sketchbook! Looking at them now i probably could of done better but owell... thanks for the luck!
Kingston sounded like they were pretty rude but it's their loss I suppose.

UWE said they would try and get back as soon as they could but it was either next tuesday or thursday it's pretty sad that my memory is so bad I can't remember :P

[Feral Friend]

In interviews I ramble and barely absorb what the other person is saying, its an effort to look like I'm listening!

your 3 biggest influences are great! You have so much detail into the small space.

I haven't started mine, if I paint something it wont even be dry for tomorrow...

[mai .d]

had mah uwe interview today. went well! but the standard was high. i bet everyone's interview went well. i'm going to get my hopes down just in case.

i was disappointed that we didn't talk about the brief that they set. i worked kinda hard on that.

also... i met someone who is aware of this site and should read this message sometime.

[Nrx]

uwe interview today too! ma.id is your bro a douche!? :P


fuuuck that guy shook me up, the wait for the results is gonna mess me up !

[mai .d]

i remember this conversation nrx... i don't want you thinking my bro's a douche. he's better mannered than i am. but i get you.

i will make sure to get some of my stuff in digital so you can see. i am also anxious about the outcome...

try

www.doubletongue.co.uk for some old college work.

[Feral Friend]

Hey I was at UWE on the 15th (yesterday) was any one else there?

Man I got GRILLED by the interview tutor, its nice to see them taking an interest, every where else asked really boring questions and my interview lasted over 15 mins at UWE.

Because I was the last in and so last to come out of the interviews I got a personal tour of the uni by a really sweet girl who I can't remember the name of. I mentioned to her that I had seen UWE students on this forum so nice girl who took the woman in the pink jeans round, make your self known!

I am also miffed they weren't interested in the project the set, I don't think they even got it out of my folio. I stayed up till 3am the night before finishing it :/

I was far more impressed with UWE, even though moving to Bristol wouldn't be ideal for me and Kingston had better facilities, I only met 2 tutors at each but they were way more on it at UWE.

[Eihs]

Were you interviewed by the two print guys by any chance? Because when I was there the people who were interviewed by them took twice as long as everyone else, and I was the last one to go in as well. It sounds pretty similar because the one guy totally grilled me as well.

[Nrx]

haha i dont think your bros a douche dude! i got grilled too but i had the guy who introduced us, was his name paul? or phil or somthing cant remember

[Feral Friend]

I had the illustration course director who ever that was, young-ish guy and an older guy who was some sort of fellow I think.

I totally embarrassed my self after, I was waiting for the U1 bus to go back to the station on the phone to my sister and just as I said 'this interview was fucking totally more hard core than....' the older guy who interviewed me walked past and smirked.

Whoops!

I'm checking my email a lot even though I know the answer isn't due to some time next week. WAAAA.

[Nrx]

hey feral is the course leader the big guy with the blonde hair? i had him too what a badass! i wouldnt worry your portfolio is insane! i was there on the 15th too, im 6-4 long hair but it was tied up black shirt was being quite talkative before hand, but then got in the interview and died :P

i wasnt their on the 15th at all what am i chatting sorry :P

[Feral Friend]

Sounds like the same guy. Hard work but it's good that he was tough because at least he cares!

NO NEWS IT GOOD NEWS *hits F5 a thousand more times*

[Feral Friend]

Didn't get in to kingston

[Feral Friend]

FUCK RAAAAA

[Nrx]

oh shit that sucks dude! your really skilled too, any idea why exactly?

[Feral Friend]

Urrrg I don't want to be a twat about it, I mean there are loads of possible reasons (work quality/attitude/superior competiton etc...) and until I ask for and receive feedback (I always do when I don't get something, can't hurt) I can't really say but this is how it went from my perspective....

When I went on the open day for kingston I approached one of the tutors to ask questions about support for mature students (I'm 24 and have a flat/job etc...) and he was a total grumpy negative wanker who basically discouraged me from applying. He basically suggested that any one who can't afford to study full time without employment shouldn't go to university (aka any one without rich parents to support them). His argument was that the course is really full on and they expect students to be available for extra curricular activities. Since education in this country is no longer free I think that's pretty unreasonable and restrictive.

Anyway I said all that here in my post directly after my interview *points* but since the facilities are great and the campus location is perfect for me I decided to apply anyway and hope that this douche was an exception among the tutors and because uni is what you make of it so I could just avoid negative people.

I was unlucky enough to have this guy as my interviewer, he didn't even mention my portfolio (it remained closed the whole 5 mins they gave me) and he quizzed me on things like "how will you cope with being in an environment with 19 year olds" which I think is pretty disrespectful to the current students (my brother is 19 and he is awesome) and how I felt about leaving work and going into education (err fantastic, why else would I be applying??)

So since I thought my interviewer was a complete snobbish, elitist, moron and he already had massive preconceptions about me... I don't think I came off very well in the interview, unimpressed is probably a good word.

After he finished he asked if I had any questions, I asked if he thought their course was suitable for some one interested in the industry I'm interested in and some one in my situation....

He said no!

I especially liked when he pointed out that if I wanted to 'go into games' that there are plenty of games degrees where I could study animation etc... when I had given 'pre production illustration for games and films' as my career goal...

[Nrx]

oh man what a douche, if he can't see past his stereo types what kind of tutor could he be...

on the flip side, my friend got accepted into bristols drawing and applied arts! hurraah

anyone heard from anglia ruskins illustration animation?

