I'm confused with "visual arts"

[keac]

So, I'm gonna choose a course, and these are what is written:

... 3. Visual Arts, Media & Film
- Scriptwriting
- Product Design (Fashion design, Dressmaking, tailoring, furniture, ice culture, Photography, Web Design)

I'm confused @_@. I'm into drawing...

[AnnaLandin]

"Visual arts" cover photography, drawing, painting and sculpture, AFAIK - and film, but they've listed that separately. If you're confused, you might want to double-check with whoever is the teacher of the course and as for more a more detailed explanation.

[keac]

Oh yeah... But.... "Drawing"...
It's listed as:

• Product Design (Fashion Design, Dressmaking, tailoring, furniture, ice culture, Photography, Web design)

@_@

[AnnaLandin]

Then ask the person who is teaching the course about the details! From my understanding of your first post, the Product Design-description is separate from the Visual Arts-bit!

The content of every course is different depending on who is teaching it and where it is being taught. You need to ask the person in charge of it; it's hard to tell from your posted description exactly what it contains.

[ashriott]

Drawing shouldn't be listed as "Product Design"... If product design includes what you listed above like fashion, dressmaking, furniture etc, you'll be spending more time making things with your hands than holding pencil over paper. You'll be able to draw teeny little bit depending on your electives, but more often than not, you'll probably be doing "technical drawings" which aren't freestyle "express yourself" drawings.

I'm not sure about the uni you're thinking of, but I heard some universities list courses such as fine arts and illustration under visual arts. But don't take my word for it, it's better to ask someone in charge at uni who will be able to tell you a bit more about each course.

[keac]

It was a letter from my school. Everyone has it... But due that the contents are lacked... I could not change it anymore... :/. So I don't know what's the closest course besides drawing

[shinepaw]

Product design requires lots of drawing, but it's not the whatever you want to draw kind. It's focused on technical drawings, being able to communicate your product ideas via drawing and such. (I did product design in uni, it's nice)

[UzukiCheverie]

Just letting you know ahead of time, the likelihood of you finding a program that's just "drawing" is very UNlikely. Visual Arts is a major that a lot of art students take because it covers all the basic mediums - drawing, painting, sculpting, photography, etc.

Some people are more specialized than that, though. I'm an animation student, for example, so I took an animation course, which lead me to take classes including Life Drawing, Fundamentals of Art and Design (which includes History), Storyboarding, Layout and Production, Character Design, and of course, animation classes.

And then there are people who are specialized in say, Graphic Design, and they have to take classes like Composition Studies, History classes about art, JavaScript Programming in Flash, and even 3D Modelling in Autodesk Maya.

You won't be finding a major that's literally just drawing every day. Figure out what you want to specialize in or what specialization would fit best for what you want to get out of a college education (ex. I do mostly comics but I picked animation because I enjoy it and because it had the closest specifications to what would help me with comics, especially the Life Drawing and Photoshop classes we had). If Visual Arts is that, then take Visual Arts, and maybe find some extra classes you can take as a minor in drawing. Sure, you'll have to take some classes you might not enjoy, but it's all about getting that education in the first place and learning those fundamentals that simply "drawing" doesn't cover.

Of course, as Anna said already, make sure you check with the instructors of these programs to find out more information! (and I'm of course assuming this is in uni/college and not high school).

[AnnaLandin]

Seconding Uzuki here - finding a major that is only drawing is probably going to be difficult. The closest thing you could get might be a Fine Arts-major, but even then, you'll be studying art history and stuff too.

I did Comics and Visual Storytelling, which means that beyond the comics and purely practical art-classes (the ones you would think of as "drawing"), I also learned some animation, some basic webdesign, storytelling and dramaturgy, the history of film and basic graphic design. I did spend a lot of time drawing, but I also spent a lot of time watching movies and analysing them, writing reports, reading books on storytelling, etc., etc.

