Sijun Forums :: View topic - Academy Of Art ... going... there.. maybe... help..

Cyphatic · Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2001 1:42 am

Yeah.. graduating this year... applyin for tha academy... yada yada yada... hmph... well, anywhos, i used to hang out here alot under TheCyPHa (anyone remember me?). Pass a year or so, and here I am. Anywho's, while im still new to digital art (haven't done much for the last nine months with school/work/siblings), I have decided to go to the Academy Of Art in San Francisco.

I can get the fees covered with grants/student loans, and I'm workin out board with a friend ive known online for a few years. I've been saving up for a notebook/large tablet/art supplies, so I'm covered for that. So now its a matter of waiting for next year. I have not applied for my grants/loans yet, and I have a few questions.

-Portfolio: Should I put one together? I've defining my flash/html skills mainly over this last year, and think I can do a great site. Of course I need to put together a few pieces to fill it :P

-System: I'm trying to use something that can handle 2D/3D, though it will pry be a laptop. Should this be enough for a year?

Mobile PIII 900
256MB RAM
15GB HD
That Nvidia Video Card for Notebooks (the thing that's supposedly a equiv of a Geforce2)
I have a Wacom Graphite (Haha, I know) but what's a good size pad for the price?

-Books: What are some good books one should pick up (Outside standard schoolbooks) I have someone that's giving me Loomis's Figure Drawing: For All It's Worth at the end of this year, but what else?

-What else should i need? Software? Hardware? Art Supplies?

And of course my main question is for anyone that is going/has gone to the academy, is it worth it? I'm I making a good choice?

Well, anyways, it's good to be back, and props to Dhabih for keepin these boards the best discussion spot for digi-artists since the beginning. Plus a nice place to look at pretty pictures :P

Thanks for all the help in advance,

TheCyPHa

SporQ · Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2001 2:02 am

wow, a lot of stuff going on there. i'd try and squeze in some time to actually draw

and yes, a portfolio is essential. websites are nice, but you really need to put together a physical portfolio, something the reviewer can flip through.

SporQ

quaternius · Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2001 9:15 am

The Academy of Art's rep keeps getting better each year. They've been working to cultivate relationships with ILM and PIXAR, among others here in the Bay Area. They have been developing a more hands-on practical education geared more towards the real world than other so called fine-arts schools, from what I understand, though California College of Arts and Crafts would probably disagree.

Bigger question is, what do you want to do? Where do you think you want to end up? You can always change - but do you want to be a freelance illustrator, a concept designer? Or do you want to do 3D character design and animation, or do you want to do more traditional 2d animation? Maybe you want to get into matte painting for film and television.

Give us a hint on your direction and I'm sure the responses could be even more helpful.
In California, Cal Arts, Art Center, and Academy of Art would probably be my choices. But San Francisco is definitely a fun place to live and go to school - you don't need a car either.

As far as books are concerned, do a search under Fred Flickstone in the archives - that's one of the best book lists around.

Good luck,

Q

A.Buttle · member Member # Joined: 20 Mar 2000 Posts: 1724

It's all about Foothill. Go Owls! Just kidding, Foothill sucks...

------------------
[This message has been edited by your mutha (edited April 15, 197-deuce).]

Joe Dillingham
[email protected]
Three Times A Day

garuda_x · Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2001 8:33 pm

my pal tony is going to the academy tis saturday.... he starts really really soon.

well. good luck. have fun out there...

_a

CaptainCool · Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2001 12:01 am

Damn, the Art Academys at the Neterlands suck, they don�t even have a good 3D class.. no, it�s going to be programming for me unless it changes...

Cyphatic · Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2001 12:13 am

Well, I still havent made up my mind, it will have something to do with digi-art, if as a direct proffession as a freelance artist, or maybe as a webdesigner. I'll check out that book list.

-TheCyPHa

Freddio · Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2001 3:14 am

you mean graphire not graphite..

graphires rock dont dis em

travis travis · Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2001 5:32 pm

Bringing this topic back because I'm also thinking of going there... but I'm hungry for more online info if anyone has any experiences to share or knows of any websites... (beyond the college one)

FrustratedARTist · Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2001 7:39 pm

I'm planning on going to The San Fransisco Art Institute..Cause I went there to see the open portfolio's they had and I've seen a couple in Missouri and in Texas and from what I've seen San Fran Art Inst has got it all from digital design to printmaking, to whatever the art heart desires so ...umm... thats where I plan on going if anyone cares or has an opinion

------------------
"I thought my last quote was gay so I thought I'd make a new one" -John