You've already heard the argument that college is a waste of time and money for aspiring artists, but I would like to make the case for going to college. College--not art school.
Elsewhere in the blogosphere, some have proposed alternative educational methods and materials to achieve the technical skills necessary to work in the illustration field. For the cost of a few thousands of dollars, you can buy art books, seminars, classes with the "masters" and summer mentoring; they declare that an illustrator in the biz can be self-taught and fairly proficient after a period of dedicated work towards a professional portfolio. There are, indeed, a few big name illustrators who are self-taught and are living proof that this method can work. But, is this proof of the method itself, or is their success more a testament to their unique creative brilliance and sophistication? I would wager that even they would say that mere technical proficiency is not enough. It is not a guarantee of success even if you work your ass off.
So why would any aspiring artist go to college, spend all that moolah when she can get similar technical instruction on her own for a fraction of the cost of a brick and mortar school?
Because technical instruction isn't the same as developing a philosophy for a viable art practice.
(For the sake of full disclosure, I *do* indeed teach at a college, and so you may think my bias is economically driven, but that is absolutely nowhere near the reason for my argument.)
I was a self-taught illustrator for almost a decade before I decided to go back to school at 30. Part of not attending college sooner wasn't for lack of interest but more a lack of funds and time-- and, admittedly, some of it was bias against the "institution" of college. In that time, I had absorbed the art books, developed the technical skills, and had a ton of experience under my belt, but after almost ten years in the industry, doing the same work over and over again, it was obvious why I was so unhappy. With my practice no longer emotionally sustainable, college offered me an opportunity to study something new so I could get out of illustration purgatory.
So, my plan was to go to school, absorb all of the technical stuff for a job in another field, and begin to map out a new direction, maybe start at the bottom again somewhere in a lab...
And then the unexpected happened.
The introverted, socially oblivious, and ridiculously naive person that I was discovered that my real, actual life was more than just mastering a technical skill set and committing to memory random bits of esoteric trivia. Life is about being able to generate new and interesting ideas. Life, Art is critical thinking.
I devoured Philosophy, Ecology, History, Genetics, Feminist theory, and other disciplines, and these were intriguing to me merely for their own sake. But it suddenly dawned on me that these courses were the missing pieces of my art practice. Feminist theory specifically, helped me to develop the personal lens through which I was able to see how these seemingly disparate "other" kinds of study were crucial to making art. This discovery of the principle of integration is what changed my perspective about remaining as an artist; it is what allowed me to find my artistic "voice."
Besides developing the philosophical aspect of my work, It was the social experience that taught me more about what artistic skill levels I'd need to cultivate overall to move out of my stagnation and to reincarnate my art career. I found a whole host of interesting non-artists with whom I could associate: future scientists, musicians, actors, my professors, business students, accountants, nurses, all of whom shared their different and interesting thoughts and perspectives with me. Swimming in this milieu taught me more about human communication (verbal and non-verbal), the power of stories, and basic interconnectedness than I ever could have gotten in my own introverted bubble.
The technical fast-track, short-term quick-fix may put you in a career as an illustrator, but it takes more than that to create a sustainable art practice.
Elsewhere in the blogosphere, some have proposed alternative educational methods and materials to achieve the technical skills necessary to work in the illustration field. For the cost of a few thousands of dollars, you can buy art books, seminars, classes with the "masters" and summer mentoring; they declare that an illustrator in the biz can be self-taught and fairly proficient after a period of dedicated work towards a professional portfolio. There are, indeed, a few big name illustrators who are self-taught and are living proof that this method can work. But, is this proof of the method itself, or is their success more a testament to their unique creative brilliance and sophistication? I would wager that even they would say that mere technical proficiency is not enough. It is not a guarantee of success even if you work your ass off.
So why would any aspiring artist go to college, spend all that moolah when she can get similar technical instruction on her own for a fraction of the cost of a brick and mortar school?
Because technical instruction isn't the same as developing a philosophy for a viable art practice.
(For the sake of full disclosure, I *do* indeed teach at a college, and so you may think my bias is economically driven, but that is absolutely nowhere near the reason for my argument.)
I was a self-taught illustrator for almost a decade before I decided to go back to school at 30. Part of not attending college sooner wasn't for lack of interest but more a lack of funds and time-- and, admittedly, some of it was bias against the "institution" of college. In that time, I had absorbed the art books, developed the technical skills, and had a ton of experience under my belt, but after almost ten years in the industry, doing the same work over and over again, it was obvious why I was so unhappy. With my practice no longer emotionally sustainable, college offered me an opportunity to study something new so I could get out of illustration purgatory.
So, my plan was to go to school, absorb all of the technical stuff for a job in another field, and begin to map out a new direction, maybe start at the bottom again somewhere in a lab...
And then the unexpected happened.
The introverted, socially oblivious, and ridiculously naive person that I was discovered that my real, actual life was more than just mastering a technical skill set and committing to memory random bits of esoteric trivia. Life is about being able to generate new and interesting ideas. Life, Art is critical thinking.
I devoured Philosophy, Ecology, History, Genetics, Feminist theory, and other disciplines, and these were intriguing to me merely for their own sake. But it suddenly dawned on me that these courses were the missing pieces of my art practice. Feminist theory specifically, helped me to develop the personal lens through which I was able to see how these seemingly disparate "other" kinds of study were crucial to making art. This discovery of the principle of integration is what changed my perspective about remaining as an artist; it is what allowed me to find my artistic "voice."
Besides developing the philosophical aspect of my work, It was the social experience that taught me more about what artistic skill levels I'd need to cultivate overall to move out of my stagnation and to reincarnate my art career. I found a whole host of interesting non-artists with whom I could associate: future scientists, musicians, actors, my professors, business students, accountants, nurses, all of whom shared their different and interesting thoughts and perspectives with me. Swimming in this milieu taught me more about human communication (verbal and non-verbal), the power of stories, and basic interconnectedness than I ever could have gotten in my own introverted bubble.
The technical fast-track, short-term quick-fix may put you in a career as an illustrator, but it takes more than that to create a sustainable art practice.
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