School of Visual Arts (SVA) has options for students looking to develop specific illustration skills through a single course or workshop, or artists seeking an illustration degree. Examples of single courses and workshops include Building Fictional Worlds, Children’s Book Illustration, Digital Coloring for Illustrators and Comic Artists, Illustration and Visual Storytelling: Art and Industry, and RISO Printing: Zines and Small Publishing. Courses and workshops can last anywhere from a few days to several months, and some options be completed entirely online.
The SVA Illustration Department has a BFA Program that features opportunities to gain hands-on experience through internships and other experiential learning programs, access to faculty and mentors who are professionals in the industry, and a junior thesis and senior portfolio curriculum that allow students to develop a body of work that best reflects who they are as Illustrators.
Consisting of 120 credit hours, the Illustration BFA Program consists of coursework in drawing and illustration, writing, painting, visual computing, storytelling, comics, books and zines, digital coloring, animation, and motion. Elective studio courses allow students to study stop-motion animation, motion graphics, and website design, among others. SVA students have had the opportunity to work for The New Yorker and The Village Voice, and compete in competitions—all before graduating from the program. Graduates of the program go on to successful careers in industries that utilize illustration
For Illustrators seeking a career in Cartooning, a BFA is available through the Cartooning Department. Often called “the Harvard of Cartooning,” this 120 credit hour program consists of 72 credit hours of studio art courses and elective options that allow students to study everything from animation to web design. Cartooning BFA students will explore traditional and emerging styles such as classic adventure comics, Amerimanga (East-West hybrid), and experimental graphic novels.
Courses for the SVA Cartooning Program are taught by instructors who have worked on projects such as The Dark Knight Returns, Pee Wee’s Playhouse, and Daredevil. Course examples for the program include Principles of Cartooning I-II, Digital Collage Illustration: Telling Stories in Layers, Drawing with Ink for Illustrators, Storytelling I-II, History of Cartooning, and Illustration in Motion. Upon completion of the SVA Cartooning BFA Program, students will graduate with a Cartooning Portfolio of their best work.
Offered in the MFA Illustration as Visual Essay Department (est. 1984), the graduate program accepts just 20 students per year. Program features include a classroom-based curriculum, guest lecturers, speakers, and mentors, internship opportunities, personal workspaces with 24/7 access, and participation in gallery shows and exhibits. Students in all SVA programs have access to the school’s active study abroad program as well as SVA offices in Seoul, South Korea, and Shanghai, China, where students can network, collaborate, and attend workshops and lectures.
In addition to coursework and projects in computer illustration, creative writing, storytelling, and visual essay, SVA MFA students will have the opportunity to audit classes in film, animation, and fine arts. MFA students will complete a number of seminars and workshops, an Illustration Business Book Camp, and the Thesis Project: Visual Essay course. Graduates of have worked on major productions such as Sleepy Hollow and for brands such as Prada and Van’s.
The School of Visual Arts (SVA) is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). This private institution launched in 1947 as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School (C&I School). When it opened, C&I had just three teachers and 35 students. Today, SVA employs more than 1,000 faculty serving 7,000 students enrolled in 31 programs leading to a BFA, MA, MFA, MA/MAT or MPS.