[Feral Friend]

Yeah, unlucky that one person gave me a totally negative experience of what is probably an otherwise fine institution. Oh well!

Congrats to your friend!

Finger crossed!

[no87]

wow this thread jumped in activity alot lol.
lol everyone seems to be applying to uwe. i blame josh aka badger. :P
anyways i applied to uwe, Falmouth, Kingston, Camberwell (my old foundation uni) and Rochester.

so didnt get interviews for kingston and camberwell. but i can understand why i didn't get one for there. there course leader Darrell hates me lol. even tho my ref can from a lecture on that course. lamme :/
kingston rejected me last year too so not sure if they remember me. guess with both hanging around with all the right people isn't enough.

uwe interview went ok. i know i couldn't have done any better at least. had a massive list of stuff i wanted to talk about and i mentioned alot of it.
next interview is Falmouth. that ones gona be tough but should be fun drawing and meeting new people.

oh and i got into Rochester for cg arts.


good luck feral and nrx with uwe! i think that uni has some of the best print studios going. lol if i got in there i would be those alot xD. might take another trip back to bristol soon if i get in or not. wana explore abit more.



oh and feral, dw about kingston. the more i seem to learn about them they seem very like camberwell. they seem in alternative universe sometimes. lol like i remember when i was in camberwell my mate who draws loads of comics got a crit where he was told his work was to commercial and everyone went ooooooooowww like its a massive insult. and he turned round and said so ur saying im gona make money from my work and you lot an't lol.

[Feral Friend]

Still... No.... News....

I might pop.

[SLIMEface]

I feel your pain:(

[Nrx]

anyone got anything yet? a friend put on her facebook she got into bristol, shes a illustrator so i assume she means illustration... nothing here :S

[Feral Friend]

Nope, been checking it a few times an hour too... Waaaa :P

[Nrx]

BRISTOL 2010-2012 (i'd say 2013 but we all know the world ends 2012 right?

[Feral Friend]

CONGRATULATIONS!!! Fantastic news :D

[Feral Friend]

Urrrrg Still no news, is actually starting to become very stressful.

[Nrx]

ahh dude this must be killing you! keep positive and just assume you'll be in, thats all i could do to help with the stress.

i got into anglia ruskins illustration animation too woop woop! :D

[Feral Friend]

Whoop, got in. Happy and SAD.

[SLIMEface]

I got a conditional for DMM so im pretty sure I will get in:D
Well done guys!

[Feral Friend]

Arrrr well done every one! and thanks for the comfort blanket and support through the agonising process of finding and applying!

[mai .d]

i'm in. sudden relief washes over me. the conditional is 240 points but i have various other qualifications to make up the weight if i don't get MMM on the nat dip.

[Feral Friend]

Woooo I might be living on a canal boat in bristol!

[Kagemusha22]

If anyone would mind answering a question for me, I'd be very grateful! :)
Well I am looking at Uni's which do art courses, as I want to know which Uni's I want to apply to early, as I like to plan ahead. I was wondering if anyone studys art at Loughborough? If so, would you be able to tell me what the art courses there are like? I'm thinking of making this one of my options, as from what I've read on their website it sounds quite good, although I'll be going to open days etc to make sure.
Thanks!

A bit late for me to reply to this now that everyone's applied and had interviews (but might as well give a shout out for Loughborough), but it's definitely a good course. The course is pretty well structured, where we can easily contact our tutors, we have weekly group crits for project work, along with basics on life-drawing by experienced artists (check Paul Wright (http://www.paul-wright.com/paul_wright.html)), and computing, etc. I'm coming to the end of my first year, and it's gone pretty well to be fair, a lot of the concentration this year has been for us to widen our horizons with how we can approach illustration and develop working methods to deal with large amounts of work. (I'm currently juggling 6 projects) The art department has a great deal of resources (with a brilliant animation studio), along with a decent reputation that goes with it. (Most University league tables I've seen place L'boro in the top 5 for Art & Design and our course tutor is president of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters)

[Spirit]

Thank you, Kagemusha22 for answering that question, a lot of useful information :) I'm considering going to Loughborough Uni next year myself, to study Illustration I think... the only problem is that apparently I need to have done a foundation degree first, I'm not sure if its a necessity or not though!

This is a long shot... but does anyone here study art at Falmouth University? It interests me a lot, but seeming as it's in Cornwall I'd never be able to get down there for an open day as it's about 6 hours away from me. I'd be taking a risk if I chose to go there without knowing anything about it, apart from what they have told me, so any extra information would be amazing :)
Edit: I almost forgot, if anyone is studying at Aberystwyth, what are the art courses like there, too?
Thank you! :D

[Shantih]

A foundation year isn't always necessary (there's a couple of people in my year at UWE who didn't do one) but I'd recommend it, it gives you an extra year to to experiment and work on your art and portfolio, and you don't have to pay if you start before you turn 19, or something like that.

[lefran]

i agree, my foundation was free, it was awful and only 10 of us were on it, but i spent the year working on my portfolio to how i saw fit, and got a lot of work together for it, and i improved because that was all i was doing for year. So if you're stepping up from A level, im not sure how old you are) its a good idea as you can figure out what sort of illustration you enjoy ( you said you think, so you might change your mind after foundation) , and also for portfolio benefit, i'm pretty sure i wouldnt have had enough for a good enough portfolio before foundation

[Spirit]

lefran and Shantih, thank you for the replies :)
I did want to do a foundation, but I'm not sure where i'd do it. There is a college nearby which offers it, but I'd have to check if it's free or not as cost is the issue for me really. I'll look into it more though, as I would like more time to get together a decent portfolio, definitely.

