She changed her major to apply for studying in the United States as an illustrator. It took her three months to complete the collection of professional works of illustration, and she won four grand slams and more than 500000 scholarships! She is our interview object today. Meiqi, who was competed by Parsons School of Design, SVA New York School of Visual Arts, SAIC Chicago School of Arts, and MICA Maryland School of Arts, will talk about her training experience of professional illustration works collection today.

Summary of the training for applying for studying abroad in American illustration design after changing majors:

Meiqi, a student who applied for American illustration as a transfer student, was formerly a Berkeley College Fashion Merchandising and Management student, and was awarded the title by Parsons Design College, SVA New York School of Visual Arts SAIC Chicago Academy of Arts MICA Maryland College of Arts.

When Meiqi came to the natural light, she had completed the first semester of her freshman year in Fashion Merchandising and Management at Berkeley College in the United States. It only took more than three months to complete the collection of professional works of illustration, and received offers from four famous schools. Due to the time difference of 12 hours between Meiqi and Meiqi, it was almost early in the morning of American time when we interviewed Meiqi, but Meiqi still shared her learning and application experience, how to find inspiration for the professional works collection of illustration, and the content of the works collection project with us in detail.

　　 About Meiqi:

　　 Natural light: Meiqi learned from the academic administration teacher that it only took you more than 6 months from natural light to the offer. What kind of class are you taking? How long did it take to prepare the collection? Have you changed teachers during class?

　　 Yes, plus it took me more than 6 months to apply for the American illustration design major, because I was still a freshman in the United States when natural light came. At the beginning, I went to online classes with Ms. Wang Jiaxin. At that time, I didn't have an illustration design portfolio, so Ms. Jiaxin always helped me expand my thinking and divergent thinking, which was similar to chatting, I have been talking about these things and thinking about some topics.

　　 Later, I went to Beijing to teach the course in summer vacation. It was also the time to prepare the collection of works. The face-to-face course was taught with teacher Liu Muxia, who spent more than three months in total to complete the collection of works and return to the United States. Later, I have been in contact with teacher Liu Min in the later stage of application.

　　 Natural light: What was Meiqi's major when she was a freshman in the United States before? yes Art study abroad to major Apply? Why did you want to transfer?

　　 This is a very special situation, because my high school is the High School Affiliated to Guangmei. I originally wanted to study in the Department of Traditional Chinese Painting of Yangmei. I had been trained in the studio of Yangmei when I was in high school in China. But because of the poor air in Beijing, it is difficult to adapt to that environment. My family said that I should go to the United States to study, and then I went to the United States first.

　　 When I first arrived in the United States, my English was not very good. In addition, I made a decision too suddenly and hastily, so many application dates were missed. The enrollment time of Berkeley College is rolling, so I came here first. The only major related to art in this school is Fashion Merchandising and Management. I chose this major.

　　 I had planned to go abroad to study Pure Arts, so I used this school as a springboard first. During my freshman year in the United States, I had been preparing for the TOEFL test and collection of works. During the summer vacation, I went to Beijing to study art to do a collection of works. I completed the application for studying abroad before the first semester of college.

Meiqi made such a temporary decision, and there were many cases where the application time for changing majors was very short. Meiqi can complete his later works well in a short time because of his solid basic skills. Secondly, Meiqi has a very good personality, and soon gets together with the teachers, communicates with the teachers smoothly, and can find many good ideas quickly. However, Meiqi also had a lot of time pressure during the preparation of her portfolio, so our suggestions for most of her classmates were to plan in advance and set aside enough time.

　　 Contents of professional works of illustration:

　　 Natural light: I see that you have also got an offer from Parsons. What did Parsons Challenge do this year?

　　 My parsons challenge is a relatively interdisciplinary thing, in which photography is added. I'm also lucky. When I was working on my illustration design portfolio, my teacher suggested that I add a self portrait in the project. Then the project in Parsons Challenge is a little related to self portrait, and I spread out from that project parsons challenge , which is more consistent with the theme.

　　 I used self portrait as the project. I was in a hurry at that time. I only had more than three months. Every day I was in a hurry. Every day I was really racing against the clock. Fortunately, the theme was similar.

