Index MFA Programs Portfolio Critiques BFA Programs MFA Programs Portfolio Critiques BFA Programs
Prompt Write 3 artist statements of varying lengths, that provide insight into your art practice and materials. You can write the statements so they encompass your overall practice, or statements that are focused on one specific project. 1 sentence statement This is your elevator pitch: what if you have 2 min. with someone at an […]
Prompt Self-critique the current state of your portfolio and create a plan of action for how you will develop your portfolio. Weed out class assignments Any artworks that are obviously assignments from a class should be removed: sketches of a nude model posing in class, color exercises, a still life that an instructor set up […]
The MFA Portfolios Track will lay out all the materials you’ll need to provide to apply to an MFA program in studio art. An MFA portfolio requires a level of maturity and engagement with critical thinking. Lesson 1 • Lesson 2 • Lesson 3 • Lesson 4 A sampling of homework assignments from your undergraduate degree isn’t going to […]
Learn the nuts and bolts of a career as an arts writer. Arts writers write about many topics: they review contemporary art exhibitions, current events in the art world, and more. Many arts writers write for several publications, find out about what arts writers are looking for in their articles and what their experiences are […]
Our free Painting Basics Track provides students with a foundation of basic skills like color theory, brush technique, composition, while working with a range of subjects like abstraction and still life. Sky Paintings Create a painting of a sky which shows a broad range of colors and textures. Aim to show depth in the sky, with some parts of the […]
Our free Digital Basics Track pushes students to develop skills in digital drawing and painting techniques while experimenting with a range of styles, color schemes, and textures. Texture Cubes Create 8 cubes that each have the texture of a real life object. Try to choose as many different textures and colors as you can! Artworks by […]
Hear Prof Lieu and Lauryn’s reactions to the film The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, focusing specifically on Louis Wain’s cat drawings. This video explores the many facets of Louis Wain’s career as an artist. Discussed are Wain’s inspiration from cats, the popularity of his images, the distribution of them, as well as how his […]
A great exercise for learning anatomy as an artist is drawing a skeleton inside a figure drawing. By drawing the skeleton as you draw the human figure, you are able to see the connections between the figure. Explained are the various bony landmarks, providing a fundamental understanding of how the skeletal structure in a figure […]
Get concrete tips for how to photograph your artwork for better performance on Instagram. Find out how to create a stronger engagement with your audience by shooting photos that represent your creative process as an artist in a manner that is visually stimulating and also informative. Specifics such as how to set up your process, […]
Prompt Create a 4 panel comic based on a birthday party you had at some point in your life. comics techniques art media Use any art media you want: digital and/or traditional art media. Consider beforehand whether you want to do a black and white comic, or a comic with color. Recommended software Procreate, Krita, Adobe Photoshop, Clip […]
Prompt Create a comic that has animal sounds in the narrative. What will get an animal or create to make a sound? Example: a person steps on a cat’s tail, so the cat yowls. The comic can be of any length, any number of panels. You can use keyboard symbols for this prompt: numbers, letters, […]
Prompt Create an instructional comic on how to prepare your favorite snack. You may not use any keyboard symbols in your comic: no letters, no numbers, no punctuation. Arrows can be used to explain motions and direction in your comic. Ingredients List Start by making a list of all the ingredients used in your snack. […]
Prompt Read comics every day! Half the battle of learning how to create your own comics is to read a LOT of comics and increase your awareness of what is out there. All types of comics count for this assignment: webtoons, manga, newspaper strips, graphic novels, etc. We recommend trying to read as diverse a […]
This Comics Basics Track provides a basic foundation for visual elements and strategies that are specific to drawing sequential narratives. Ongoing AssignmentLesson 1 • Lesson 2 • Lesson 3Lesson 4 • Lesson 5 • Lesson 6 This track will get you to exercise the hard skills you’ll need as well as an overview of every […]
See a demo of a comics prompt: create a comic showing animal sounds and movements. Useful comics techniques such as point of view, the “foot rule,” panels, speech bubbles, spreads, and pages in order to communicate a narrative. Drawing demo by Teaching Artists Cat Huang and Alex Rowe. Video Walkthrough Prof Lieu’s Tips I’ve always […]
