Art Schools in the Seattle area and degrees.

[AlexanderSkyy]

I live in the Seattle area and I am soon going to be going to college. I know AI sucks and right now I am heavily invested into going to DigiPen for their BFA.

Their BFA entails 1/2 traditional education and 1/2 modeling and animation. I am very interested in doing conceptual art as a career and I'm worried about how much not going to a 4 year illustration degree will hurt me.

Any advice on schools or this subject is greatly appreciated.

[Polina]

I am in Seattle Area. I after my own research if you want to find school around here go to AI, otherwise i plan on going out of state to find education.
It does not look like Cornish offers anything like DigiPen either.

Personally before i do that i am going to take classes at Gage Academy of Art to gain skills in fine art/drawing.

Thats all i can tell you really, its pretty sad but Seattle in my opinion does not have much to offer.

[Wndwlckr]

When i went to digipen (which didnt even last a whole term)..i learned a lot about myself. 1. i realized i hated the animation process. 2. i realized how important a strong foundation is 3. digipen didnt have what it takes in terms of solid foundation training. i dropped out two months into the program (much to the disapproval of my father) and made my way down to Los Angeles and enrolled in LAAFA's atelier program.

I never hear good things about digipen, maybe that's just me-- i would suggest you look into good illustration programs. I'm looking into AAU of SF... they have some great instructors---from what i hear--

[AlexanderSkyy]

Thanks guys. Keep it coming.

Polina, I'm already taking advanced classes at Gage currently as well as doing the drop in studios every weekend. I'm pretty wary of AI. They seem like all they are interested in is the students having a good time, instead of learning and busting your balls as much as possible. Plus, their student work is worse that what i can do now. My overall impression of the school is highly underwhelming.

Wndwlckr, I'm curious to learn in more detail your experiences with a bad foundation at DP. I'm currently in a class for highschool run by one of their professors and DPs dean of art has been talking to me and keeping an eye on my work, and so far I've had good impressions of their level of professionalism and dedication. I have been told alot of stories about people dropping out because they couldn't handle the work load, and DP is almost famous for causing dropouts. Also, in the current BFA you would have only had one class involving Ani in your two months, the rest being foundational art, again, I'm curious about what happened. I do not mean to sound combative, I'd just like the whole story.