Fine Art and Illustration BA(Hons)

About the course

This course focuses on illustration, using fine art practice as its starting point. It aims to help you become an independent, creative practitioner with the ability to create exciting art works and illustrations through explorations and experimentations, in both ideas and materials.

As a broad introduction to concepts, contexts, techniques, and technologies, you’ll be encouraged to draw upon existing knowledge. This will help you establish the frameworks within which to operate as a creative practitioner through the exploration of painting, drawing, installation, film, photography, and digital art.

On this flexible Fine Art and Illustration degree course, you’ll be taught by tutors who have professional industry experience within art and illustration. You’ll be able to develop the techniques and skills required to pursue a broad range of careers within the creative industries.

This course will prepare you for a career as a professional artist or illustrator, which could include exhibiting in galleries, creating content for the web, books graphic novels, or animations.

Why study Fine Art and Illustration BA(Hons)

By studying Illustration at the University of Huddersfield you’ll get to work from our state-of-the-art Barbara Hepworth Building, which features collaborative studio spaces, advanced photography and CAD studios and a high-quality digital print centre. Art at Huddersfield is top in Yorkshire* for Learning Resources, scoring 88%, based on experimental statistics from the National Student Survey 2023.

During this Fine Art and Illustration degree, you’ll be given the support you need to translate your ideas, however complex or ambitious, onto paper, film, or whichever media you’re using.

You’ll discover the art of evaluation; curation and the presentation of your artworks through your chance to work on live projects, competition briefs and public exhibitions. With several arts and cultural institutions nearby, you’ll be given the opportunity to attend field trips to events and galleries, in Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool. This includes the Tate, Henry Moore institute, The Hepworth, and Yorkshire Sculpture Park. As college members of the Association of Illustrators and Design and Art Direction (D&AD), there will be chances to hear talks from guest speakers and professionals from the world of art and illustration.

When you enrol onto a Fine Art and Illustration course like ours, you are opening the door to a wide range of possibilities. The course is part of a suite of three courses, which includes Fine Art BA(Hons) and Illustration BA(Hons). While you only apply for one course on the suite, you can choose to pursue any of the three throughout your degree, to tailor your studies to your interests within the subject.

*Institutions in Yorkshire with a turnover of over £100 million.

Entry requirements

Offers will be subject to a digital portfolio review, after which you will be invited to attend an Applicant Visit Day, at which you will have the opportunity to discuss and be given feedback on your portfolio. Read more about the portfolio review process on our Interviews, auditions and portfolio pages.

If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum requirements of an English Language qualification. The minimum for IELTS is 6.0 overall with no element lower than 5.5, or equivalent. Read more about the University’s entry requirements for students outside of the UK on our International Entry Requirements page.

Other suitable experience or qualifications will be considered. For further information please see the University's minimum entry requirements.

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