Why I chose my course - Fine Art and Illustration

Person with headphones around their neck, wearing a dark jacket over a green T-shirt, standing outside the Steinitz building.

Mati Hanlon

Fine Art and Illustration BA(Hons)

Hi I'm Mati, here's how I chose my Fine Art degree and a little recap of my student journey so far.

Currently, I’m a final year student at Huddersfield. I’m studying Fine Art and Illustration (formerly Contemporary Art and Illustration), and I love it! But my pathway here wasn’t as straightforward as the typical university story. For various reasons, I’ve swapped courses- even swapped universities- a couple of times before finding my way to this course.

I’ve always loved the arts and all things creative. Theatre, music, media, visual arts… all of it has my heart. My A-Levels were, of course, a mix of creative subjects; music, media studies, and art. I hoped I’d settle on one by the end of sixth-form, but I didn’t.

So I graduated college, and went off to study sound for film at university. And then dropped out after just a semester. And after a few months off, I applied for a video game development course at Huddersfield. I studied that for a whole year, but still, it didn’t feel right for me.

I emailed the Student Support team just a couple of months before I was due to start my second year, panicking as I realised just how little I enjoyed the study of video games, how I just didn’t understand the technological side, and how I wanted to switch courses again. Wellbeing, administration, iPoint, and all the other staff I spoke to at this time were wonderful. They were so kind, patient, and understanding of my situation.

Exhibition and event space in the atrium of the Barbara Hepworth Building — The Barbara Hepworth Building is a real home to creativity.

I’ve always loved drawing, and these days consider myself to be quite a skilled digital artist, though I also love to dabble in traditional mediums such as watercolours and needle felting… so, even though I still wasn’t sure of my future career path, I decided to swap to the illustration and contemporary arts course.
Mati, Fine Art and Illustration -

The illustration course is taught in the Barbara Hepworth Building, which houses a lot of the arts-based courses. A contemporary style building on the edge of campus, with loads of natural light pouring in from its huge windows.

Artwork is displayed everywhere in here, all of it made by students. There are so many different types of art- photography, textile work, paintings, sculpture, and others- on display, it’s basically impossible to walk around in here and not get inspired!

My classes are primarily located on the top floor of the Barbara Hepworth Building, which is home to an enormous shared-studio space.

The huge windows allow us to paint and draw with ample natural light; all the walls give us places to set up our own workstations and display our projects as we work on them. There are so many different places to choose to work in the area, and plenty of space for us all, too. It’s really a fantastic place to learn and develop as an artist.

Modern interior of the Barbara Hepwroth building with minimalist furniture, including two turquoise sofas and white storage cabinets. — This view is just the very back corner of the Barbara Hepworth Building, which even has a little kitchenette! I see a lot of my coursemates storing their lunches and snacks here, and we’re also free to use the kettle to make cups of tea and coffee for ourselves.

And it’s not just the University itself that has great spaces and resources for art. Huddersfield itself is home to many wonderful arty groups, shops, and more. The University’s art society frequently holds social events in a local café where we just sit and chat and draw. It’s very cosy and welcoming.

In town, there’s Calder Art Supplies- a local art supply shop - which also hosts watercolour classes, and is just next door to Arcade Coffee shop, which hosts the monthly “Pen and a Pint” event, where anyone of any age and artistic skill-level is welcome to show up, have a beverage, and doodle while chatting to people with similar hobbies.

There’s local art events held in places like the West Yorkshire Print Workshop, workshops in the S2R create space, and volunteering opportunities with organisations such as Creative Steps. And just a quick train-ride away is Slaithwaite, which is home to the Watershed, which also hosts a lot of arts-related workshops, from painting to acting to music and more.

Opportunities for art-related things are bountiful in Huddersfield, and I just love it! There’s always something creative going on.

As my final year goes on, to be honest, I’m still not really sure what I want to do in my future. As a career, or even really in general.

Even so, I’m so glad I came to Huddersfield and studied this course. I’ve learned so much from my professors, peers, and the other people around… about art, about the local area, about so many different opportunities that exist in the world… and I’ve even learned a lot about myself. Plus, I get to draw pictures of cats and get a degree for it.

Art display featuring multiple sketches of cats in various poses, mounted on a white wall.

No matter what I end up doing with my life, I’ll forever be glad I came here and studied what I did. I’ve grown so much as a person and as an artist since I first came to Huddersfield, and I’m sure you will, too.

There’s no one “correct” way to do life. We’re all different. If you’re like me, and not sure what you want to do as a career, it’s okay to go to university with the primary goal to learn!

Learn about yourself, a new place, and a subject you like. Whatever you do, I’m sure you’ll do great.

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