[Mane]

hey spirit, im off to falmouth for a foundation year then probably to the fine arts course there, or might edinburgh/glasgow if you have any questions about the application process I would be more than happy to tell you.
Drop me a message if you want
Chris

[Nrx]

Hey ive got a question for the guys from UWE, whats the workload like? i only ask because my money situation is pretty dire and i want to come down a little early to try find a job, but if the workload is super intense (which i want i do want to be clear :P ) then i think i need to wait till im sure about what hours i could squeeze in, ahh lifes a bitch

[Shantih]

I work two days a week and it is doable, but the tutors are pretty unhelpful about it, they seem to think only people who can afford not to work should be there. What I did was just work weekends until I knew what weekday I could do when I got the timetable. You pretty much always get one weekday without something scheduled, but it changes term to term.

I'd advise starting the job search ASAP, there's very few part time places available and once all the other students arrive it'll be even worse.

[0blivionisathand]

I work weekends in Bristol and I haven't had any problems, especially for first year. The tutors like to think you are putting your time into nurturing your skills or something but if I didn't work then I could pay for food and luxuries, and it's not like you can jump onto the street waving bits of art in people's faces. There was one girl in my year who was working part-time in 'London' so John was asking Cafes in Bristol so she wouldn't have to travel all that way. I suppose you could feed off any loans and bursaries but it won't leave you enough to enjoy time off in the summer, things other than drawing or sticking bits of card.

So yeah you can get away with it. You might want to subscribe to the jobshop on the UWE site for odd things that come up, I know Hotel Chocolat are looking for people or so my flatmate tells me...

Good luck anyways!

[sleepykit]

i am looking to do an illustration course, i looked at UWE and everyone said it wd be amazing but i dunno i went to the open day and... it didnt seem to stand out to me... i looked at Northampton too and their stuff amazed me... but i dunno, i am struggling to make any decisions and i kinda need to for november *worried face* i was wndering whether people could telll me what they liked about UWE.... seeing as they wont take anyone who dont put them as first choice... just sc ared i am going to make the wrong decision

[lefran]

I think a lot of places do the whole 'won't accept 2nd choice' applicants, so thats not really uncommon. Uwe has really good facilities for print making if you're into that and you can have access to photography and animation etc, or any other department really like metal work as i've gone in there for a project once. The tutors are pretty good and theres a lot of free reign for what you want to do, they don't sort of steer you into a house style like a lot of illustration courses seem guilty of so i'm told, also the studio is quite small but its a nice creative sort of environment and is right in the city centre. I think one of the most important things apart from the uni, is to consider the area itself, as thats where you're going to be living for 3 years. Bristol is great, good selection of culture with art shows, music venues, theater, film in places like the watershed which shows world cinema. Loads of clubs, bars, pubs, good shops, good museum, whatever you're interested in really. Also consider, if your looking at peoples work alone might not necessarily be the best indication as perhaps not all the best work would be out on display etc, and perhaps might just have a particularly good batch of students etc, which might not have much to do with the university really. I'm not sure what they do at the open days now really for UWE. Maybe take a scoot around on some of the blogs and see what kind of work people are doing there? If its any help heres our main blog http://uweillustration.blogspot.com/ which has some past student links in the side blog ( the rest isnt really relevant to look at)
And my year groups blog, which will be 3rd years this year, http://uweillustration2008.blogspot.com/ and theres a selection of my year group's blogs in the side bar there too, i'm sure other places like Northampton will have blogs and things available for you to have a look through.
UWE does have a pretty good record at winning illustration competitions though :)

[Raffix]

ah im glad this thread is still alive. im only 17 and im looking round Foundation courses atm so i guess im a year behind everyone else here but is there anyone else at this stage?

[Sulphur]

ah im glad this thread is still alive. im only 17 and im looking round Foundation courses atm so i guess im a year behind everyone else here but is there anyone else at this stage?

Me :D Trying to skip the foundation course though.

If I get turned down at UWE, do they have a foundation course they could put me in? Or is there at least a decent foundation course in Bristol in general?

I really don't want to be stuck in Newcastle for an extra year :(

[gutss]

Ayup chucks! I've just started my foundation art course at NCN in Nottingham (which seems pretty good so far if anyone's thinking about it! There's about 200 of us and the tutors are good).

Not too sure what I want to do right now. I used to be pretty certain for a long time but I've had a whirlwind summer and it's kind of confused me a bit. But that's part of what foundation's for I suppose!

I was thinking something to do with illustration or animation and was thinking UWE (wahey!), Falmouth or Manchester Met. Who knows!

Good luck to all of you chucks :D

[Griever]

Alright, time to return to CA with some minor necro-threading as application time rolls around once more...

First of all, my thanks to everyone in this thread just for sharing their experiences and advice in such detail; i've been reading through and it's been a big help in giving me some ideas of where i'm interested in looking.

As it stands I plan to go and check out UWE (as everyone is raving about it and it seems nice), AUC Bournemouth (as I understand that also has good rep and facilities for illustration), and Edinburgh College of Art (which I was quite interested in even before I stumbled across this wonderful thread). It's true that I need two or so more ideas, but right now i'm just trying to prioritise these three, so I figured i'd jump in here and hope all involved were still loitering...

