London Schools?

[N3W8I3]

hey there, im 21 an ive been drawing and painting all my life, and i live in London in the UK.
I have been looking at a few good university courses recently, but i dont know if i should go for something like illustration or whether i should go for something like a digital arts degree ? on one hand i get more focus to illustration (which i like) ... on the other i get a good learning experience in programmes such as maya, 3dsmax etc. waddyathink every1, also if you know of any specific university, that does a useful course i would be interested to hear (I dont know how many of you guys are from the UK tho :P)
cheers anyway :beer:

[benzo]

hey man, i honestly don't know too much about the schools in london or the uk, but I've heard good things about the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. You might check into that. I also was looking into the Royal Academy of Art in Piccadily, but its a grad school. sorry no one could help you:chug:

[Buffalo]

I'm not sure which school it is - but I've heard Dave McKean lectures at a school over in London sometimes. I'm sure that one would be worth checking out.
I studied at the University of Edinburgh for about half a year on a study abroad program and can honestly say it was the best place I've ever lived. I've never met anyone who went there and wasn't amazed by how great that city is. It has everything. My friend Sarah goes to the Univ. of Edinburgh for art/video production and really likes it. There's also another school in Edinburgh called Napier that might be decent. I don't know all that much about them.
I also visited Glasgow a bunch while I was over there. Supposedly they had a pretty decent painting program for a while. Might be worth checking out. Hope that helps.

[antisleeper]

From what i hear from my tutors and various past pupils the London Institute http://www.linst.ac.uk/main/menudef.htm is the best place in london (and the UK) for art degrees/courses. Loads of famous past students very talented bunch of tutors.

[jpedro]

hi everyone.
I'm just finishing a BA in Illustration at the Kent Institute of Art and Design, in Maidstone, England. As far as I know, there are a few illustration courses in the UK outside of London that are quite good. I've heard good things about Brighton for example.
our illustration course is quite good as well, cuz it covers pretty much everything you want technique-wise (traditional printmaking, life drawing, animation, multimedia) in the first year. you get introductions to these mediums in the first year, always related to shorter projects.
the second year is composed of electives, a bigger project, again you choose what medium you'd like to work with. also in the second year, you can go on exchange...
third year is composed of two big, self negotiated projects and the writing of a dissertation. oh yeah, besides the above mentioned projects in the first two years, there's lectures about art related topics throughout the course, and you have to write an essay per semester on a chosen topic, and as I said, for the last year, it's one dissertation in the first semester .
as far as guest lecturers are concerned, Dave McKean was probably the biggest name we had. obviously the room was packed...

well, that's all i can think of at the moment...hope that helps to give you some idea about this specific course.

cheers


:chug:

Jan

[Nekokaiju]

I had a great time taking classes at the Glasgow School of Art...
But that's quite a commute from London.

You really should take classes in what makes you happy. I made the mistake of majoring in painting and often ran into trouble of my images being too figural or realistic. Not pushing the boundaries of art enough. In hindsight I wish I had pushed myself to have gotten into illustration.

I quess what I'm trying to say is; take what makes you happy and gives you the most you can learn from. Sometimes hard to say without already being in the program.
But don't trap yourself in taking something just because it seems like the thing to do. You can always learn that stuff out of school...

Hope my rambling helps

[Buffalo]

Hi Nekokaiju -

I'm curious to know more about your time at Glasgow Art School. Did you study there for a full degree? In which program did you study? Its reputation? The City?

Even since I left Edinburgh I've been trying to find a way back. Do you have any recommendations for art schools in Edinburgh or Glasgow?

Thanks -