[elixiadragmire]

the closest you'll get is 'Fine Art' courses and even then they'll push you to use other medias, like paint, sculptures, chalks, photography, collage

[thatphilippekid]

Even if it's not drawing, comics entail such a wide variety of skills that anything's helpful in some way.
If you were to take a course in film, for example, a lot on camera angles and pacing can be translated to comics.
As for product design? I have no experience in that, but it can probably help a lot with the more technical aspects of art and design.

[UzukiCheverie]

I'm going to add to this by saying, would you really want to put yourself in debt for student tuition fees just for a program that insists you just draw? You can do that at home for free (besides money for sketchbooks or tablets or whatever it is you use to draw). A college education is not necessary in expanding your art skills, it just exposes you to a lot more you wouldn't think had anything to do with your intended field (in your case, comics).

As a completely self-taught artist before going into animation, I've learned all I learned from studying real life, googling "painting tutorials", and drawing every single day. A lot of being an artist comes from using what you have to learn and branch out and expand your horizons, and I think people tend to forget that when they think about the "glamorous" world of post-secondary schooling, especially when it comes to the thought of getting a degree. It's just a fancy piece of paper with your name on it that you spent thousands of dollars to get. You should be paying for the learning experience and the exposure to new things you wouldn't have gotten through self-teaching, not because it's the norm these days.

If you just want to improve your drawing skills then just . . . draw. That's all there is to it. Draw every day, study different styles other than your own, learn about line depth and weight, study people in real life to see how a real human body is drawn (this can be done in many ways, from looking up stock photos to sitting in a busy bus terminal and gesture drawing anyone who passes by). You shouldn't have to feel the need to break your back and your wallet over a program that you might end up only being in for the drawing, something you can easily do at home on your own time and schedule and budget.

That being said, you can get a lot out of the programs, but that's only if you're willing to take those "other" classes seriously, even the ones you don't consider as important. You really have to be willing to broaden your horizons and accept new teaching practices and methods. You'd be the one paying to be there, after all, so the last thing you'd want to do, I can imagine, is waste money on classes you didn't want to take all for the sake of just "drawing".

[AnnaLandin]

@UzukiCheverie This is, of course, assuming that @keac is attending university/college in a nation that charges tuition. I'm Swedish - our college-level education is 100% free. There's even a government grant for college-students that pays out around 350$ a month to help you pay your expenses - rent, books, food, etc., - which is paid to everyone regardless of income level, AND they offer student-loans at very beneficial rates on top of that (to the tune of a total 1200$ a month) that you can pay back at a pretty slow rate, AND you can apply to be allowed to pay back at an even slower rate if you can't find a job after college.

Different countries have different systems for financing higher education, so the tuition thing may or may not apply.

[keac]

This is, of course, assuming that @keac is attending university/college in a nation that charges tuition.

Upcoming college for a few years left.
The course was electives, and since I study in a Philippine school and follows Kto12 (From Kinder to Grade 12) curriculum, we include elective courses in order to prepare for college.

I already picked Web Design since the list lacks courses, which means that the drawing course or etc. are really for College Curriculum.
But I assume I would just pick "Media & Arts" if I go to College.

[UzukiCheverie]

Fuuuuuuuuu I forgot that some countries give out free tuition, dammit now I'm envious u o u

[TetheredComic]

If you want to do a course that is just drawing, then you want traditional animation! I did this course, and you literally don't do ANYTHING ELSE DX You will learn how to draw human and animal anatomy as well as learn many exercises to speed up your drawing skills. It is very intense though.

If you're doing a foundation course first, 'Visual Media' would cover this. I did a foundation course that sounds very similar to your first option, as I had to also study film too.

I wouldn't personally recommend fine art, though it is an interesting course, not many fine artists do so well afterwards. Illustration might be better suited if you're wanting to dive more into traditional mediums rather than digital (which visual media will also cover).

Product design is more technical and would go into things like packaging and such, you'll most likely use illustrator in that type of course.