My critique of Art Academy of Cincinnati

[Joeslucher]

If you are interested in doing Illustration or commercial art or any digital art avoid the Art Academy of Cincinnati. You can major in Communication Arts with an emphasis in illustration but its really a joke.

My main complaints are:

I went here because I felt I stood a better chance of learning to paint at a school with a strong Fine Arts influence. I was wrong, you only learn to paint if you're a painting major.

For an illustration major, I get to take very few illustration classes.

In those illustration classes, rarely can an assignment be twisted to become anything fantasy or sci-fi, unless you completely disregard the parameters of the project. Since I'm interested in RPG illustration, I have gained two portfolio pieces towards helping me achieve that goal. Self-directed work or more open-ended assignments are rare and illustrative approaches are discouraged in the fine art classes.

The faculty is garbage excluding Ken Henson and Clem Robins whoe aren't communication arts teachers. There was one really awesome illustration teacher first semester of my freshman year and he left before I got to take any of his classes. So my instructor sophemore year was an alumni who didn't know jack about teaching. He left and now in my junior year I they hired an ex-teacher who hasn't taught in 15 years and had only taught for one or two years before that. The main illustration teacher isn't bad he just certainly isn't good.

There are very few computer classes.

Many of the classes are so similar it drives me crazy. Foundations is repeated in Creative Processes and Drawing as Inquiry.

I'm a junior and an idiot for going to the Art Academy. At least I got a scholarship.

[Elwell]

If you're in Ohio and want to major in illustration, go to Columbus College of Art & Design and study with C.F. Payne.

[Joeslucher]

Yeah I regret not having gone there now. I was resisting going further north. I didn't want to condemn the Art Academy after only going there for a year. By the end of my second year I wanted to switch but I'm sure none of my freshman year would have transferred.

I kick myself for not just heading up there. Now I'm just gonna suck it up and finish here.

C.F. Payne has actually come here and talked a couple of times. All the things he complained about going through in college is the same stuff illustration students at our school go through. It's hilarious.