I hope it is okay to post this on this forum. After looking at all the discussion boards, I felt I had the best chance of getting an answer on this one. I am the parent of a 15 yo high school junior who is starting her college search. She wishes to attend a university rather than an art school, although she is still open-minded on this subject. We live in a small city and there is little opportunity here for art instruction. She began drawing after looking at some excellent books on the topic and immediately began creating very realistic portraits.
We homeschooled her until age 14, so she was able to take an excellent class with a professional artist. He was a wonderful mentor, but he has moved away. He felt my daughter is quite gifted artistically. One of her portraits won best of show at a county-wide exhibit, and all of her exhibited work has won nothing lower than 1st place ribbons. When she entered the high school, she enrolled in an intermediate art class. The teacher was horrible--he is a talented potter, but didn't know how to teach drawing and painting. Waiting out a couple of more years until retirement, he would give an assignment and then go sit down and read. Needless to say, she isn't taking art at the high school this year.
My daughter has worked mainly in pencil and colored pencil. She did attend an intensive 2-week drawing and painting camp this past summer. What she is running into with certain art teachers is a dislike for realism, but that is what she wants to create. With the exception of the teacher who moved away, most say her work is wonderful and would sell, but it isn't "really art" because it so real it lacks expression. Last winter, she attended a National Portfolio Day. She met with reps from Otis, RISD, Cal Arts, and the Inst. of Fine Arts in Laguna Beach. All were impressed with her work and encouraging (asking her to come back to a Portfolio Day when she is a bit older) except Otis. I site this example because it is typical of what she is encountering with art teachers. The rep looked at her work (mostly portrait but some still life) and said, "Well, you can make a lot of money with this type of art, but on a scale of 1 to 10 of what is "real" art, this is about a 5."
Sorry this has been such a long post, but I wanted to give you some background. We are so afraid she will end up in a college art department whose profs scorn realism. Does anyone have any recommendations of solid college art programs that will help develop her skills and encourage her pursuits--especially, portrait work? Thank you advance for your answers.
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