Turn Your Creative Abilities into Fine Arts Career

It is often said that visual artists are somehow different than the rest of the population. David McClyment, the coordinator of the Fine Arts Studio program at Centennial College, couldn’t agree more. “People that come into the fine arts aren’t just ordinary people,” he says. “There’s something in them that makes them want to draw, makes them want to paint … and I’m looking for that sparkle.”

That sparkle isn’t the only aspect that carries people into the two-year Fine Arts Studio program. Applicants need to present at minimum an Ontario Secondary School Diploma or equivalent or be 19 years of age or older. They also need to have the compulsory English 12C or U or skills assessment or equivalent credit. However, possession of minimum admission requirements does not guarantee admission to the Fine Arts Studio program. There also artistic requirements that students must meet, such as attending a program admission session and presenting a portfolio of no less than four and no more than 15 pieces. Within the portfolio, students are encouraged to have figure drawings, colour work (abstract, figurative or objective), perspective (demonstration of your ability to apply basic principles of linear perspective in free-hand drawing and or painting), and sketchbooks. For detailed information on the requirements, check out Centennial College’s Fine Arts Studio Admission page.

The program itself focuses on drawing, painting and sculpting media — employing a very hands-on approach. During your time with Centennial College, you will develop advanced skills, be led by a collaborative team of teachers as well as explore personal direction and approaches to build your own unique voice and style in visual story telling. Courses in Fine Arts Studio include, among others, Painting Techniques, 3D Figure Modelling, Digital Art, Contemporary Issues in Art, and Business Strategies. Relatively small classes that are held in two large state-of-the-art studios also include aspects such as art-relevant lectures, seminars and excursions that are offered throughout the school year. Classes are three to six hours in duration. Mural seminars and an illustration class to broaden students’ job skills are also available. One of the most real-life experiences of the Fine Arts Studio program is that in both first and second years, students are exposed to and experience exhibitions in professional art galleries on Toronto’s art Mecca, Queen Street.

Graduates of this program find inspired new careers paths in the art world as exhibiting artists or in the visual art industries. The diverse visual arts industries in which jobs can be attained require advanced levels of fine art skills and include: illustration, classical and digital animation, gaming, graphic design, interior design and industrial design. Drawing skills are at the heart of and essential to success in all the visual art industries.