In the Drawing & Painting program, taught by contemporary practicing professional artists, you will find your individual artistic voice while honing drawing and painting studio skills. The study of art theory, history and contemporary social issues will provide a framework for your practice.
You will gain technical skills and a conceptual, contemporary understanding of traditional genres such as figurative, landscape, and abstraction. You will also be encouraged to explore experimental approaches to painting, such as digital artmaking and installations.
Become more articulate about your own and others’ painting practices through one-on-one, in-depth feedback on your progress and learn to engage in critique as you develop your process. At the end of this program, you’ll gain an extension understanding of contemporary drawing and painting practices and highly developed technical and conceptual skills.
Program Highlights
At the End of the Program...
At the end of this four-year program, you’ll earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree.
Admissions Requirements
- For Ontario high school students, a minimum overall average of 70%
- Portfolio
- Statement of Intent
- Official transcripts
- See detailed academic requirements here
Jobs You Can Get
Opportunities in the cultural sector are vast and are growing yearly. Graduates from the program work as:
- Practicing artists Artist with Studio Practice
- Curators
- Cultural programming coordinators
- Museum and gallery administrators
- Illustration and mural artists
- Art teachers
- Arts administrators
- Art conservators and restorers
- Writers and critics
- Studio managers
- Arts advocacy officers
- Artistic directors
Internships & Experiential learning
OCAD U offers so much more than co-ops because creative careers take many forms. Our career services help you build a professional community, valuable experience and skills you need for a meaningful career. Get access to:
- Short experiential learning placements from among hundreds of organizations
- Creative in-class projects with real-world industry partners
- Exclusive summer internships
- Gallery exhibitions of your work
- Freelance creative opportunities
- Jobs after graduation
What Will You Do in the Program?
If you are accepted into the program in first year, you will take introduction to painting classes, form and time, drawing across disciplines, art history and a course that interests you in topics such as:
Your first year offers foundational painting courses to expose you to the fundamentals. Additionally, you will expand your education through courses that introduce you to form and time, expanded drawing and art history.
You will choose an elective course that interests you, such as:
- Body and technology
- Drawing processes
- Printmaking & Publications
- New Media & Technology
- Animation fundamentals
- Sculpture
- Photography
- Wearable Art
- Culture and social change
- Nature and climate studies
In second year, courses in Drawing & Painting move through building techniques and understanding mediums, while developing skills from basic drawing to digital imaging. A variety of approaches to painting include:
In your second year, a studio intensive course builds on fundamental techniques, learning about new drawing and painting surfaces, and understanding of different media, while expanding your conceptual abilities and ways to express your ideas.
Examples of study subjects include:
- Mixed media
- Figurative
- Landscape
- Watercolor
- Digital drawing and painting
- Installation
- Abstract art
- Experimental photography
- Narrative drawing
- Anatomy
- Sustainable painting
In third year, you’ll develop a critical understanding of how to assess your own and others’ work, while exploring a range of approaches to drawing and painting. You will be introduced to the process of generating work from research and sketches to a final piece.
Professional Practice focuses on the skills needed to be a practicing artist, introducing you to the local art community and the essential skills needed for the development of an art career.
Some courses you may be interested in are:
- Collage
- Abstraction
- The body in painting
- Material experimentation
- Intermediate figure drawing
- Professional practice
In Fourth Year, you may choose to take Thesis or select a breadth of electives that exposes you to higher-level technical skills and conceptual practices.
Thesis Option:
Over the course of the year, you will work on to researching, producing and presenting a coherent body of work of a professional exhibition quality. You will learn how to speak and write about your work to promote your practice. The artistic development in this course offers you an opportunity to create an advanced portfolio to launch your career.
Electives Option:
In this pathway, you may choose to work closely with a professor as mentor, or intern through the Experiential Learning Program. This is ideal if you are interested in focusing on honing skills in a particular genre such as figuration, or prefer a wider learning and experimentation.
In both options, you will showcase your work at GradEx ̶ OCAD U’s Graduate Exhibition, the biggest free art and design exhibition in Toronto with more than 40,000 visitors.
For more information, go to the Program Guides page.
Minors
In all undergraduate programs, you can choose a minor to go along with your major. A minor gives you the opportunity to pursue a focused secondary field, helping you expand your practice, skills and knowledge. It can make you stand out to employers, graduate schools, or in grant applications by showing expertise in more than one field.
You don’t need to choose a minor on your application; once you start at OCAD U, you can choose from over 90 electives to build towards one of our 25 focused minors. Learn more about Minor Programs here.
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