See a demo of a comics prompt: create an instructional comic that uses no symbols from a keyboard. Pick a snack that you like to prepare, and show in your comic instructions for how to create that snack. Several comics techniques such as point of view, the “foot rule,” panels, speech bubbles, spreads, and pages […]
See a demo of how to quickly sketch ideas for comics in Procreate. Tips for starting include how to start designing a character for the comic, what style to use for that character, and discussing elements of comics like point of view, comic panels, timing, storytelling, and more. Drawing demo led by Art Prof Clara […]
Learn all the logistics and art skills you’ll need to start a comic. There are many components to the process: coming up with the idea for the comic, determining the length. Considering the panel format, designing the environments and characters, the drawing process, figuring out what art medium to work are all important skills to […]
Internships for artists can be valuable experiences, but they can also be experiences that are grunt work that have very little value. Internships in art can be helpful, but they are not required to have a career in the arts, and often do not have as much value as is placed on them Learn about […]
Art Dare Prompt Create a travel poster based on either your hometown, or where you live right now. Art media Use any art media! Text & Format Think about the format and purpose of a poster: where posters are seen, how people interact with a poster, what are expectations that come with a poster. This […]
This video shows the results of the 2021 October Art Dare: Mastercopies, where participants were challenged to create a mastercopy of a drawing created before 1950, in traditional media. Discussion led by Art Prof Clara Lieu and Teaching Artist Jordan McCracken-Foster. Prize Winner Henrique Maciel (Brazil)@hc_drawings “At first I thought making a copy of someone […]
See how to capture the dark personality of Baron Harkonnen in the 2021 Dune movie using PanPastel drawing techniques. Techniques for shading, blending, and creating a range of slick and smooth surfaces are explored in this tutorial. This tutorial also looks at how to render form in a convincing manner using a limited color scheme. […]
Get concrete tips on how to get started learning art history in an accessible manner that is fun and easily done at your own pace. With so many centuries of artworks from cultures across the globe, how do you even know where to begin? This video provides strategies for how to tailor your learning experience […]
Why are some artists overrated, while others are underrated? This video provides 3 examples of overrated artists, and 3 examples of underrated artists. We explain the specific reasons why these artists receive more, or less attention over time. Discussion led by Art Prof Clara Lieu and Teaching Artists Alex Rowe & Cat Huang. Video Walkthrough […]
Watch a demo on drawing cats from The Electrical Life of Louis Wain. Sketching techniques using sumi inks for capturing the personality and gesture of the cats in the film are explained, as well as how to build up a range of textures and volumes in the drawings. Explained in the video is how to […]
This video explains the structure of the spine in the torso, focusing on the “centerline” of the human figure. The centerline is visible on the back and the front of the figure on the torso, and is an effective reference to search for when beginning a gesture drawing of a human figure. The centerline can […]
Drawing a skull inside a portrait is a terrific exercise to practice your anatomical understanding of a portrait. This video provides beginning to end, the entire process for building the skull structure into the portrait. Various techniques are explained, that can be used to build up three dimensional volume with colored pencil layering, blending, creating […]
This seven part series demonstrates how to draw clothing, with each video focusing on a specific fold type. Each demo begins with a brief discussion of how each fold type behaves, as well as concrete tips for how to approach drawing the specific fold type. Discussions and drawing demos by Art Prof Clara Lieu and Teaching Artist Jordan […]
Watch a drawing demo on how to draw clothing, starting with a brief discussion to explain the different fold types. There are several different fold types: pipe fold, moving fold, half lock fold, dead fold, diaper fold, zig zag fold, and spiral fold. The drawing demo shows drawing techniques using Procreate and colored pencils on […]
What makes a “bad” background? This video shows a broad range of backgrounds in fine art, TV shows, and more. We share the opinions of several artists as to why the backgrounds are effective or not. The opinion of each artist on the backgrounds then stimulates a discussion on why a specific composition in a […]
This video shows drawing tips for how to do quick gesture drawings of horses. Techniques explained include how to capture the entire anatomy of the horse efficiently, and then how to build upon that gesture to create a convincing sense of movement and form. Demo by Art Prof Clara Lieu and Teaching Artist Deepti Menon. […]