Parsons Challenge is a major feature of Parsons. It requires students to select a project from a collection of works and create a new work based on it. The creative forms include painting, video, photography, sculpture, 3D works, collages, digital images, etc. It also needs 500 words of explanation, and also needs images to express the creative idea process. Some colleges and universities also have their own propositions, such as RISD, but most colleges and universities give new propositions and require students to create according to them.

Through Parsons Challenge, you can let the admissions officer see that even if the project is completed, you can still continue to develop more different ideas and explore more perspectives and creativity. In addition to the display of thinking, you can also show your interdisciplinary ability to the admissions officer, such as the ability to use another art medium. Many colleges and universities will emphasize their emphasis on interdisciplinary ability.

In Parsons Challenge, in addition to interdisciplinary ability and creative thinking ability, the admissions officer actually hopes to see your visual cognitive ability and artistic sensitivity, and even feel whether you have a full creative desire through your works. So in the Parsons challenge, our suggestion is to add new art media, reflect divergent thinking, and show your artistic quality, creative process and changes in thinking. Don't miss this opportunity to express yourself.

　　 Natural light: I saw you said that you wanted to enter the Department of Traditional Chinese Painting before. Are you good at traditional Chinese painting or just because you like it? Then I studied fashion. Is there any content of fashion and traditional Chinese painting in my portfolio?

　　 Because the fashion management major only read one semester when I was working on the portfolio, and the classes were all about fashion history and fashion business. This semester I learned something related to textile, so what I learned about fashion before I worked on the portfolio was all about management theory and academic knowledge, and there was no interdisciplinary relationship between fashion and the major in the portfolio.

　　 Compared with traditional Chinese painting, in fact, I am good at western painting, but I like Chinese traditional culture very much. I hope I can study more in traditional Chinese painting.

　　 In my collection of works, there is a project called Another World, which is a 6-meter long scroll painting, similar to the style of line drawing. This work is related to dreams, because I like to dream. I dream every day when I sleep. I think the dream must be very fantastic, so I want to show it in the form of a long scroll, which is the kind of scroll in classical China. Once opened, it will have its own artistic conception. Secondly, I thought that dreams could be expressed in abstract form, so I decided to use 0.02 needle pen to draw little by little. At that time, I drew for a long time, because the needle pen was very thin. Every day, I painted from morning to night for a week, and because there were many small knots in it, it took me a long time to draw eyes.

　　 The final photos of the works can not show that feeling. It is a pity that the visual effect will be better than that of the photos, but there is no way because it is too long, and if the details are taken, there will be exposure. I also use a lot of Glitters in it, but the flash part is the same color, and the local details can not be photographed. They are all in the same color. I'm disappointed but I can't help it. I've tried my best to shoot them.

At present, Chinese elements are very popular and widely used in the field of art and design, especially in the fashion industry. Many Chinese students hope to add some elements of Chinese style when making their works, but the use of such elements must be ingenious in order to be harmonious with the works. For example, Meiqi's works do not use various Chinese "symbols" indiscriminately, but use a beautiful form to express their own content.

　　 Natural light: In addition to this project about dreams, what other projects are there in the collection?

　　 There are four items in the collection. In addition to the long scroll painting about dreams, there is also a photographic work with masks, an installation work about technology, and a self portrait.

　　 There are also some observational paintings in the collection: opposite body sketch, opposite head portrait, four gypsum head portrait, one oil painting, one toner painting.

　　 Natural light: what is the concept of technical installation works? Where does inspiration come from? Did the teacher give you any help or inspiration on ideas? Will such works as Chunyi, which are difficult to land and very conceptual, be reserved?

　　 In this work, I used foam, paint and cell phone models to make a device similar to rotten biological feeling. The concept I want to express is how dependent humans are on technology, just like their parasites. The source of inspiration was still when I first went online to class with Ms. Jiaxin, when I suddenly thought of a joke: saying that aliens came to the earth to see what life on the earth was like, and one of them said that after returning to their planet, creatures on the earth called cars, and there were human parasites growing inside.

　　 At the beginning of the class, my mind was closed and I didn't have any ideas, but Ms. Jiaxin really had many ideas. Then the teacher would talk to me about many aspects, and I felt my ideas were slowly opened after talking about all aspects.

