Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drawing & Painting
Toronto, Canada
Bachelor's degree
DURATION
4 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
TUITION FEES
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
Key Summary
About: In OCAD University’s Drawing & Painting Bachelor of Fine Arts, you’ll work with practicing artists to find your voice and develop drawing and painting studio skills. Study art theory, history and contemporary issues, gain technical and conceptual skills across figurative, landscape and abstraction, and explore experimental approaches like digital artmaking and installations.
Career Outcomes: Graduates pursue practicing artist, curator, museum and gallery administrator, illustrator, art teacher, conservator, writer and critic, studio manager and artistic director roles; many build freelance and exhibition practices or take internships, co-op placements and gallery shows to launch professional careers in cultural and creative industries.
In the Drawing & Painting program, taught by contemporary practicing professional artists, you will find your individual artistic voice while honing drawing and painting studio skills. The study of art theory, history and contemporary social issues will provide a framework for your practice.
You will gain technical skills and a conceptual, contemporary understanding of traditional genres such as figurative, landscape, and abstraction. You will also be encouraged to explore experimental approaches to painting, such as digital artmaking and installations.
Become more articulate about your own and others’ painting practices through one-on-one, in-depth feedback on your progress and learn to engage in critique as you develop your process. At the end of this program, you’ll gain an extension understanding of contemporary drawing and painting practices and highly developed technical and conceptual skills.
What You’ll Do in the Program
First Year
Your first year offers foundational painting courses to expose you to the fundamentals. Additionally, you will expand your education through courses that introduce you to form and time, expanded drawing and art history.
If you are accepted into the program in the first year, you will take an introduction to painting classes, time-based media, drawing across disciplines, art history and a course that interests you in topics such as:
- Body and technology
- Drawing processes
- Printmaking & Publications
- New Media & Technology
- Animation fundamentals
- Sculpture
- Photography
- Wearable Art
- Culture and social change
- Nature and climate studies
Second Year
In the second year, courses in Drawing & Painting move through building techniques and understanding mediums, while developing skills from basic drawing to digital imaging. A variety of approaches to painting include:
In your second year, a studio intensive course builds on fundamental techniques, learning about new drawing and painting surfaces, and an understanding of different media, while expanding your conceptual abilities and ways to express your ideas.
Examples of study subjects include:
- Mixed media
- Figurative
- Landscape
- Watercolor
- Digital drawing and painting
- Installation
- Abstract art
- Experimental photography
- Narrative drawing
- Anatomy
- Sustainable painting
Third Year
In the third year, you’ll develop a critical understanding of how to assess your own and others’ work, while exploring a range of approaches to drawing and painting. You will be introduced to the process of generating work from research and sketches to a final piece.
Professional Practice focuses on the skills needed to be a practicing artist, introducing you to the local art community and the essential skills needed for the development of an art career.
Some courses you may be interested in are:
- Collage
- Abstraction
- The body in painting
- Material experimentation
- Intermediate figure drawing
- Professional practice
Fourth Year
- Thesis Option:
- Over the course of the year, you will work on researching, producing and presenting a coherent body of work of professional exhibition quality. You will learn how to speak and write about your work to promote your practice. The artistic development in this course offers you an opportunity to create an advanced portfolio to launch your career.
- Electives Option:
- In this pathway, you may choose to work closely with a professor as a mentor or intern through the Experiential Learning Program. This is ideal if you are interested in focusing on honing skills in a particular genre, such as figuration, or prefer a wider learning and experimentation.
- In both options, you’ll showcase your work at GradEx ̶ OCAD U’s Graduate Exhibition, the biggest free art and design exhibition in Toronto, with more than 40,000 visitors.
In this program, you’ll first develop skills and experiment with mediums and techniques. Then, you will begin to create your own body of work and develop your own style.
Jobs You Can Get
Opportunities in the cultural sector are vast and are growing yearly. Graduates from the program work as:
- Practicing artists Artist with Studio Practice
- Curators
- Cultural programming coordinators
- Museum and gallery administrators
- Illustration and mural artists
- Art teachers
- Arts administrators
- Art conservators and restorers
- Writers and critics
- Studio managers
- Arts advocacy officers
- Artistic directors
Co-ops/Internships
OCAD U offers so much more than co-ops because creative careers take many forms. Our approach is specialized and individual to every student’s needs and goals. You will be able to take advantage of:
- Short experiential learning placements from among hundreds of organizations
- Creative in-class projects with real-world industry partners
- Exclusive summer internships
- Gallery exhibitions of your work
- Freelance creative opportunities
- Jobs after graduation
OCAD University’s dedicated support services will help you build a professional community, valuable experience and skills necessary for a meaningful career.