[Discussion] Your Art Education Background

What education in the arts do you have? What schools did you attend or are currently attending? What camps, seminars, classes, and workshops have you been to? What books and guides have you read, and what tutorials and instructional videos have you watched?

I am a new artist.

Actually, until around February of this year, I don't think I really thought of myself as an artist at all.

I fall somewhere between the categories of self-taught, class-taught, and associate-mentored?

I spent a year studying on my own and getting feedback from people on ZU and dA: basically from June 2010 until August 2011. I was given the 6 Loomis drawing and painting how-to books and used those mostly, in addition to studying from photographs and life drawing. People on dA that influenced me include Eternal Legend, Yuroran, Toshinho, and nheira; I looked to their tutorials, their art, their words, and all four gave me useful feedback and advice. They made a big difference, actually.


Before 2010, I drew very little. Maybe once or twice a year, I'd pull out paper and spend half an hour trying to make something? But I kind of always believed that artists were born with their genius. I was never told that they actually worked and learned to be able to do what they do. I took a semester of art in 7th grade ~ didn't appear to have any special talent.

:]


Last August-December I took one intro drawing class (6 hours a week, studio+seminar) and one intro sculpture class (6 hours a week, studio+seminar).

And in February-May I had one figure drawing class (6 hours a week) and one introduction to painting class (6 hours a week).

*shrug*

The biggest difference the classes made is that I kind of learned to put oil paint on surfaces (sometimes with good results, but often with weird results), and I learned to draw naked people.

Being completely dead-set honest here and swearing to the bible - I have never been to an art school, class, workshops, colleges etc (you name it) before. So... I have no experiences with them. I guess you can count out the basic art classes in Primary school (I don't count those, and even if I did - I didn't learn anything new). My tutorials has always been online stuff when I needed to work something out, like how to apply texture when using photoshop for the first time and such. Without trying to sound like I stand on some sort of pedestal, I am completely self-taught?

I got a Digital Art Master's book, but I only bought it this year and I haven't exactly read it properly yet. Plus some Imagine FX magazines over the years just to get some small pointers when it comes to digital art.

So uh... yeah. No one taught me how to draw I guess. It was just a natural thing of mine to just draw things ever since I was little without a guide.



I am curious as to what would have happened if I did attend art schools and such.

Originally Posted by Eternal Legend

I am curious as to what would have happened if I did attend art schools and such.

I think at this point, if you were to attend studio classes, you'd probably get annoyed for the first year because they, more or less, tell you what to draw and paint. I've heard full time art students complain that they don't have time for their personal work.

I'm pretty much the same as EL - I haven't taken art lessons or classes beyond what I was taught at school.

I didn't enjoy many of those classes at school...some were fun, but on the whole I dislike being told to draw using a particular method and certain subjects. I much prefer just experimenting to develop my own style.

I'm self-taught when it comes to drawing. I've been drawing my whole life basically.
In 2010 I began to study classic character animation which I did for one year. While I realized that animation wasn't my thing, we had croqui every week the whole year which helped me improve immensely.
In 2011 I started a programme which main subject was comics. We learned how to draw comics, how to publish them, how to start our own publishing company, and had a lot of focus on storytelling. Did that for a year and published a comic on my own during that year.

Self-taught. I took all of two drawing classes from middle school to high school, and those didn't teach me HOW to draw, so much as WHAT to draw. This is why I refuse to go into art as a career. I cannot be told what to draw, and when it should be completed, because it feels like a chore. I draw as a hobby, and I intend to keep it that way. This is also why I don't accept criticism, because I want to improve on my own, solely by my own abilities, and having people tell me what I can and can't do well would defeat the fun of drawing. I would like to improve, of course, but only as a reflection of my own growth.

I think what I want to improve on most is my coloring. My aim with coloring isn't to make it more realistic, per say, because my drawing style isn't realistic. I would, however, like to create more depth and detail than what I can do now.

I look at a lot of stock photos and anatomy studies as references. That's about as far as my "formal" education goes.