　　 When I went to the thought expansion course before I did my portfolio, Ms. Jiaxin asked me to do a lot of reserch, and I also collected inspiration on pinterest. Two of the four items in the collection are related to painting, and I am more proficient in painting myself, so I haven't done much reserch since the beginning of the collection.

Many students may think that the application of pure art majors is based on painting, but in fact, all majors related to modeling can be included in the category of pure art. Pure art collections can also include many forms, such as sculpture, installation, ceramics, prints, photography, and so on. The content of such works collection is more abundant, and the admissions officer will also see that you have more ability to control the art media to express your thinking and stand out in more works collection.

　　 Natural light: What difficulties or thorny problems did you encounter in the process of making your portfolio?

　　 Yes, I did critical work with my teacher in the later stage, and critical was mainly about Photography Yes, because my photography has always been a weak point, with some minor problems. At that time, my collection of works was almost finished, and the return flight ticket had also been booked. Time was tight. At that time, I felt that it was over, but I thought I had to finish it all and do it well. But fortunately, they were all finished later.

　　 Comparison of learning experience at home and abroad:

　　 Natural light: You have studied in China, in natural light, and abroad. Do you think there is any difference between classes in natural light and schools?

　　 Yes, I think the difference is very big! Because my high school was originally in the middle school attached to the Academy of Fine Arts in China, I would like to compare my high school with natural light. Learning in natural light gives me a feeling more like learning abroad. In China, the Affiliated High School is a more traditional school after all. Every time we draw a picture, the teacher decides where to draw the right picture and where to draw the wrong picture. For example, when we sit there and draw a picture, the teacher will come over and say that your eyes are not painted correctly. If they are not painted correctly, they will be erased and corrected. Then the teacher will teach you how to do it step by step, which means that the control will be stronger.

　　 But in the natural light, whether it is painting or I do installation or photography, the teachers say that I look at myself and almost let me make decisions by myself. They give more advice on concepts and ideas, which is not as specific as the education in high school. They tell you what to do next step by step, how to do it, what is right and what is wrong.

　　 I sometimes asked my teacher before, "Can I do it like this? How will it be?" The teacher always said, "It depends on you. You can do what you think, and you can do what you think." So at the beginning, I felt I didn't know what to do, and I was a little confused, but later I gradually found the right way. I also realized that the most important thing in the teacher's guidance is idea, because if someone limits your ideas, you will have no room to create.

Meiqi's personal feelings are not unique. Most students have experienced similar feelings. We can find that education at home and abroad is really different. Most of the art education in China is more inclined to model craftsmen, and there are some standards for the quality of their works, such as composition, perspective, large shape, color, etc. Students coming out of this education mode have solid painting skills, but lack creative thinking and critical thinking. And these are more valued by foreign universities.

In the education of foreign art colleges, students' personal voice is very important. They are not restricted by rules and regulations, and have a lot of space for creation. Their works focus on personal expression. There are no rules and regulations, and there is a lot of space for free play. Such an environment can more stimulate students' independence, diversity, imagination, inspiration, potential, and sensitivity, Cultivate more artists with unique views and creativity.

　　 Natural light: Have you finished your application? Which school did you choose for the offers from these famous schools? What is the reason for choosing?

　　 The application has been completed. I am going to the Chicago Academy of Arts. I have already completed the registration and got my student ID card. Because the painting and drawing rankings of this school are the second in the United States, I chose this school, and I also participated in their camp tours. I think it is very good.

Chicago is a city full of art and design atmosphere, with many museums, galleries, and independent art spaces. It is also very active in the international art market, and is very suitable for the development of young artists. The Chicago Academy of Arts is the highest art school in Chicago.

That's what Meiqi shared today. From her application experience of getting an offer for a Grand Slam, we can conclude that Meiqi has many things worth learning. For example, she skillfully uses paintings she likes and is good at, takes the initiative to challenge photography she is not good at, communicates more with teachers to explore more ideas, and participates in camp tours during school selection, I hope Meiqi's experience will be helpful to everyone and that more students will get offers from dream school!

Natural light shares more topics for you:

The design application of illustration for studying abroad, and the preparation of the collection of illustration for studying abroad in British and American countries are different

What are the advantages of the illustration design of the New York Institute of Visual Arts when studying abroad in the United States?

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