Hi there, I am a Canadian painter (22 years old) who just graduated from Capilano College's Graphic Design & Illustration Program. (if you want to show your daughter the work I ended up doing there, visit www.heatherid.com).
I think it was great of you to write this for your daughter--I went to high school in the States, and know what it's like going to portfolio reviews at colleges & art institutes. They do take the guts out of you, and it's especially disheartening when all sorts of other "artistic" students are around with huge oversized canvases of who know's what it's supposed to be. I wanted to be a painter when I got out of school--I even started up at the Alberta College of Art & Design for a year. I hated it. They were entirely too "arty" there, and no one would ever say "that doesn't look like her" or be actually real about art. I was like your daughter--really really wanted to draw realistically. Anyway, I ended up changing schools--moved to Vancouver, went to Capilano College and took their Graphic Design & Illustration program, where I studied under wonderful teachers who pushed us to our limits. I'm saying this because you don't have to go to an art institute, or take painting/portraiture to get an excellent education in that. Your daughter will learn if she wants to. The course I took was supposed to be for both graphic design & illustration. I'm an illustrator & painter at heart, and that's what I took from the program. I hope your daughter finds someone who will challenge her, not be affraid to tell her to start over, and give her some sound direction in being an artist.
I really admire anyone who can do a realistic portrait, and there IS a market for it. Just take a look at any of the characiture artists around (Roberto Parada is an excellent one)--they do caracitures BECAUSE they can draw like stink, and they are able to do a realistic portrait. Art is a business, so your daughter should think of what she would like to "do" when she "grows up," and start building up the tools to do that. I suggest taking a course that will give you more than just painting skills. Those are important, but she should get into a course that will give her thinking skills. That will give her a job (illustration/design?), which will give her money, which will let her draw (which is what she loves) and start to support herself there.
Anyway, good luck with your search. If your daughter would like to talk about stuff some more, she can e-mail me at: heather.mackay@usa.net, or she can give me a call at (905) 821-4685
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