Do you want to go further with your artistic abilities? This terminal degree program allows you to build on your foundation and expand beyond the traditional arts. As an MFA candidate, you will hone your craft in digital media and build proficiency in subjects like digital sculpting, digital painting, character design, and other specializations within the digital mediaindustries.
Jump toSection
- Who Should Pursue ThisDegree
- AcademicRoadmap
- CareerOutlook
The program culminates with an advanced thesis project that lets you develop and showcase an original body of work that is both personal and reflective of your strongest capabilities as a digital artist. We welcome a diversity of interests, ideas, andbackgrounds.
The MFA in Digital Arts program allows you to make the jump from traditional to digital media and equip yourself with the 2D and 3D art skills most relevant to today’s careers in games, animation, and other visual media productionenvironments.
Request Information
Apply Online
Who Should Pursue ThisDegree?
If you aspire to turn your artistic capabilities into a sustainable career, or simply pick up where you left off in a previous arts program — particularly in the direction of 2D or 3D digital art production — this program may be for you. Ideally, applicants to the Master of Fine Arts in Digital Arts program will have had foundational coursework or formal training in the following: drawing, figure drawing, color theory, composition sculpture, 3D modeling, animation, and digital painting. Applicants with a background in architecture or design may be accepted but will need traditional media rendering skills and a demonstrated proficiency in color andcomposition.
As a student in this program, youwill:
Learn the Tools of DigitalArtists
Gain familiarity with the tools and techniques most commonly used for digital painting, 3D sculpting, andmore.
Tailor Your ElectiveCoursework
Focus on the skills and specializations that matter most to you; take advantage of independent study opportunities to design your owncourses.
Build Your ProfessionalPortfolio
The MFA thesis project is your chance to make a personal statement and demonstrate your strongest capabilities as a digitalartist.
AcademicRoadmap
As an MFA student, your studies will begin with a handful of required courses that will form the basis of your digital arts toolkit. From there, you’ll be able to choose from a wide selection of elective offerings in digital art, fine art, animation and production, or project coursework — narrowing your focus in the direction of the skillsets that most interest you. In addition to your regular coursework, you’ll be working toward your final thesis project under the guidance of facultyadvisors.
HoudiniCertification
DigiPen is a Certified Partner of SideFX, developers of the procedural 3D art software, Houdini. Certification means our students have demonstrated exceptional skill using the industry-leading tool favored by professional technical artists working in the film, television, and gamesindustries.
AdmissionsRequirements
In addition to other basic admissions requirements, applicants to the MFA program must submit an artportfolio.
View allrequirements
TopicsCovered
By the time they graduate, students in the MFA program will possess the followingqualifications:
- Extensive 3D production experience, including the ability to use the most current 2D and 3D graphics applications in the industry, as well as traditional fine arts skills such as drawing, sculpting, andpainting.
- A deep understanding of the 3D graphics production pipeline, including the creative process and ability to manage projects from brainstorming tocompletion.
- Strong research skills, especially as they relate to art history, character design references, andanatomy.
- A specialization in modeling, sculpting, or character art, as well as a unique and highly developed personal voice as demonstrated by theirthesis.
Full-Time and Part-TimeOptions
The MFA program is flexible to your scheduleand can be pursued either full-time for two years or part-time for four years. The part-time program will require some coursework during regular daytimehours.
Full-time sample coursesequence
Part-time sample coursesequence
MFAThesis
Your thesis begins with a one-semester Thesis Pre-Production course, during which time you will research, develop, and refine your thesis topic proposal. You will then work on your approved thesis project for two semesters under the guidance of a facultyadvisor.
Thesis WorkExamples
StudentProjects
In addition to your thesis project, you’ll have the opportunity to collaborate with your peers on team-based student projects — including games and films — as part of your elective coursework. These projects give you firsthand experience creating 2D and 3D digital assets in a setting that reflects the professional studio environment. These are just a few projects MFA students have helpedcreate.
Trappist LandingThis 3D adventure game puts players in the role of an exobiologist determined to explore and catalogue alien life forms in the Trappist solarsystem.
The LuministIn 3D action horror game The Luminist, the player controls a man trapped in a forgotten subterranean mining town after an elevatorcrash.
Orientation Center for the UnseenA helpful tutorial video for the newlydead.
Meet theFaculty
As an MFA candidate you will take classes from a number of faculty in the Department of Fine Arts, Department of Digital Arts, and Department of Animation and Production. You’ll receive close guidance and mentorship from experienced artists and industry veterans from the world of professional film and game production. These are just a few of the faculty who teach coursework in the MFAprogram.
Program Director (MFA in Digital Arts) Mark Henne joined DigiPen in 2012. He directs the MFA in Digital Arts program and teaches the senior animated film course in the BFA program, among other topics.He started working in animation and visual effects in 1990 when he joined Rhythm & Hues Studios in Los Angeles. In 1994 he moved to Pixar, where he worked on the original Toy Story and continued there until coming toDigiPen.
Mark Henne
Professor Professor Alecia Rossano is a classically trained figurative sculptor from Seattle. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Scripps College and her Master of Fine Arts from the graduate school of the New York Academy of Art. She has also studied in Florence, Italy, which inspired her love of Renaissance and baroque art. Her work has been shown in Seattle and NewYork.
Alecia Rossano, MFA
Assistant Dean of Curriculum Ryan Finnerty is a Seattle-based artist and educator. He holds a BFA in Painting from Savannah College of Art and Design and an MFA in Drawing and Painting from the University of Washington. Finnerty has exhibited paintings and drawings in several galleries in the Seattle area and throughout the country. He has also served as an artist-in-residence with numerous arts organizations both nationally andlocally.
Ryan Finnerty, MFA
CareerOutlook
Graduates of the MFA in Digital Arts program can pursue a number of career paths in the game and digital media industries. Thanks to a heavy emphasis on elective coursework, you’ll be able to tailor your studies to these and other jobtypes.
PotentialCareers
3DModeler
A 3D modeler is responsible for creating the creatures, objects, and environmental features for video games, simulations, animations, and other visual media, as well as 3D-printed objects. A 3D modeler must know how to capture the look, weight, and proportion of an object from all angles and work efficiently with sophisticated 3D arttools.
CharacterArtist
A character artist has the difficult but important job of creating the 3D characters that will typically be the focus of the player’s attention in an interactive video game. In many cases, the character artist will be responsible for both the modeling and texturing of the 3D character, being sure to create a model that can be properly rigged andanimated.
ConceptArtist
The concept artist creates visualizations to guide the rest of the art team and ensures a consistent visual style for animations, video games, movies, and other media. They must be able to illustrate rapidly to represent new ideas, working from the creative direction and input of a creative director or artlead.
Entry-Level JobTitles
3DArtist
Animator
TechnicalArtist
EnvironmentArtist
Senior-Level JobTitles
ArtLead
ArtDirector
SeniorArtist
Senior CharacterArtist
Professor of FineArts
FeaturedStories
Check out all the original games and projects that DigiPen student teams spent the year collaboratingon. Watch the 2024 Student Game Showcase
Based on her experience in Paris, the film marks the culmination of a DigiPen journey that began in fashion design and ended up at RockstarGames. Mingyuan Li’s DigiPen MFA Thesis, Nobody, Wins ‘Best Animation’ at Catalina Film Festival
Davies 2D animation merit earned him one-on-one mentorship with a master of Disney’s classic “Illusion of Life”techniques. DigiPen BFA Alum Edward Davies Wins CTN’s First Andreas Deja Scholarship Award
