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Studies & Degrees in Drawing and Illustration

Drawing is the basic skill of the visual arts: observing, and putting form, proportion, light and space on a surface with pencil, charcoal, ink or a digital pen. Illustration is drawing with a job to do. An illustrator makes images that explain, accompany or sell something. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) describes illustrators as artists who create pictures for books, magazines and other publications and for commercial products such as textiles, wrapping paper, stationery, greeting cards and calendars, and adds that they increasingly use computers in their work.

Students of the subject practise life drawing, anatomy, perspective, colour and composition, and learn traditional techniques such as graphite, charcoal, ink, watercolour and printmaking alongside digital painting and image editing. Illustration courses add visual storytelling, character design, comics, children's and editorial illustration, and the business of working to a brief. Spain's official illustration qualification states the aim in one line: to produce original illustration work of formal and functional quality from a project of one's own or from a professional commission.

Qualifications and levels

Training ranges from weekly studio classes to university degrees, and the type of qualification varies a great deal between schools.

  • University degrees. In the United States and Canada drawing is usually a studio concentration within a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA). The University of the Fraser Valley in Canada, for example, describes its Visual Arts BFA as a four-year degree in which students specialise in three studio disciplines. In Switzerland, Hochschule Luzern offers a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Communication with a specialisation in Illustration Fiction or Illustration Nonfiction: three years (six semesters) full-time, taught in German. In Spain an official bachelor's degree (grado), such as a degree in fine arts, has 240 ECTS credits.
  • Official vocational art qualifications in Spain. Professional art education is taught in intermediate and higher training cycles. The Técnico Superior de Artes Plásticas y Diseño en Ilustración is a higher cycle of 2,000 hours, to which 120 ECTS credits are assigned.
  • Private school diplomas. Specialised schools award their own diplomas, which are not official degrees. ESDIP in Madrid lists a three-year diploma course in illustration, advertising and design (1,110 hours) and one-year courses in editorial illustration (370 hours) and comics (440 hours). Accademia Riaci in Florence runs one-year and semester courses in painting and drawing, taught with an English interpreter, and awards a diploma; one session of its one-year programme runs from 7 September 2026 to 16 April 2027.
  • Studio classes. Workshops such as Taller de Nuevos Pintores in Madrid teach drawing and painting to students of all ages and levels, without a formal qualification.

Admission to degree programmes usually depends on a portfolio. At Hochschule Luzern the entrance examination has two parts, a portfolio and a work assignment, and applicants who pass both are invited to an interview.

Where to study

SpainExchange lists 39 active schools for drawing and illustration. Thirteen are in the United States, five in Spain and five in Italy, three in Canada, and two each in the United Kingdom, China and Greece; Costa Rica, Germany, Switzerland, Singapore and Zimbabwe have one each. The Spanish schools are in the Madrid region and include ESDIP, ARTENEO, Ars Animation, CCC Centro de Estudios and Taller de Nuevos Pintores. In Italy the list includes Accademia Riaci in Florence and Domus Academy in Milan. Elsewhere it includes Temple University, the University of North Texas, the University of Washington, Colorado State University, the University of Lethbridge, LaSalle College Vancouver, the Universidad Nacional in Costa Rica and Hochschule Luzern.

Drawing depends less on language than most subjects, but teaching and critiques still take place in a language. Check it before enrolling: the Lucerne degree is taught in German, Accademia Riaci teaches with an English interpreter, and the Madrid schools teach in Spanish.

Careers

Illustrators work for publishers, magazines, advertising and design agencies, animation and video game studios, and product companies, and many are self-employed and work on commission. Specialised fields include children's books, comics, concept art, and medical and scientific illustration, which the BLS describes as combining drawing skills with knowledge of biology or other sciences. A portfolio matters more than a certificate: the BLS notes that education gives artists the opportunity to develop one.

The BLS counts 28,900 fine artists, including painters, sculptors and illustrators, in the United States in 2025. It projects overall employment of craft and fine artists to decline 1 percent from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,300 openings a year, and notes that many artists hold another job in addition to their work as an artist.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a degree to become an illustrator?

No formal qualification is required to work as an illustrator, and clients judge the portfolio. The BLS notes, however, that most fine artists pursue postsecondary education to improve their skills and job prospects.

How long does illustration training take?

From one year to four. Spain's official higher cycle in illustration has 2,000 hours, the Lucerne bachelor's degree takes three years, a BFA in Canada takes four, and private schools offer one-year courses.

What do I need to apply?

Usually a portfolio of your own work. Hochschule Luzern, for example, assesses a portfolio and a work assignment and then invites successful applicants to an interview.

Is a private school diploma an official qualification?

Not by itself. Diplomas from private art schools are the schools' own certificates. In Spain the official qualifications are the training cycles of Artes Plásticas y Diseño and university degrees.