Art schools provide students with structure and professional feedback, but they’re not the only way forward for artists looking to develop their skills. Teaching yourself is more viable than ever thanks to an explosion of easily accessible, affordable online learning materials, and it’s an approach that gives artists greater freedom to explore and develop their own unique voice.
Of course, the two routes aren’t mutually exclusive. But for artists short on time and money, or those looking to switch into an artistic career, the idea that you can teach yourself is especially appealing.
“It’s not easy to do it on your own,” stresses Irina French, who self-taught out of a desire to save money and look after her baby. “It takes courage and a great deal of hope, a lot of determination, as well as self-discipline.”
Craww agrees: “A desire to progress and willingness to fail are all essential!” Having quit graphic design out of frustration to pursue art, he wanted to learn on his own terms. “There are times when I’ve wished I’d had more of a formal training, when I would have benefitted from a little more practical tuition, but overall I’m happy with where I’m at.”
“I can see where higher education would have been beneficial in learning more quickly,” adds Lisa Hansen, who always saw art school as an impossible aspiration. “But on the other hand, experimenting with different mediums guided by my own needs and whims is what led me to discover what works best in terms of achieving self-expression.”
THE RIGHT MINDSET
Denne historien er fra August 2020-utgaven av ImagineFX.
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Denne historien er fra August 2020-utgaven av ImagineFX.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Jan Wessbecher
Dominic Carter talks to the visual artist about creating his own comic and why sketchbooks are great for creative experiments
Kyounghwan Kim
The Korean character concept artist speaks to Dominic Carter about staying open to ideas and the value of drawing regularly
Slawek Fedorczuk
Dominic Carter talks to the concept artist about what keeps him motivated and the advantages of using physical sketchbooks.
Raquel M. Varela
Raquel is inspired by magic, fantasy and fairy tales. She loves designing female characters from distant worlds. \"My greatest reference is Loish's art, thanks to her I learned to draw the movement and fluidity I like to convey.\"
Estrela Lourenço
Estrela is a children's book author and illustrator. Her work is influenced by her background in character animation and storyboards for clients such as Cartoon Network, and she channels comic strips like Calvin and Hobbes.
Daria Widermanska
Daria, also known as Anako, has been drawing for as long as she can remember. Inspired by Disney and classic anime, she loves creating new characters and often finds that a single sketch can spark a unique story.
Allen Douglas
Allen has been painting professionally since 1994 for the publishing and gaming industries. Inspired by folklore, he distorts the size, relationships and environments of animals, and calls his paintings 'unusual wildlife'.
Thaddeus Robeck
Thaddeus has been drawing from the moment he could hold a pencil, but it was the 2020 lockdowns that gave him the time to focus on honing his skills.
DRAW FASCINATING SYMBOLIC ARTWORK
Learn how JULIÁN DE LA MOTA creates a composition from his imagination with a focus on crafting figures, volumetric modelling, and light and shadow
First Impressions
The artist talks about his journey into the mythological world