Painting and Drawing (BFA)
Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA)
Why study Painting and Drawing?
Painting and Drawing fuses traditional expertise and technique with cutting-edge contemporary approaches to artmaking. In this program, you can study virtually every approach to painting and drawing, from traditional oil painting to graphic novel production and 3D spatial installation. Your technical, formal and conceptual skills will be developed through focused studio production and instruction in theory, art history and cultural studies.
Drawing incorporates a wide array of materials and explores gesture, mark making, the construction of visual space, as well as symbol and storytelling. In Painting classes, you will explore colour use, paint application, tools and techniques along with the formal language of painting and its use in abstract, figurative and hybrid/expanded modes.
As active professional artists engaged at both an international and local level, our faculty bring insight into the exciting and complex world of art. You will gain the ability to think creatively and critically and to materialize your ideas in visual form. These skills sets, along with the development of visual literacy and expertise, can be applied to multiple professions in the visual arts.
Program details
A Bachelor of Fine Arts degree takes a minimum of three or four years (90 – 120 credits) of full-time study, depending on your academic background.
Program option:
- Major in Painting and Drawing (60 credits)
See detailed degree requirements in the Undergraduate Calendar.
This program is only available for Fall admission.
Minimum cut-off averages and course requirements
- Quebec CEGEP: DEC
- High School: C+
- ACT or SAT is NOT required
- Canadian curricula course requirements
- Accepted international qualifications
- International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma: 26
- Baccalauréat français: 11
- British system of education (GCE):
- A-levels: At least two A-level exams CD or
- AS-levels: At least 4 AS-level exams with equivalent results or
- BTEC: Level 3 Diploma or Extended Diploma in a related subject area with equivalent results
- Additional information for British System of Education (GCE) applicants
- University Transfers (internal/external): C
Course requirements for admission
None. You must meet Concordia’s minimum admission requirements.
Additional requirements for admission
Minimum cut-off averages should be used as indicators. The cut-off data may change depending on the applicant pool. Applicants who meet the stated minimum requirements are not guaranteed admission to these programs.
The portfolio of artwork for admission to a Studio Arts program should be a collection of your best and most recent work in visual arts. It should represent your individual interests, abilities and explorations. Consider visual, conceptual, and technical proficiency in selecting your best and most recent work.
If you are applying to more than one Fine Arts program, be sure to submit a separate portfolio for each program choice.
Your portfolio should contain:
- Minimum number of portfolio items: 15.
- Maximum number of portfolio items: 20.
- Each portfolio item must be a single digital file.
- Either recently completed or currently in progress.
- Include work that demonstrates your ability to work in a variety of media, in both two and three dimensions. Examples include drawings, paintings, prints, collage and other mixed media work, sculpture, ceramics, and fibres work.
- You may also include photographs, animation, film, video, audio recordings, and documentation of performance art.
- Please tailor your portfolio to the specific program area to which you are applying.
- Your work should show evidence of both technical skill and conceptual development. Basic abilities in drawing, composition and color-use must be demonstrated.
- You may not submit your portfolio via email or through other websites.
Letter of intent
Your letter of intent should be no longer than one page and written in English or French. In general, it should describe your educational background and any relevant experience in art, as well as your expectations in relation to the programs to which you are applying.
- What are your reasons for applying to this program? If you are particularly interested in an area within Studio Arts, please indicate why.
- Describe your educational background and any relevant experience.
- What are your goals and expectations in relation to this program?
We consider complete applications year round and we give priority to applicants who apply by official deadlines. Late applications will be considered if places are still available for the fall term only.
| You've sent your application from: | Fall term deadline | Winter term deadline |
| Inside Canada | March 1 Certain programs have extended their deadlines. Please check program availability. |
N/A Admission to this program is only available for the Fall Term. |
| Outside Canada (International) |
February 1 | N/A |
We reserve the right to close admission to a program at any time after the official deadline without prior notice.
Sample classes
You’ll take courses that address the practice, theory and history of art and master the techniques of painting and drawing. You’ll also take seminar courses that explore new ideas and imagine the frontiers of contemporary art.
- Drawing and Painting from the Model
- Digital Painting
- Between the Wall and the Viewer
- Time, Narration, Stories
- The Graphic Novel
- Materials and Methods of the Artist
Course descriptions
Browse all Studio Arts course descriptions in the Undergraduate Calendar.
Faculty members
Student work drives the creative energy in the Faculty of Fine Arts, and you’ll have many opportunities to exhibit your work in art festivals and exhibitions at on-campus venues such as the FOFA and VAV galleries.
To see what current students are working on, visit our events page.
You will work in brightly lit, well-ventilated studios and will have access to our teaching studios, open painting studios and the Sean B. Murphy Open Drawing Studio. The available studio equipment includes:
- Solvent dispensers
- Spray booth
- Stretcher-building room
- Computer labs
Students also have access to Concordia's Core Technical Centres, which include metal and wood workshops, maquette and rapid prototyping labs. Discover the full range of equipment available in each of these facilities.