My OCA Illustration Journey: First Term Reflections
Six months ago I enrolled on a BA (Hons) Illustration degree with the Open College of the Arts. I was terrified, excited, and not entirely sure I wasn't making a massive mistake. Now that the first term is done, I want to write honestly about what it's been like — the good, the difficult, and the bits nobody tells you about.
Why I Enrolled
I've drawn for as long as I can remember. As a kid I filled sketchbooks with cartoons. As a teenager I filled them with slightly angstier cartoons. But like a lot of people, I didn't pursue it seriously after school. Life happened — work, bills, the general business of being a functioning adult in Staffordshire.
The thing that kept nagging at me was the gap between what I could see in my head and what I could put on paper. I was self-taught and had hit a ceiling. I could draw things that looked all right, but I couldn't reliably make them look good. I didn't understand composition properly. I didn't know why some of my pieces worked and others fell flat. I needed structure, feedback, and the kind of foundational knowledge that YouTube tutorials, however brilliant, can't quite provide.
The other honest reason: I wanted to take my illustration seriously enough to build a career from it. Not necessarily quit my day job overnight, but start laying proper foundations. A degree felt like a commitment to myself — a way of saying "this isn't just a hobby anymore."
What the OCA Is
For anyone unfamiliar, the Open College of the Arts is part of the University for the Creative Arts. It's entirely distance learning — no campus, no fixed timetable. You work through structured modules at your own pace (within reason), submit assignments for tutor feedback, and build up credits towards a full degree.
This was the only viable option for me. I work, I have a life in Staffordshire, and relocating to attend a traditional university wasn't realistic. The OCA lets me study in my home studio, mostly in the evenings and at weekends, and fit the coursework around everything else.
It's proper academic study though — don't let the "distance learning" tag fool you. The reading lists are substantial. The assignments are rigorous. The tutor feedback is detailed and sometimes bracingly honest. It's not a casual online course; it's a degree.
Term 1: What We Actually Did
The first module was focused on building core skills: observation, mark-making, and understanding visual language. Here's roughly what the term looked like:
- Research journals. Every project started with research — looking at other illustrators, reading about visual theory, visiting exhibitions (virtually and in person). I quickly learned that illustration isn't just about drawing; it's about thinking.
- Observational drawing. Hours and hours of drawing from life. Still life setups, my own hands, objects around the house. The aim wasn't to produce pretty pictures but to genuinely see — to understand how light falls, how forms relate to each other, how a two-dimensional mark can describe a three-dimensional thing.
- Material exploration. Trying different media systematically: graphite, charcoal, ink, pen, collage, digital. Each exercise pushed me outside my comfort zone. I discovered I actually love working in charcoal, which I'd barely touched before.
- First formal assignments. Two assessed pieces that brought everything together. The briefs were open enough to allow personal interpretation but structured enough to test specific skills. I agonised over both of them far more than was probably necessary.
Biggest Challenges
Self-discipline
This is the big one. Nobody is checking whether you've done the reading. Nobody is taking attendance. The module handbook sits there on your desk and it's entirely up to you whether you open it or watch telly instead. Some weeks I was brilliant — up early, studio time blocked out, smashing through exercises. Other weeks, honestly, I barely picked up a pencil.
What helped was treating it like a job. I set studio hours — Tuesday and Thursday evenings, plus Saturday mornings — and I stick to them as much as I can. It doesn't always work, but having a routine makes the difference between steady progress and guilty stagnation.
Imposter Syndrome
Oh, this one. The OCA has online forums where students share work. Some of it is jaw-droppingly good. Within the first fortnight I was convinced I was the worst student on the course and that my tutor was going to gently suggest I take up accounting instead.
That didn't happen. What did happen was that my tutor gave me honest, constructive feedback that acknowledged what I was doing well whilst pushing me to develop areas I was avoiding. Turns out everyone on the forum feels like an imposter. The good students are just the ones who keep working regardless.
The gap between your taste and your ability is not a sign you're failing. It's a sign you have good taste. Keep working and the gap closes.
What I've Learned
Technically, I've improved more in five months than I did in the previous five years of self-teaching. That's not an exaggeration. Having structured exercises with specific goals, followed by expert feedback, accelerates learning in a way that noodling around in a sketchbook simply cannot.
But the bigger lessons have been about process:
- Research matters more than talent. The best illustrations I produced this term were the ones where I'd done the most thorough research beforehand. Understanding your subject, your audience, and your context makes the actual drawing part clearer.
- Bad drawings are necessary. My sketchbooks are full of terrible drawings, and that's fine. They're the workings-out that lead to the good stuff. I've stopped being precious about every mark.
- Feedback is a gift. It stings sometimes, but every piece of honest criticism has made my work better. Learning to hear "this isn't working because..." without taking it personally is a skill in itself.
- I draw best when I draw regularly. The weeks where I drew every day, even just for twenty minutes, were the weeks that produced the strongest work. Consistency beats intensity every time.
Advice for Prospective Students
If you're considering the OCA or a similar distance-learning creative degree, here's what I'd tell you:
- Be honest about your time. Work out how many hours per week you can realistically commit and build your study plan around that. Overcommitting and then falling behind is worse than starting slowly and being consistent.
- Set up a proper workspace. You don't need a fancy studio, but you do need somewhere you can leave work in progress without having to tidy it away every evening. Even a corner of a room with a desk and a shelf makes a difference.
- Engage with other students. The online community is one of the best parts of the OCA. Share your work, comment on others', ask questions. It's easy to feel isolated studying alone — the forums and group hangouts help enormously.
- Trust the process. Some exercises will feel pointless or frustrating. Do them anyway. The module is designed with a logic that often only becomes clear in hindsight.
- Don't compare your chapter one to someone else's chapter twenty. Everyone is at a different stage. Focus on your own progress and celebrate your own improvements, however small they feel.
I'm heading into term two with more confidence, better habits, and a much clearer idea of the kind of illustrator I want to become. It hasn't been easy, but it's already been worth it. If you've been sitting on the fence about enrolling — jump. The worst that happens is you learn a lot about drawing and about yourself.