Fine art : Your skills

Fine art courses build up specific practical and creative techniques such as painting, drawing, sculpting and working in a range of media. You will learn how to use different types of equipment and processes from hand tools and welding gear to digitisation.

Fine art students develop individual ideas and also collaborate with others, either classmates or students from related disciplines such as design, film or computing.

You will cultivate strong observational and analytical skills, offering opinions on your own projects and those of fellow students. Your assignments will be assessed by both tutors and peers, so it is necessary to be able to learn from criticism and to be objective about your work, while remaining true to your own ethos. You will need to be open to new influences and concepts, while building up an original style.

The course will also involve academic input such as history, theory of art and other cultural/sociological forces that have shaped artistic movements.

Beyond the studio or lecture theatre, you will be asked to show your work at competitions and exhibitions, providing experience of working to briefs, meeting deadlines and using organisational skills.

Many fine art degrees include modules on setting up in business and entrepreneurship. Where this is not a formal part of the syllabus, it is desirable to build up knowledge of these areas in order to survive and thrive in the artistic environment. This can be done by obtaining commissions and creating, displaying or selling work while still studying.

Consider the skills developed on your course as well as through your other activities, such as paid work, volunteering, family responsibilities, sport, membership of societies, leadership roles, etc. Think about how these can be used as evidence of your skills and personal attributes. Then you can start to market and sell who you really are, identify what you may be lacking and consider how to improve your profile. Take a look at job application advice for some useful tips.