First of all, something that's been bothering me a little, so many people here seem to be singing the praises of UWE, yet it only seems to stand at 30-50th place on most league tables; naturally I take that with a pinch of salt, but why exactly is it?

Secondly, to those who were applying to Bournemouth, how are your experiences with it by now? It does seem nice, but i've heard a few sources saying it's quite cramped, and some saying there's little to do?

Also, is there anyone who could tell me anything about Edinburgh? I have little to no idea about the place let alone the illustration course.

I am drawn to UWE and AUCB as perhaps my first two choices, but i'm somewhat concerned it's because so many people in this thread have been singing their praises; I will be visiting the open days, but I figured in the mean time it would do to get some more (and perhaps more up-to-date) information.

Any help/advice is really appreciated; thanks a lot, and good luck to anyone getting ready to apply.

[lefran]

UWE isnt known for its excellence in other course areas like geography, history, whatever.... but it is well known for its art courses.
So i've been told UWE is in the top few (i've been told 2) to get into in the UK how true that is im not sure, but i know theres a hella lot of applicants for the amount that actually get through.
I think the most important thing is if you like the place, think the facilities are sufficient for you and things like that, as you can make whatever you want of the actual uni part thats entirely up to you, theres a lot of UWE students in here so we can't speak for any other uni, but i'm pretty sure it'll be the same anywhere, just consider strongly where you'll be living i would suggest, obviously some courses are better than others, but i think you're probably aware of which ones are the highest praised

[Salavin]

Hey guys, (late comer to the thread) In regarding Falmouth I had an interview there for illustration but the interview was terrible, they only seemed to be interested in traditional media and creating children's books ONLY. The interviewer was rather clipped when I asked regarding about teaching and course program and barely looked through my portfoilo and said I was looking for a possible concept artist career and practically turned his nose up at me.

I'm at Cheltenham/Gloucestershire Uni now. I had a chance to go overseas during my 2nd year (now in my 3rd) to Belgium to study Bandé designée (french comics) and learn alot from them and also this final year they're really pushing to make sure you do your best with bookfairs and other conventions where publishers attend to show your work and gather interest and also work on your portfolio.

But I congraduate everyone who got into their uni and wish them all the best!

[Huba]

Yes camberwell is excellent, but it depends on what you are looking for, i think camberwell are very traditional while others might be more modernised. Look on the times good university guide and pick art and design from the drop down togive you some ideas.

[Sulphur]

Just finishing up my UCAS application now, and I think i'm only going to apply to UWE and Falmouth.

But I don't like what Salavin just said ;_; Makes me feel scared about not getting into UWE and having to go there now hahah.

And Griever - although UWE doesn't rank too well as a whole university, it's illustration degree got 10th best in the world according to ImagineFX (http://www.imaginefx.com/02287754332325055513/top-10-digital-art-schools.html)

Hopefully this thread will become lively again pretty soon and I can make some friends c:

[Raffix]

thanks for that link sulphur

nice to see two english schools there amongst all the US ones

[Meg P]

@Griever - if there's anything specific you'd like to know about Edinburgh, just let me know. I didn't go to ECA (I went to Dundee University), but I now live and work in Edinburgh. It's my favourite Scottish city by far!

[B u r l]

I like the look of Bristol and Bournemouth. Reading through this thread they both seems very popular - can anyone tell me how you find it? I'm leaning mostly towards animation but I also like illustration. I am currently doing my 1st year at MMU (which was convenient for me at the time, but I don't feel I am getting my moneys worth), so I'm intending to switch universities for my 2nd year.

[ErikStorstein]

B u r l, I study animation production at Bournemouth(aucb which is the traditional animation course) at the moment. Started the illustration course there last year but switched over as the Animation course as it focuses a lot more on drawing. (so a lot of lifedrawing, locationdrawing and master studies). It's a great course overall, and even as someone not really wanting to be an animator, I feel the knowledge and skills I learn here can be applied to whatever I would decide to do next.

[B u r l]

Thanks, Zilrion. That seems really great and exactly what I am after! I'll likely try and come down for one of the open days, too.

[Cyan Boxes]

Hey all, currently i'm studying on my Foundation at Lincoln college, and it's pretty good so far, i'm going to be specialising in Illustration when the next term starts and (suprise suprise) i'm applying for illustration courses at university.
I've seen alot of people in previous posts say that there isn't much concept art based work in illustration courses, it dosen't really bother me, but out of future interests, what would be the best route after a degree course into such an industry? an MA? or applying like crazy to various design companies etc etc?

[Hanes]

Hey guys, been lurking around for some time absorbing all the information I find =) So I'm applying through UCAS for the 2011 and while all the info posted on this topic has been really useful, I haven't seen anyone mentioning anything about how the portfolio and interview stuff works with international students. Any insight on that one?

[Sulphur]

Hey Hanes,

If you scour the university sites and prospectuses hard enough, I imagine you'll find the information there.
But I'm guessing you just go through UCAS as it guides you and you should get emails from the universities saying how to go about things :)

[Hanes]

Well, good point you have there Sulphur :D Though I did go through UWEs site but I didn't find anything that would explain the complete process and also just ordered a prospectus, so maybe that'll be of some help. Or then I just do as you said, finish applying on UCAS and wait for an email for more instructions =)

Btw, are there others on CA applying to UWE for 2011?

