Sheridan Illustration or IDEA Program Capilano

[fILAMENAfIASCOfINK]

Hey! So got into both the Sheridan Illustration Program and the IDEA Program at Capilano U for Fall 2012, Huzzah. But which to choose?!?! Just thought I would put it out there as to which school has the better program and why or general comments about each school's program. Thoughts? Would really appreciate opinions of others to add some fresh perspective and aid in my decision. Thxs!

[Jonny Dark]

I have gone to Sheridan's Illustration program for 3.5 years and i'm entering 4th year in September.

First generally: The school is a total arts school... There are photography, animation, theatre, dance, special effects and window display programs. The campus is in a nice section of oakville which is far enough away from Toronto to not be insanely busy. If you are in anyway disabled or learning impared talk to Disability services. I say this because i have one and it made the world of difference. (Also there is probably one at the other school too so just anyone reading this - dsylexic? Sign up!)

Sheridan Illustration has (In my opinion) wonderful knowledgeable teachers. Like any school, you tend to get out what you put in. If you show you want to learn, they know how to impart the knowledge. There are loads of things you learn... First year is boot camp where they make sure everyone can draw a straight line. That you know horizontal is calm, diagonal is dynamic... etc... But also lots of life drawing. And if you really want to push your life drawing it's on every night and on weekends. I shy away from life drawing because i'm a perfectionist. It's hard!!

I took the Technical Stream which will mean nothing to you because they dissolved the 2 stream system. You will benefit from a "Make your own program" system where you pick art courses you want to take.

Anyways, if you go as technical as i did, you will learn photoshop inside and out.. Technical illustration, Biological illustration, exploded diagrams, adobe Illustrator inside and out... indesign... Typography, some 3d modeling and well... you get the idea.

Here is artwork i've done: www.jonathanbarkerillustration.com

I did my 3rd year internship at a large comicbook studio downtown toronto. I worked on several different comics. It was epic. This program totally prepares you for work in this field they really appreciated all i knew.

If you want to go into more "Artsy" stuff then Interpretive courses would be for you. There you learn photoshop inside and out... but more traditional painting and drawing media... subjects include narrative, editorial illustration, children s book illustration, CD and game cover design, tons of life drawing and more.

The essential directions you can go were summed up nicely by Feng Zu http://vimeo.com/40854241

You can push either direction in this course now... or blend them. It's up to you. In my day you had to pick one second year and push it till graduation.

There are also alot of required electives for the degree. Psychology 101, research methods... Art History. Don't underestimate how much work those will be (Or how much you'll enjoy them too!)

Overall i am 110% satisfied with Sheridan College. It's going to kick ass to finish next year and then i will take a year off to fucking sleep. lol

Any more questions?

[fILAMENAfIASCOfINK]

Thanks for the thorough outline of your experience at Sheridan. I did visit the campus a few weeks back and definitely liked what I saw. Just curious as how many hours a week you put in classtime and your own to get assignments done, etc? You did mention you may take a year off to sleep, so I imagine it is pretty rigorous!

[Jonny Dark]

you have 7 classes each semester, with 3 hours of class time each. expect at least equal that in homework.

[fILAMENAfIASCOfINK]

Anyone from Capilano in the IDEA program give me the rundown on their experience there? Or anyone on what they have heard about either school?

[J.Geo]

If you want to be a concept artist, Sheridan is probably not for you.
Check out examples of the students' work, its pretty much what they'll want you to make. In itself might not be a bad program for certain avenues of Illustration though, especially editorial, technical, etc.

[Jonny Dark]

No if you really want to be a hard core concept artist Sheridan isn't really the most ideal place. I do a mix of comic/concept art so it worked for me.

[fILAMENAfIASCOfINK]

hmmmm, that's good to know and Ill definitely keep that in mind when making my decision. This is proving to be more difficult than I thought to choose.... perhaps I should let OSAP funding make the choice for me.