Guidance Plus
Fine arts as a study option
B.S. WARRIER
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Those with a creative bent of mind could consider higher studies in fine arts after Plus Two.
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CREATIVE OPTION: Fine arts students at work.
During the past three weeks we had been discussing certain common avenues of higher education available to candidates who have finished the higher secondary course, irrespective of their optional subjects. We had mentioned hospitality management, chartered accountancy, company secretaryship, cost and works accountancy, and law. Let us now look at fine arts as a career option. In addition to academic qualifications, the candidates should necessarily have certain special att
ributes for successfully pursuing fine arts. The fine arts colleges offer training in three main areas – drawing and painting; sculpture; and commercial or applied art.
Curricula
Aspirants of fine arts programmes should have a fair idea about what is ahead if they choose academic studies in this discipline. The topics of study include stylistic significance of visual art in India; styles and schools in European, Chinese, and Japanese art; art criticism; Indian renaissance and the modern age; artistic characteristics of ancient people; study of forms in nature; still life; copy of designs, motifs and master’s drawing, decorative forms; plane and solid geometry; study from life and sculpture; out door study and landscape in pencil, crayon and water colour; simple composition in colour; composition with human figure and animals in round and relief; study of basic shapes and human extremities; study of traditional sculptures; lettering, simple card, book cover, book jacket, book illustration, symbol, trade mark and monogram; decorative designs; printmaking, Lino and wood cuts in black and white; rapid out door sketching; study of human figure and portrait in any medium; and interior and landscape subjects. The topics also include different methods of painting on silk, banner, egg tempera and so on; Fresco techniques – Ajanta, Italian wet, Jaipuri and so on; photography, dark room practice; pottery; metal casting; typography, lithography, screen printing and advertising photography; designing for Batic, textile printing and weaving and computer application.
Selection
Those who intend to pursue fine arts education should invariably have inborn talents in certain areas - appreciation of light and shade, sense of colours and forms, power of visualisation, keen observation, and skill in freehand sketching. Creativity is the key factor. Patience, imagination, and eye-hand coordination are essential traits for producing works of art. Whereas drawing, painting, and sculpture focus on self-expression, applied art has commercial application.
Though the curricula may not be the same in all universities, the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) programme normally stretches over four years, with a one-year foundation followed by three years of specialisation. There could be electives such as photography, murals, interior design, and printmaking.
Selection of candidates for admission usually depends not on the marks scored in the Plus Two examination, but on the performance in an aptitude test that would comprise elements such as the drawing of a portrait of a human model in black and white, creative painting in water colour, and a simple piece of creative sculpture. Previous works of the candidate would often be evaluated by a committee of experts through a personal interview.
There are opportunities for higher studies (Master of Fine Arts) in subjects such as painting, sculpture, graphic art, applied art, and so on.
National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, a noted centre of excellence, admits candidates with BFA to programmes in the areas of ceramic, glass, toy, software and user interface or digital design.
Career opportunities
Those who specialise in drawing and painting or sculpture can work as freelancers. Specialists in drawing are in demand in publishing industry and newspaper houses as illustrators, cartoonists, and designers. Those who are proficient in applied art have boundless opportunities in advertising agencies as graphic artists, designers, visualisers, and creative directors. Artists are required in government undertakings, exhibition agencies, film world, television channels, interior design organisations, packaging, CD Rom or Internet web design agencies.
Institutions
Some of the institutions in the area of fine arts education are listed below.
•Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai – 600 003 (Formerly Government College of Arts And Crafts)
•Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath College of Fine Arts, Bangalore – 560 001
•JNTU College of Fine Arts, Hyderabad
•College of Fine Arts, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, Mavelikkara and Thrippunithura (Kerala)
•Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University of Baroda, Vadodara – 390 002
•Kala Bhavana, Visva Bharati, Santiniketan, West Bengal – 731 235
•Faculty of Fine Arts, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi - 221 005
•University of Mumbai, Fort, Mumbai – 400 032
•Sir J.J. Institute of Applied Art, Dr. D.N. Road, Mumbai – 400 001
•Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi – 110 025
•Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh – 202 002
•Faculty of Music and Fine Arts, Department of Fine Arts, University of Delhi – 110 007
•Karnatak University, Pavate Nagar, Dharwad – 580 003
•Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady, Kerala – 683 574 (BFA: Specialisation in painting and mural painting)
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