[Raffix]

Well, good point you have there Sulphur :D Though I did go through UWEs site but I didn't find anything that would explain the complete process and also just ordered a prospectus, so maybe that'll be of some help. Or then I just do as you said, finish applying on UCAS and wait for an email for more instructions =)

Btw, are there others on CA applying to UWE for 2011?


i'll be going for 2012 if all goes to plan

[spoonerman]

I'm definitely applying for 2011, currently sitting in my access courses tuition, trying to get advice on personal statements, probably the most harrowing part about the whole application system :(

I loved the look of UWE but still need to keep my options open and have a look at Bournemouth.

Good luck to all applying :)

[E.Silva]

I visited UWE's open day on the 6th November - seemed pretty good, but I haven't visited anywhere else yet... but hey, the work on the walls was good (recognised Lefrans stuff :)), they've got plenty of computers and wacom tablets, and apparently there's a lot of professional guests and speakers and whatnot. There's also life drawing every week at Bower Ashton if you want it (I think). And Bush house, where the illustration students spend most of their time, seemed really nice, as did Bristol itself. Spent a few hours exploring; walked up to the old suspension bridge from the Bower Ashton campus and down the other side. Plenty of large, open spaces and a nice mix of architecture. Not too small or too big. I liked the place. Definitely applying for 2011 (doing foundation at Leeds College of Art now).

Hanes, have you tried contacting the university by email?

[HAJiME]

On the subject of open days, they are not a good indicator. They show a university's ability to organise an event, not the quality of it's staff or courses. Take them with a pinch of salt and, if you can, speak to a range of students on the course you want to study.

I'm in my third year at the University of Westminster studying Illustration.

I have no idea if my criticisms of it are criticisms of studying such a subject at university in general, or are uni specific. But it's meh. Personally, I'm not sure university is worth it in our field.

[Sulphur]

I'm pretty confident in my personal statement, reference, portfolio and all that, but i'm petrified of the interview :nohope:

Any tips/example questions to expect? (especially anything particular UWE asks)

[HAJiME]

Just be interested in your own work and go with the flow.

[Sulphur]

Sent my applications off a few weeks ago and I'm still eagerly visiting the UWE inbox everyday.

I'm only impatient because my boyfriend got a conditional offer from them within four days of sending his UCAS away :$
I know its for a different course (Creative Music Technology), but arghhhh i'm so jealous! :nohope:


:) Anyone heard from their unis yet? Or is the UCAS process going slow?

[DI888]

I wouldn't worry about hearing anything from UWE yet, since they make sure they interview EVERYONE who applies, so they'll get to you at some point.
In terms of things to expect in the interview, it'll mostly be about your work. I remember for my interview I had to pick a particular piece and talk about it, and that actually made up the bulk of the whole interview, so that's something to bear in mind I guess.

Anyways best of luck to you guys, I know how damn stressful this proccess can get!

[0blivionisathand]

Aight. Yeh UWE will take on a mix of people, I wouldn't bog down with being overly fine arty/ vector or whatever. They're looking for ideas, experimentation, foundation stuff really. People on the course tend to know a fair bit about select art movements or refer to literature. So basically come off as interesting, like you have goals you want to pursue even if they don't seem obvious at the time (just as well because you're way of working will most probably have changed by the third year.) Everything else has probably been touched on. Good luck!

[Lumisade]

it's that time of the year again..admission deadlines are approaching... :) Im surprised I've seen Camberwell mentioned only a couple of times in this thread :o I wonder why? Is it not a good school? I applied there last year but I hadnt done a foundation year so they told me to try again next year. And I'm going to.

I thought this thread would be more active since it's about time to make choices for september 2011 :)

Btw, are there others on CA applying to UWE for 2011?


I might apply to UWE as well :) hehe, ois kiva jos siel ois enemmänkin suomalaisia!

[DI888]

I got rejected from Camberwell on two seperate occasions! The less said about that place the better. Avoid.

[gutss]

My sister went to Camberwell about five years ago and wasn't too impressed (though she loved the people), though apparently my illustration tutor on Foundation says it's picked up loads (having heard from students who went there last year). But quite a lot of it can be a personal thing and you can never completely tell about a course before you get there, I figure! Sometimes small, less well known courses can offer brilliant teaching but perhaps not the exposure that bigger unis can.

I've done my application and am now in the hands of UCAS gods

I've applied for UWE for 2011 Hanes (but for animation), Manchester Met, Anglia Ruskian (illustration/animation), Falmouth for illustration and Norwich for animation. Phew.

[Sulphur]

Finally got a message from UWE saying I've been accepted for the interview :D

I was getting nervous because I had ignored my letter from Falmouth (the only other place I applied) because I decided I didn't want to go there anymore. So its a good weight off my chest to know they've seen my application!

Although, its been replaced by another equally heavy weight because I'm now horribly nervous for my interview. I've also got the "Your 3 main influences" project to worry about too - eep!

