BFAIllustration

In the Illustration program, you’ll create images and objects that engage, challenge, and delight. Illustrators enliven narratives, explore personal histories, and contribute to discussions about larger societal issues through traditional and digital works. Our program is positioned within a top art and design college and ranks #2 in California and #8 nationally compared to hundreds of illustration schools and universities.

Our interdisciplinary environment invites robust cross-disciplinary study and provides you access to cutting-edge software and digital tools, print and painting studios, shops, labs, and a community of thinkers and makers eager to collaborate. By approaching illustration from many perspectives, you'll learn to bring unique ideas to life with originality and versatility.

Become an artist-citizen

Assignments focused on environmental sustainability, history, psychology, politics, and social justice require the type of thorough research and critical thinking necessary for a creative career. You’ll be encouraged to express your personal points of view by creating unique original content, so you graduate ready to develop visually compelling, thought-provoking work that contributes to social dialogue and questions the status quo.

CCA Illustration emphasizes a strong foundation in drawing and painting. In studio courses you’ll learn how to use acrylic, charcoal, collage, colored pencil, gouache, ink, mixed media, and watercolor. You’ll gain an understanding of color mixing, figure drawing, and brush techniques, and have the opportunity to learn about screenprinting, hand-lettering, and sculpting in interdisciplinary courses.

You’ll combine the use of traditional materials with industry-standard digital image-making programs. In addition to learning about screenprinting, hand-lettering, and 3D modeling, you’ll explore the many ways images are incorporated into physical and digital products.

Chair Michael Wertz is an Oakland-based illustrator and printmaker who has created work for numerous high-profile clients, including the de Young Museum, Chronicle Books, BART, the New York Times, Random House, and the Exploratorium. Wertz has also published several children’s books, including Golden Gate Park, An A to Z Adventure, and A Spectacular Selection of Sea Critters. His 60-foot mural at Oakland Animal Services greets you as you walk in the front door; you can pick up his new fairyland-themed library card at the Oakland Library; or you can look up on the wall of the Fillmore Auditorium and see his work smiling back at you.

During your final year at CCA, you’ll create a semester-long thesis project based on a single concept or narrative, a cohesive portfolio, a portfolio website, and promotional materials. In the Professional Practice course, you’ll learn what it takes to run a small business and present yourself to employers in the creative community. And a curated senior show attended by design professionals will help you emerge as a working professional.

Illustration graduates have a diversity of practices. They find opportunities in traditional publishing: book illustration, editorial illustration, and comics. In addition, they work in advertising, high-tech, retail design, motion design, surface design, and other industries. They are hand-letterers, exhibition designers, and public artists. They work both freelance and in-house. Their skills in traditional techniques and digital media open a world of possibilities.