UCA Farnham Concept Art
Hi, I've received an offer from UCA for comic and concept art. I've heard mixed reviews about the uni concerning use of AI in the courses and the support towards students. If you are doing the concept art course, is the course good???? Do you learn a lot and are the teachers nice?? I know it's in quite a secluded area which is fine by me as night life isn't my thing, but is the area a nice place to live other than that??
Thanks if you reply!! Also, if anyone else is going to UCA Farnham this year it would be great to make friends!!
Thanks if you reply!! Also, if anyone else is going to UCA Farnham this year it would be great to make friends!!
Hello! I did not go to UCA Farnham - but a friend of mine did (for illustration) and I went to Farnham myself twice for open day & interview for their Game Art course.
I can't speak much to the use of AI on this course. I will say this is gaining popularity as a tool for iteration within concept art (i.e. for ideation and composition ideas) but the only places outright replacing concept artists with AI are usually places that are looking to cut costs wherever possible and not particularly interested in producing quality products.
My friend generally had a good opinion of UCA although said it is not a typical university experience - the university is small and the town is even smaller. It's quite expensive, being in Surrey, and can be difficult to find somewhere affordable to live after 1st year when you're no longer guaranteed a place in halls, and the small area can make it difficult to find part time work. The area is beautiful and there's a lot of charity shops and cute cafes and pubs etc, but it may take a while to make friends as a lot of students that attend are relatively introverted.
To comic and concept art -
We're seeing more and more "Comic & Concept Art" Courses, most of them originating within the last 5-10 years, if not more recent, while the opportunities are becoming scarcer and scarcer. The reason I say that is because "Concept and Comic Art" isn't a collective, or a single industry - they're quite different and require different approaches. The only reason we see them lumped in together is typically because of these newer courses.
Concept art is an industry, typically freelancers and people working on short-term contracts working for film, tv and games companies. it typically involves working to specific briefs and deadlines. (i.e. draw multiple different angles of a sci-fi styled lamppost) It's likely you will be expected to draw over the top of 3D models in order to meet tight turnarounds or meet standards to maintain consistency. There are some full-time, permanent concept artists out there but they are a scarcity- Really not many in the country.
Comics and freelance artists in general, i.e. the type you see running stalls at conventions, are less of an industry and more of a collective ... While comics can get published they are more often than not being self-published and the people writing them are typically self employed. These are typically people working to their own budgets, organising getting their own stock made by talking to distributors (i.e. liaising with people that print comics and prints and keyrings etc), managing social media profiles, and generally coming up with their own ideas/drawing whatever they want, but under strict budgets with small profit margins.
And sure... i'm sure there's (a very small number of) instances of people working freelance for more popular comic artists where they are probably primarily drawing backgrounds or inking etc... but this is not really a career path, at least in the UK.
If you want to be a concept artist:
- Learn 3D (https://theartsquirrel.com/26/using-3d-software-for-illustration-comics-concept-art-and-digital-painting/)
- Talk to people in the film and gaming industries
- Learn to work to specific briefs with specific guidelines. There's some examples of what concept art briefs might be available online.
If you want to be a comic/freelance artist:
- Start working on improving your social media reach, including monitoring your metrics and trying to optimise for algorithms
- Talk to people who are self employed artists and people that work with small-press publishing
- Work on some products that you could sell i.e. comics but also stickers/prints/keyring designs and consider stalling at a local art/craft fair
For both:
- Learn some business skills, especially for freelancing and information about being self employed, what that meaningfully means for you and your finances, how to set your own rates, etc.
- Have a backup plan
I can't speak much to the use of AI on this course. I will say this is gaining popularity as a tool for iteration within concept art (i.e. for ideation and composition ideas) but the only places outright replacing concept artists with AI are usually places that are looking to cut costs wherever possible and not particularly interested in producing quality products.
My friend generally had a good opinion of UCA although said it is not a typical university experience - the university is small and the town is even smaller. It's quite expensive, being in Surrey, and can be difficult to find somewhere affordable to live after 1st year when you're no longer guaranteed a place in halls, and the small area can make it difficult to find part time work. The area is beautiful and there's a lot of charity shops and cute cafes and pubs etc, but it may take a while to make friends as a lot of students that attend are relatively introverted.
To comic and concept art -
We're seeing more and more "Comic & Concept Art" Courses, most of them originating within the last 5-10 years, if not more recent, while the opportunities are becoming scarcer and scarcer. The reason I say that is because "Concept and Comic Art" isn't a collective, or a single industry - they're quite different and require different approaches. The only reason we see them lumped in together is typically because of these newer courses.
Concept art is an industry, typically freelancers and people working on short-term contracts working for film, tv and games companies. it typically involves working to specific briefs and deadlines. (i.e. draw multiple different angles of a sci-fi styled lamppost) It's likely you will be expected to draw over the top of 3D models in order to meet tight turnarounds or meet standards to maintain consistency. There are some full-time, permanent concept artists out there but they are a scarcity- Really not many in the country.
Comics and freelance artists in general, i.e. the type you see running stalls at conventions, are less of an industry and more of a collective ... While comics can get published they are more often than not being self-published and the people writing them are typically self employed. These are typically people working to their own budgets, organising getting their own stock made by talking to distributors (i.e. liaising with people that print comics and prints and keyrings etc), managing social media profiles, and generally coming up with their own ideas/drawing whatever they want, but under strict budgets with small profit margins.
And sure... i'm sure there's (a very small number of) instances of people working freelance for more popular comic artists where they are probably primarily drawing backgrounds or inking etc... but this is not really a career path, at least in the UK.
If you want to be a concept artist:
- Learn 3D (https://theartsquirrel.com/26/using-3d-software-for-illustration-comics-concept-art-and-digital-painting/)
- Talk to people in the film and gaming industries
- Learn to work to specific briefs with specific guidelines. There's some examples of what concept art briefs might be available online.
If you want to be a comic/freelance artist:
- Start working on improving your social media reach, including monitoring your metrics and trying to optimise for algorithms
- Talk to people who are self employed artists and people that work with small-press publishing
- Work on some products that you could sell i.e. comics but also stickers/prints/keyring designs and consider stalling at a local art/craft fair
For both:
- Learn some business skills, especially for freelancing and information about being self employed, what that meaningfully means for you and your finances, how to set your own rates, etc.
- Have a backup plan
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