Question about portfolios-
At my sixth form we don't produce sketchbooks alongside our art projects, instead we document our developing ideas on A1 sheets so we can lay them all out to view at once.
How would I present these at an interview?
I have an A1 folder with wallets, but I'd imagine they'd want to view my work on a smaller scale like A4. I suppose I could photograph the sheets and reduce them down to that size, but the annotations would probably be unreadable. What would you reccommend? :S

I'm so nervous :nohope:

[no87]

sulphur i would just show your work in a1. when i did mine i mounted alot of it to a2 but most people take a1 portfolios.
and try not to worry about the 3 main influences project. see it as something else you can talk about in the interview so make it interesting. :)

di888 im amazed were sane after camberwell lol

[Hanes]

gutss, I'm sure that animation is a great course, that would've probably been my second choice if I had actually looked at anything else than illustration :D

Finally got a message from UWE saying I've been accepted for the interview :D

That's really good man! :D I'm still working on my application, well actually just a few finishing touches and I have the whole weekend to work on it =) I really hope this isn't first come, first served -type of thing or I'm so screwed..

Best of luck to you all! =)

[Sulphur]

no87: Thanks for letting me know that - the idea of shrinking A1 sheets down was bothering me quite alot hahah! After a bit of thinking I feel less nervous about the influences project than I did before, I guess I just need to think about it when I go to sleep and stuff.

Hanes: Thanks :D I sent my UCAS application off at the start of November though, so its been a bit of a wait. I don't think its much of a first come first served thing - I don't think they have a limit to how many people they invite. Just make sure to send it all off before the 15th :P

[Sulphur]

God I have so many questions, shows how nervous I am :|

I have a piece of paper in front of me now and I'm about to start drawing out thumbnails for the assignnment and now I'm wondering -
When they say 'influences', should I interpret that as '3 things that influence the content of my drawing' or '3 things that influenced my workload'?

For example, Ancient History really inspires me as I find it really interesting, but the brief says "Most Important Influences" that makes me think they want me to talk about people who encouraged me to work hard rather than the things I like to draw. Is that true or would they expect me to say things like this?

I wish it was as simply phrased as 'Top 3 things you're inspired by' :(

[Anscenic]

I'm wondering -
When they say 'influences', should I interpret that as '3 things that influence the content of my drawing' or '3 things that influenced my workload'?

By the sounds of it I think it's quite open, and I imagine you could get away with either. At the end of the day what they want to see is your skills in the context of your interpretation of the brief, and in this case, what you consider to be big influences on your art.

Personally i'd interpret it as whatever you feel have been the biggest influences on the art you make today; whether it's artists, styles, events, periods in history; whatever. I'd think "what are a couple of the reasons I draw the way I do, and make the art I make?", and probably go by that.

At the end of the day, if they wanted a really specific outcome they probably would have given a really specific brief...

[lefran]

Its pretty open, i saw a bunch of different things for it in my yeargroup. I did something kind of generic if i remember, i did like an art nouveau kind of portrait for fashion, a popup for music and i forget the last, but yeah you can do whatever you like really, whether its artists, people, hobbies, etc

[Sulphur]

Thanks guys, that makes it easier for me then...phew!

I'm just having one of those days where I doubt my own abilities and panic about getting everything wrong and getting rejected :|

I'll calm down soon ha ha

[lefran]

oh i remember now, last one was like a mock digital papercut of a film reel or something like that.

With regards to portfolio, i did mine mounted on A3 paper in a presentation folder, I had no help at all with layout, and i did it mounted on both black and white paper which isnt really a good idea, so wasnt that great presentation wise, but its really the work that matters, i saw people with massive A1 card with their work on, wheras mine was all A3, A4 and A5 mounted on A3, if your tutors can help with presentation then cool, if not just do what you feel is best, because its about the quality of work more than if you put it on the right kind of paper

[Hanes]

Got an invitation to interview at uni of Plymouth in March! :D I'm really glad that I actually got an invitation without a foundation. Still waiting for UWE invitation though ^^

[Bangorang]

I skimmed through the more recent posts in this and although I don't think it's been widely discussed but I would dissuade you from going to Duncan of Jordanstone for illustration. Coming from someone in their final semester of fourth year.

It was all sunshine and roses until our Christmas feedback, the entire class is totally demoralised because the tutors have suddenly dropped this weird grading on us. We get graded on basically hire-ability in illustration when we leave but we haven't been actively encouraged or taught about what we're expected to produce or have in a professional field. Also the lectures are absolutely terrible - we had a lecture on virtual reality and were shown videos from the 1980s - every year we complain about them and from speaking to the 2nd years, there hasn't been any change.

I also got told yesterday at a crit that what I do isn't illustration and because of that I'm going to get a low grade, but "grades are just for your ego anyway", it's your portfolio that counts, unless you want to be a teacher or do a masters. But I was also told they can't help me do my portfolio because I straddle too many disciplines (animation/fine art/illustration/sculpture) so I'm on my own.

The head of the department told our class rep the other day that we were expected to teach ourselves skills at this stage - so what are we paying them for and why have we spent three years in a course which has taught us nothing? Doing things we could have done at home for free.

Not to mention the facilities are terrible (apart from printmaking) and you have to jump through hoops to get to them. I study illustration but wasn't taught how to use Illustrator (I ended up teaching myself). Also they tend to cram too many people into the course (there are 32 in my class) which means the tutors are pretty thinly spread.

I would have been less angry if they had remained consistent through the whole course but they seem to have gone back on their word in this final semester.

The tutors themselves are fine, Natalie is really encouraging and although Mick speaks in riddles he's very laid back, Donna is great if you know what you want to do and can stand your ground, but sometimes it's hard to tell if it's honest critisism or just opinion. Donna does time based interactive flash work mainly and so in 2nd year with her as our tutor, we did a lot of interactive flash work too. Natalie has published childrens books and loves screen printing, so in 3rd year we did a lot of traditional illustration, screen printing and book binding. Mick exhibits in galleries and has a background in fine art so he's into his concepts so he's helpful on that front.

