NYSED: 28604 CIP: 50.0410
The 60-credit, evening and weekend Illustration program was created for working illustrators seeking advanced study, preparing them to better assume their roles and responsibilities in a world of new media opportunities and rapidly evolving technologies. The curriculum is designed to encourage individual creativity and innovation. Through this program, students develop a broad-based skill set encompassing digital and traditional studio techniques, and are encouraged in the kind of entrepreneurial thinking that leads to thriving careers as illustrators.
An award-winning faculty of active professionals, assignments mirroring real-world challenges and specifications, and regular guest lecturers and off-campus field visits maximize student exposure to New York City’s art and design world. Graduating students complete a visual thesis project that is exhibited at The Museum at FIT, and a written master’s thesis. Curriculum below is for the entering class of fall 2020.
BRENDAN LEACH, Associate Chair
brendan_leach@fitnyc.edu
fitnyc.edu/illustrationmfa
Course of Study
| Semester 1 | ||
| MI 521 | The History of American Illustration | 3 |
| MI 571 | Integrating Digital with Traditional Media | 3 |
| MI 581 | Drawing for Illustration | 3 |
| Semester 2 | ||
| MI 582 | Exploring Media | 4 |
| MI 583 | Narrative Art | 3 |
| MI 641 | Creative Writing For Illustrators | 3 |
| Summer Session 1 | ||
| MI 532 | Directed Projects in Illustration | 2 |
| MI 610 | Qualifying Research Paper Workshop | 1 |
| Semester 3 | ||
| MI 605 | Qualifying Research Paper I | 3 |
| MI 681 | Sequential Storytelling | 3 |
| MI 783 | Illustration in Motion | 3 |
| Semester 4 | ||
| MI 602 | Reportage: Theory and Practice | 4 |
| MI 606 | Qualifying Research Paper II | 3 |
| MI 607 | Studio Visits: New York | 2 |
| MI 608 | Printmaking and Artist's Books | 3 |
| Summer Session 2 | ||
| MI 631 | Studio Visits: LA | 2 |
| Semester 5 | ||
| MI 672 | Survey of Digital Illustration | 3 |
| MI 731 | Business Practices and Self Promotion Strategies | 3 |
| MI 791 | Visual Thesis Studio | 3 |
| Semester 6 | ||
| MI 700 | Studio Workshop | 3 |
| MI 792 | Visual Thesis - Exhibition and Promotion | 3 |
| Total Credits | 60 | |
COMMON REQUIREMENTS
All degree programs require that students maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 every semester while enrolled in the program. A student is placed on probation if his or her semester GPA is below 3.0. A student is not subject to academic dismissal at the end of his or her first semester in a degree program. A student will be dismissed from the college after two consecutive semesters with a GPA below 3.0. A final GPA of 3.0 is required for graduation.
ADVANCEMENT TO DEGREE CANDIDACY
Eligibility to Attend Commencement Exercises
Candidates for the master’s degree at FIT must have advanced to candidacy before being permitted to attend graduation ceremonies.
Degree Requirements
General
For admittance to degree candidacy, students must have satisfied all outstanding prerequisites, completed a minimum of 60 approved course credits, achieved a final grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.0, and had their qualifying paper proposal approved by their committee. Students must have advanced to degree candidacy before being permitted to attend graduation ceremonies.
Thesis
Graduating students in the MFA in Illustration program are required to complete a master’s thesis, in the form of an academic paper focusing on a specific aspect of illustration—its history, various applications, or current state. Students should select a topic whose research and composition is manageable within an 18-month period.
It is the responsibility of the student to submit, and have approved, his/her topic proposal to the department thesis coordinator; the thesis coordinator will then select an individual advisor whose area of expertise is relevant to the paper’s topic and research. Students are expected to submit their written proposals approximately six weeks into their first semester.
Detailed guidelines on the thesis process will be distributed in the early weeks of the first semester. Papers are due in April of the student’s fourth semester in the program, when the student presents his or her research to a committee to discuss and defend the paper, prior to the paper's final approval. In May of the fourth semester, students meet individually with a committee—composed of the department associate chair, the thesis coordinator, and the student’s thesis advisor—to discuss and defend their thesis and research work, prior to the paper’s final approval.
Students will be expected to retain a professional copyeditor during the process.
Time Requirement for Degree Completion
See Scholastic Standing.
Boot Camp
Please note that students enrolled in the Illustration MFA program are required to attend a late-summer intensive program prior to the first week of the first semester of classes. For specific information, please contact the program chair.
Courses
MI 521 — The History of American Illustration
3 credits; 3 lecture hours
This course will explore the role of the illustrator and the evolution and importance of illustration as a social barometer of our culture. The course will offer its history of illustration in the broader contexts of world art and of American history and popular culture, using slide shows, field trips and anecdotal lectures.
MI 532 — Directed Projects in Illustration
2 credits; 1 lecture and 2 lab hours
This course is designed to give the opportunity to study intensively with high-profile, industry-active illustrators who are enjoying success within a variety of markets in the industry.
MI 571 — Integrating Digital with Traditional Media
3 credits; 1 lecture and 4 lab hours
This course will explore new artistic possibilities in creating art by combining traditional with digital media. Using Adobe Photoshop, Corel Painter and a Wacom tablet, students will be given the opportunity to unlock an image’s full potential by giving them the digital tools needed to create multiple versions of an idea.
MI 572 — Digital Boot Camp
0 credits; 0 lecture and 0 lab hours
This course is a weeklong workshop designed to introduce the new MFA in illustration student to the language and pace of graduate study in a studio environment. It will encourage and support experimentation in concept development and execution through "traditional media' and software programs such as Photoshop and Illustrator.
