ok well this is how i saw it. if you take a drawing elective or any elective, you might learn about something. however in your actual drawing/painting major class (from 2nd semester on- 1st yr session 1 is random, and 2nd year gets worse) basically you get a few assessments in which you have to produce however many paintings they want eg. in 1st yr 2nd session you paint a still life, a few abstracts, umm something to do with atmosphere, and mediated images. then 2nd year you do a lot on experimentation (they love wax mixed with paint, randomly) rather than learning the fundamentals of drawing- like i personally think that the basis of being an artist includes learning how to draw and paint properly, and experimentation comes after you've mastered that. except in class, the teachers come around about once in the 3hr class, look at your stuff and make a few comments, but you don't learn how to improve your technique or anything. and imo it's producing a whole lot of lazy artists cos can't draw anything that requires artistic talent, time and thought, because all they've been taught to do is throw paint onto a canvas. like it'd be good if they taught us how to use the paint and how to create better tone, perspective, overall composition etc. oh yeah if you don't know how to use oil paints and clean your brushes properly and stuff then you should become friends with someone who does cos learning how to use different mediums is basically up to you (though they do give a few lectures on various mediums and others things you can mix them with to get different effects)
however this is just my thought, and i am really into painting portraits and things that look realistic, i'm not currently a fan of throwing paint around and then seeing what'll happen if i paint something on a car door. you can probably approach the classes with a more positive manner and get more out of it than i did. but i do know that a lot of people were not a fan of 2nd yr painting. this is just the major- electives are better! like when i was in 1st year we HAD to do a life drawing class and that was excellent cos andrew christofedes would come around and tell you how to fix things wrong with proportion and stuff, except that's not compulsary anymore so you have to take it as an elective.
umm yes, if you would like any more explanations of the wonders of the BFA i am happy to give comments!