Oh the external examiner came on Monday, he looks at the course as well as the students, and when he asked the class if there was anything positive we had to say... Well the only thing we could think of is that there are lights in the studio (albeit bad ones) and we have desks (which are too cramped). Not great really.

So... A bit of a rant and only my experience (although I can tell you that a lot of people feel the same way in my class) but y'know. Valid nonetheless. And it might just be the second week back miasma but truthfully I'm feeling pretty out at sea and on my own right now!

Best of luck to you all and sorry I couldn't offer some more helpful advice.

[gutss]

Sorry to hear that Bangorang, that doesn't sound fun at all.

I've got an interview for Animation at UWE in April, a digital portfolio for Manchester Met. tomorrow and a mini portfolio to post to Falmouth before the end of the week (it's due for the 31st!)

Does portfolio mounting get anyone else down? I have an apparent inability to stick things down straight. Mounting portfolios is a big intensive task on my art foundation (it makes you feel like the tutors need to be consulted and need to arrange things for you before you stick things down. Which is good in some ways, but very draining. I feel fidgety and fed up like a tired toddler paha! I want to drawwww not stick!)

p.s: Sulphur, the portfolio sheets for everyone on my course are mounted A1 size too! so just go for it :D and good luck everyone, hope you're hearing back from places

[Sulphur]

p.s: Sulphur, the portfolio sheets for everyone on my course are mounted A1 size too!

Thanks for the heads up :)

The head of our art department says that our A1 sheets with development work on should suffice for a sketchbook (as we don't do them), however then brings the question - how many sheets should I bring? :S

I originally thought to only bring 2 (One artist study and one idea collage) and slide them into the wallets in my portfolio so they can view them like the rest of my work. But that doesn't sound like enough - so when do I know when I have enough? :nohope: Its kinda awkward

[gutss]

picking stuff is always hard. I don't think you want to overwhelm them with everything but then you don't want to underdo it either. pick your favourites! I'm not sure how your development sheets work or what they look like so I'm not sure what advice to give but maybe have some supporting sheets for every finished piece you do?

people seem to like seeing thought processes behind work! if that helps. Someone else might tell you otherwise

[Sulphur]

Thanks for the tips :)
I think I'll just post my portfolio on this thread/my sketchbook or something when its closer to the time and I can get help that way :)

[Mirre]

Hi guys. I was wondering if maybe someone here could give me some advice. I have applied for some unis in the UK. My nationality is Swedish though.
One of the courses I applied for was Illustration & Animation at Kingston University. They have requested a zipped portfolio that should be submitted by February 14th. I have most of it assembled now, but I am not entirely sure about one point. This is what they asked for to be included in the portfolio:

"Portfolio Guidelines:
Carefully select and edit your work to produce an exciting, creative and representative document which informs us about your skills, interest and ambitions. It should open with a statement (max. 300 words) introducing the work in your portfolio, followed by a maximum of 15 samples of work. If you submit a larger portfolio please note we will only review the first 15 samples.

This must include:
• a selection of your student work (if relevant)
• a selection of your professional work (if relevant)
• a brief, illustrated explanation of any research you have undertaken
• examples of preparatory creative work (for example, images from your sketchbooks)"

Could anyone clarify for me what they might mean by "a brief, illustrated explanation of any research you have undertaken"? As I am not sure if I understand what they mean by that sentence.
Do they mean that you should illustrate your progress from idea to final picture? Or is it something else?

Thanks in advance!




I also applied to UWE Bristol - Illustration BA. Is anyone else here going for an interview/portfolio day there?

And if anyone here applied for Camberwell - have you heard anything back yet?

[Tadas]

Mirre,

I've applied for the same course in Kingston as you.
Just try to put all of your best work and a few sketches and it should be ok. I did the same and they invited me for an interview.

[gutss]

Gosh it's quiet in here. Good luck with your interviews, chaps. Just got a conditional from Manchester Met. this week after sending my digital portfolio, phew!

Mirre: I've got an interview day for UWE animation on April the 11th. Hope you hear back from all yours!

[ceddo]

Could anyone clarify for me what they might mean by "a brief, illustrated explanation of any research you have undertaken"? As I am not sure if I understand what they mean by that sentence.
Do they mean that you should illustrate your progress from idea to final picture? Or is it something else?

Thanks in advance!

I also applied to UWE Bristol - Illustration BA. Is anyone else here going for an interview/portfolio day there?

And if anyone here applied for Camberwell - have you heard anything back yet?

Mirre, what a pleasant surprise to see you here! I'm pretty sure they just want evidence that you've done research on other artists in the field and taken them into consideration for your own work.

I have an interview for UWE Bristol as well, when is yours??

.c

[Mirre]

My UWE Bristol interview is on the 13th of April, guys!

gutss: Aw yeah I hope I get to hear how everyone else do. Pretty nervous about the whole interview deal since I've never done that for anything but jobs before. And thanks, I hope it goes well for you with all the interviews!

ceddo: Haha, I lurk CA a little. But awesome to meet another pixelartist like this. *high-fives* And thanks for the advice, but the portfolio for Kingston is already done and sent (deadline was February 14th). I had something similar to that in it... have not heard anything back yet though.


I got a mail from Camberwell the day after I posted that last message btw. They want a portfolio on flickr before February 28th, so I'm working on that too.

