Program Overview
In our illustration program, you begin with education in drawing, design and art history. Next, you’ll be exposed to a variety of skills and techniques for communicating ideas visually. As you tackle the creative challenges presented to you, you will discover and hone your voice, refine your illustration skills and build a portfolio of work that can represent you well to prospective clients and employers.
At the end of the program, you’ll showcase your finished body of work in the Coburn Gallery during the university’s annual student exhibition.
You can use illuminating skills to create a wide range of products from diagrammatic and companion illustrations to character designs and graphic novels. With a concentration in illustration, you’ll have an array of career pathways in the commercial and media arts fields.
Learning Experiences
You can look forward to:
- Personalized attention from dedicated art faculty determined to help you perfect your skills and gain the knowledge you need to be competitive
- Opportunities to exhibit your work
- A real-world internship that will provide you with useful, practical experience
Student Internships
You are required to complete an internship, which helps you explore careers, make contacts that may lead to employment and gain important work experience that will give you an advantage in the competitive job market.
Illustration Facilities and Equipment
- Framing and matting station
- Fifteen state-of-the-art Macintosh desktop computers
- A 44-inch large format Epson printer
Career Opportunities
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that there will be approximately 5,900 openings for craft and fine artists each year, on average, from 2021 to 2031, with many of those openings resulting from the need to replace artists who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force. The median salary of a craft or fine artist in 2021 was $49,960.
Contact Information
Daniel McDonald, MFA
Chair of the Art + Design Department, Associate Professor of Art
227 Center for the Arts
dmcdona1@ashland.edu
419-289-5130