MI 581 — Drawing for Illustration
3 credits; 1 lecture and 4 lab hours
This course is designed to enhance and to invigorate a solid foundation of drawing. Conventional subject matter such as the nude and costumed figure, still life and reportage, combined with a broad range of media and technique, explores premises of design, composition, dimension and drama.
MI 582 — Exploring Media
4 credits; 1 lecture and 6 lab hours
This class is designed to not only explore the unique qualities of three traditional mediums appropriate for the execution of illustration assignments, but also disseminates information designed to familiarize the graduate student with the traditional practices, techniques and theories of artists and illustrators of the past.
MI 583 — Narrative Art
3 credits; 1 lecture and 4 lab hours
This course is concerned with building awareness of, and competence in successfullytelling stories with pictures. What is discussed are the ways in which arrangements of elements within imagery can connect with the cognitive process of the viewer, resulting in the telling of a story.
MI 602 — Reportage: Theory and Practice
4 credits; 8 lab hours
Enhances the ability to draw from life; to document people, environments, and events. Explores reportage theory, history and practice. Using location drawing sessions, students heighten their sense of observation and apply the practice of reportage drawing to illustration assignments.
Prerequisite(s): MI 581.
MI 605 — Qualifying Research Paper I
3 credits; 3 lecture hours
Students are guided on the planning, research, writing, and evaluation of their Qualifying Research Paper. Students complete and submit a topic, abstract, outline, a historical overview. Students also begin a current state of art section, and begin collecting imagery and illustrative examples.
MI 606 — Qualifying Research Paper II
3 credits; 3 lecture hours
Students complete writing and prepare their qualifying paper for publication and presentation. Emphasis is placed on editing and evaluating the paper’s content, as well as design for print and public presentation.
MI 607 — Studio Visits: New York
2 credits; 2 lecture hours
This course is a companion to MI 631 Studio Visits: Los Angeles. This course provides students with face-to-face interactions with East coast-based professional illustrators, animators, and art directors through in person meetings at studio and office visits in New York and Philadelphia.
MI 608 — Printmaking and Artist's Books
3 credits; 1 lecture and 4 lab hours
This course exposes students to the process of planning and creating hand-printed artist’s books and unique editions using traditional printmaking techniques. Emphasis is placed on narrative and sequential projects, and students are encouraged to conceive fully considered book projects and editions of multiples.
MI 610 — Qualifying Research Paper Workshop
1 credit; 1 lecture hour
This course introduces students to the parameters and scope of the Qualifying Research Paper. Students identify a possible topic and begin initial planning.
MI 631 — Studio Visits: LA
2 credits; 2 lecture hours
Studio Visits' main educational goal is to expose illustration students to West Coast markets by traveling to locations in and around Los Angeles. Students will visit the various studios and their subcontractors at which the most advanced work of this kind of being done.
MI 641 — Creative Writing For Illustrators
3 credits; 3 lecture hours
In this course, students engage in intensive writing exercises in a variety of genres, read published works, and discuss the elements of creative nonfiction, poetry, and fiction. They investigate the craft of writing in these genres, with additional attention to children’s literature, graphic novels, and other forms that typically incorporate illustration.
MI 672 — Survey of Digital Illustration
3 credits; 1 lecture and 4 lab hours
This course will focus on the techniques and uses of digital illustration in its varied forms and styles with an emphasis on using appropriate software in a way that maximizes creative expression while taking into consideration the practical aspects of reproduction processes.
MI 681 — Sequential Storytelling
3 credits; 1 lecture and 4 lab hours
This course is designed to explore the complete spectrum of premises needed to successfully create an illustrated character(s). The class will cover the ideas behind the research, concept and refinement necessary to build a character.
MI 692 — INDEPENDENT STUDY-MI
1-3 credit; 1 lecture hour
MI 700 — Studio Workshop
3 credits; 2 lecture and 2 lab hours
This course emphasizes experimentation and exploration of materials and studio practices. Students are encouraged to expand their artistic voices and develop their professional identity. They collaborate with classmates on a large scale public art project. The concepts and content of MI 792 are reinforced.
MI 731 — Business Practices and Self Promotion Strategies
3 credits; 3 lecture hours
This course addresses a myriad of best practices to successfully carry on the business of illustration. The course will be delivered in three separate units of study:Contracts, Copyright, Negotiation, Business Management and Taxes, Marketing, Grants and Self- Promotion Strategies, Licensing and its Tools: Press Releases, Statements.
MI 782 — Art is Where You Look For It: Diversifying Illustration's Application
3 credits; 2 lecture and 2 lab hours
This course explores the ever-emerging and divergent paths an illustrator can take to use his or her skills in traditional and digital media, combined with a personal illustration style to expand into disciplines and areas of the arts not ordinarily considered.
MI 783 — Illustration in Motion
3 credits; 1 lecture and 4 lab hours
Illustration in Motion uses software associated with digital illustrative to make moving images. Through lectures, visual presentations and studio assignments, students will be exposed to the various roles of illustration in moving image media, from initial visual concepts, storyboards, animatics, layout, animation techniques, and digital compositing. The class will cover the twelve principles of animation, as well as paper and digital 2D animation techniques.
MI 791 — Visual Thesis Studio
3 credits; 1 lecture and 4 lab hours
This course focuses on the execution of the proposal and research completed during the Visual Thesis Creation Seminar. Students will be expected to arrive with work samples representative of the finished Visual Thesis project.
MI 792 — Visual Thesis - Exhibition and Promotion
3 credits; 1 lecture and 4 lab hours
Visual Thesis Creation: Exhibition and Promotion is the last segment and time period devoted to preparing the body work of each MFA graduate that will appear in the culminating exhibition of the MFA program and experience.