EDIT: Got an email from Kingston. I'm going for an interview there on March 10!!!

[Frihet]

I have an interview (for illustration) at Middlesex coming up and I'm trying to fill up a personal sketchbook a bit more, just a bit stuck with what else to add in...
Any advice? I've got plenty of observational stuff, figure/gesture drawing etc. in there already, but what else might they like to see? I'm really drawing a blank with this so it's a bit frustrating.

[ceddo]

@Frihet, maybe some simple perspective exercises would complete the circle?

@Mirre, my Bristol interview is on the 18th of April I believe! I've heard a lot of good things about Bristol UWE, hope it's as good as its' reputation :)

[ceddo]

@Frihet, maybe some simple perspective exercises would complete the circle?

@Mirre, my Bristol interview is on the 18th of April I believe! I've heard a lot of good things about Bristol UWE, hope it's as good as its' reputation :)

[Kode]

I applied to De'Montford Uni Game Art course at the start of the year and got declined. Now I'm stuck for something to do after my current course finishes in a few months with no idea what to do next.

My one plan is to find a job and learn in my spare time but that could be quite slow and painful if I get into a full-time job.

Any suggestions? :P

[Tadas]

Got rejected by Bournemouth. My work was too weak :/

[Sulphur]

I forgot that interviews aren't all held on the same day!

My UWE interview is 30th March... very nervous! After about 20+ hours working on my first piece, I'm about 1/3 of the way through that assigned triptic piece about the influences :nohope:

Pleaaase God(s), let my efforts pay off x'D


Got rejected by Bournemouth. My work was too weak :/
Seriously?! Just looked at your sketchbook and I certaintly wasn't expecting 'weak' to mean that! Seems like they have high standards? :S Sucks man, hope you get in elsewhere.

I applied to De'Montford Uni Game Art course at the start of the year and got declined. Now I'm stuck for something to do after my current course finishes in a few months with no idea what to do next.

My one plan is to find a job and learn in my spare time but that could be quite slow and painful if I get into a full-time job.

Any suggestions?

Well I only applied to UWE so assuming I fail I'll be doing the same as you :P However if there is anyway I could sneak into a local art foundation course at the last second I might do that :)

[Kode]

Well I only applied to UWE so assuming I fail I'll be doing the same as you :P However if there is anyway I could sneak into a local art foundation course at the last second I might do that :)

Never thought of that. Might be an option. A much cheaper option. ^^

[ErikStorstein]

Got rejected by Bournemouth. My work was too weak :/

Don't worry, they turned the illustration course into "fine art" over there. I saw the graduation show last year and they were doing installations and such, and I saw not a single piece of work that realy appealed to me. Your work is stronger than most people on that course in terms of drawing and painting skill. Luckily for you, you'll probably end up somewhere that is more suited for what you want, as the teachers there probably can't push you further in the direction you want to go anyway.

[Tadas]

Zilrion thanks, but today I got rejected also from Kingston.

fuck, I'm getting nervous. only 3 unis left

[aceshigh]

On the subject of open days, they are not a good indicator. They show a university's ability to organise an event, not the quality of it's staff or courses. Take them with a pinch of salt and, if you can, speak to a range of students on the course you want to study.

I'm in my third year at the University of Westminster studying Illustration.

I have no idea if my criticisms of it are criticisms of studying such a subject at university in general, or are uni specific. But it's meh. Personally, I'm not sure university is worth it in our field.

I also sometimes think is a degree in Illustration worth it. I'm at a point where I'm fed up of feeling that what I love doing is turning into a chore. I spend too much time doing course work than personal work.

Btw, I'm in my first year at Westminster Illustration and I'm not that excited about it so far; it's seems too fine arty and graphic design for me. I kind of regret not meeting students on the course prior to accepting my offer, instead I chatted to the tutors which was my mistake I guess. I might transfer onto a different course if I get accepted, if not... I might stay D: ...still unsure.

[Awe]

I also have an interview at UWE on the 13th of April, oh how I hate the interviews. I hope we get to it fairly quickly, my interview at UWIC had me waiting about for three hours, with the feeling of dread building with every second.

[Anscenic]

Got rejected by Bournemouth. My work was too weak :/

Don't worry, they turned the illustration course into "fine art" over there.

Is this Bournemouth U or AUCB you're talking about? I'm interviewing for both illustration and animation at AUCB on Wednesday, now i'm a little edgy; my work isn't exactly "fine art", hah...

[ceddo]

I got into the Illustration degree at Falmouth! Any more Falmouthers here? :D

[ErikStorstein]

Is this Bournemouth U or AUCB you're talking about? I'm interviewing for both illustration and animation at AUCB on Wednesday, now i'm a little edgy; my work isn't exactly "fine art", hah...


AUCB hah. I switched to the animation course myself which is very drawing focused and I enjoy it a lot (They also offer a lot of opportunities, like I went to live in Paris to study drawing for 3 months, and this summer I get to go to luxembourg for work experience). Anyway I'm off to do some lifedrawing, best of luck to you. If you have any questions feel free to ask :)

[no87]

hey, i heard that interviews are starting for uwe tomorrow so want to wish everyone who applied good luck :)

[lefran]

Yeah they start at UWE tomorrow good luck to all of you guys interviewing, also most universities offer Erasmus which is the chance to study abroad for a few months not just AUCB just so any of you wondering know.