#sorry ik this is probably not what you expected lkgjsdf | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

heartmush · 9 months

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hihi ! i wanted to ask if you're a self-taught artist or if you went to art school to get where you are right now? ^_^

hi! the short answer is "technically no", as i've gone to art school.

my longer answer is the following:

i have complicated thoughts about the term "self-taught". it's difficult to know where to draw the line, so to speak.

for example, if i take an online course (say, a class101 course, or skillshare), does that still "count" as being self taught? does taking AP art count? or a public watercolor class, or even following a tutorial, whether online or those "how to draw manga" books (debatable but that's the point of this being complicated, I think).

what about if you went to art school, and learned very little from the staff? most of my teachers assigned projects, but it was up to us to develop the skills necessary to carry it out. they would not teach us how to draw, but rather simply gave us guidelines on the project (i.e, it has to be a three page comic, or a work based on a news article). i've also encountered plenty of teachers that have done... the opposite of teaching.

basically, a lot of my time in art school was spent teaching myself the necessary components to fulfill the requirements set for me. i don't know if that still counts as "self-taught", even though i was the only one working.

i do think i've benefitted from some teacher's knowledge and the opportunities afforded to me (access to supplies/printing machines, etc.), so i'm not saying i'm entirely self taught or that art school isn't "worth it" (that's an entire other discussion that i don't care to get into), but i also know i've spent a LOT of my time teaching myself too, during university but especially growing up, when my family was against my wanting to be an artist in the first place.

to summarize, i think everyone is self-taught to some degree, and the idea of "self-taught" and suddenly not being self taught because you went to art school is an arbitrary way to categorize people.

#sorry ik this is probably not what you expected lkgjsdf #asks

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