Illustration

inspiring, entrepreneurial

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Enrich and expand your personal artistic voice as you master the art of visual storytelling and become an illustrator who guides your own career. Empowering and motivating, this program is built to develop aesthetic, analytical, and technological abilities. Through extensive studio visits and guest lectures, you will work with renowned industry professionals in the classroom and beyond.

Who Should Apply

This program, designed for illustrators seeking to enhance their personal voice, welcomes applicants with a baccalaureate degree in illustration or a related discipline, a strong portfolio, and at least three years of professional experience.

Number of Credits

Duration of Program

Three years of evening and weekend study

The Illustration Experience

Study with and be mentored by noted illustrators. Faculty members have strong professional practices and ties to professional organizations. The faculty includes the current and past presidents and the executive director of the Society of Illustrators, members of the New York Art Directors Club and the Society for Publication Designers, and winners of the Society of Illustrators Educator of the Year Award. You will also attend intensive workshops run by visiting lecturers who are at the forefront of the field.

Exercise your entrepreneurial spirit. Visit the studios of working artists. Meet New York City’s top illustrators, curators, art buyers, and business owners. Reach out to alumni. Make personal connections with the lawyers, licensing experts, and marketing strategists who teach our robust business classes. Open doors to ongoing professional relationships with fellow artists, professors, alumni, and potential clients and employers. The curriculum includes a travel component course held in Los Angeles, visiting the studios of leading professional practitioners on the West Coast.

Be inspired by the resources of New York City. Frequent field trips and personalized visits to museums and galleries—as well as special access to the Special Collections of the Gladys Marcus Library at FIT—ensure unlimited inspiration for your own self-expression.

Showcase your work. Interview major art market players, delve into archives, conduct surveys, and analyze data. Whether you write an academic thesis or develop a business plan for a new venture, you will use a variety of research methodologies to break new ground.

More About the Program

Areas of Study

Drawing, painting, history of illustration, traditional and digital media, motion graphics, creative writing, children’s books, graphic novels

MASTER’S THESIS

This culminating body of work synthesizes all elements of the program. A required qualifying paper focuses on a specific aspect of illustration; it is designed to showcase each student’s illustrative voice through a body of work that demonstrates experimentation, originality, and innovative visual solutions for a variety of markets. Projects have included animation, concept art, children’s books, graphic novels, murals, and reportage. The visual thesis is presented in a public exhibition.

PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

The program prepares illustrators to succeed as artists in a world of new challenges and rapidly expanding technologies. Most graduates go on to even greater achievement as independent illustrators, artists, educators, and entrepreneurs. The program is designed to develop each student’s creative identity and to encourage experimentation, originality, and innovative applications of mixed media.