College Art Classes? |
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 Aug 29 2008, 08:23 PM
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#1
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just curious if anyone is taking or took college art classes?
im currently taking classes.. Ive been drawing forever.. and have been told I have skills.. but ive decided to go to school (for something dif then my degree.. im working on a teaching degree ) and learn the most I can to help refine my skills.. and really hone in on my artistic ability. -------------------- No forgiveness for my sins, I preffer punishment
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 Aug 30 2008, 06:33 AM
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#2
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When I was younger I went to college for art but my dumb ass thought I knew everything and what they were teaching "I" didnt consider art so I droppped out like a dumb fuck only to pick up books later like drawing on the right side of the brain which is what they were trying to teach me at the time so now I am going back to college for yep you guessed it-ART. They will try to fit yopu in a mold of what they think art is dont give up the essence of you personality in college but learn and refine your techniques there is a lot to offer...sketching classes yes you get to look at naked girls but it teaches you to swketch QUICKLY...Painting with the masters aweswome class color choices that have workede for DaVinci,Michealangelo,Bosch,etc...If you have weakenesses they will definately expose you...When you're 19 and think you are an artist one doesn't want to hear they are remedial at best. Even if the teacher isn't as good as you they teach for a reason (yes I have a arrogance and humility problem-and have been told so recently...I had one then also) The teachers are some harsh critcs dont let that fuck with your head and discourage you(speaking from expeience) You will probably have to start with basic classes and thats OK Ive been drawing painting all my life and I have to start just like some shithead 19 year old freshman all over again. Now Im just a 43 yr old shithead freshman weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
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Aug 30 2008, 02:44 PM
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#3
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i've never understood the point of art class. it doesn't have much relevance to what we do, or maybe what i do. if you've got the skills all you actually need are references and you can do anything. for some people i guess it would help with like anatomy and realistic renderings, and it might open your mind more, but i think that's achievable by reference books and closer study of other artists. after all, canvas and paper are not the same as working on skin..
-------------------- If I come off like a dick when critiquing it's because I have high standards, and I'm honest about it, so don't take it personally.
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Aug 30 2008, 04:01 PM
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#4
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i went to art college from 1987-1989 got a first national art diploma. then didnt do any art for 20 years lol... only you will be able to say if it is worth doing dude, if you are learning anything from it, its gotta be worth doing.
i agree with and disagree with some of what Anchors said.... -------------------- Nosferatu1812@yahoo.com
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Aug 30 2008, 11:23 PM
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#5
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i did a bachelor degree in art (majored in painting, textiles, minors in photography, jewellery, digital etc oh and permaculture-random unit part of sculpture
 ) started in '97 but moved interstate in '01 so finished a couple of theory units externally-finally graduated in '06. going to uni to study art was the only thing (from the age of 8) that i wanted to do, so i did it, i never new what direction i wanted to take my art, but i think i know now  maybe its not the same as what you guys are talking about as we were never molded into what they wanted- the first year was technique based, colour theory trying all the fields that they offered etc, and then after that it was more conceptually based-we basically wrote our own course, at the start of each semester we'd tell or lecturers what we were going to work on then meet with them as often as we needed until the final crit where we were marked on how well we progressed with the idea- whether we took it far enough etc or if we just stayed within our safe zone, we really needed to be able to talk well about our work and back it up with a lot of research and testing. I loved it, a bunch of us pretty much lived in our studios on campus, woke up many a morning on my studio floor to my lecturer shaking me saying you really need to go home and have a shower haha Oh and realism etc was usually frowned upon, we were told that to become abstract (etc etc) artist you need to know how to draw properly so you can take it further, but you may aswell take a photo if you want to do a realistic piece, there was a guy in my 3rd year (he was 2nd year) who painted realistic portraits and he failed-think he left, because he never pushed beyond what he already knew what to do.whatever style you tattoo in i think its worth doing art classes, you could become fairly limited in what you can do if you are only referencing pics and not drawing from life, if youre only drawing simple pinups etc you still need to know what a body looks like from different angles other wise you will only be able to pinups based on the ones you see in books/mags no one is that good that they cant learn more and its crazy to say that doing art classes wont benefit your tattooing plus being around other artistic people (not just tattoo artists) can be quite inspirational and can send you off in directions you didnt think youd go |
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Aug 31 2008, 07:41 AM
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#6
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QUOTE (buggy @ Aug 30 2008, 11:23 PM)  i did a bachelor degree in art (majored in painting, textiles, minors in photography, jewellery, digital etc oh and permaculture-random unit part of sculpture yes and techniques like chiaroscuro and sfumato that are used in tattoo mediums and the relevance of light and perspective that if you look at alot of peoples art on here is missing...yes one can copy others stuff close but its not a learning tool as i am learning from watching guy aitchison videos on you tube you can only go so far on plaigarism i mean emmulation. ) started in '97 but moved interstate in '01 so finished a couple of theory units externally-finally graduated in '06. going to uni to study art was the only thing (from the age of 8) that i wanted to do, so i did it, i never new what direction i wanted to take my art, but i think i know now maybe its not the same as what you guys are talking about as we were never molded into what they wanted- the first year was technique based, colour theory trying all the fields that they offered etc, and then after that it was more conceptually based-we basically wrote our own course, at the start of each semester we'd tell or lecturers what we were going to work on then meet with them as often as we needed until the final crit where we were marked on how well we progressed with the idea- whether we took it far enough etc or if we just stayed within our safe zone, we really needed to be able to talk well about our work and back it up with a lot of research and testing. I loved it, a bunch of us pretty much lived in our studios on campus, woke up many a morning on my studio floor to my lecturer shaking me saying you really need to go home and have a shower haha Oh and realism etc was usually frowned upon, we were told that to become abstract (etc etc) artist you need to know how to draw properly so you can take it further, but you may aswell take a photo if you want to do a realistic piece, there was a guy in my 3rd year (he was 2nd year) who painted realistic portraits and he failed-think he left, because he never pushed beyond what he already knew what to do.whatever style you tattoo in i think its worth doing art classes, you could become fairly limited in what you can do if you are only referencing pics and not drawing from life, if youre only drawing simple pinups etc you still need to know what a body looks like from different angles other wise you will only be able to pinups based on the ones you see in books/mags no one is that good that they cant learn more and its crazy to say that doing art classes wont benefit your tattooing plus being around other artistic people (not just tattoo artists) can be quite inspirational and can send you off in directions you didnt think youd go |
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Aug 31 2008, 05:27 PM
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#7
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i did graphic design...i beleive it was of plenty use to me, i still apply alot of things to my work now..i think if you take an art class to be a tattooist you shouldnt be one at all...although if its to refine some skills, then fine...
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Sep 2 2008, 09:01 AM
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#8
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I've got a bachelor's degree in Media Arts/Animation from the Art Institutes. I thought (and was told) that I had some skills before I went, but if you look at the difference between the stuff I did then and the stuff I do now.... Huge difference. And I'm still learning all the time. Life/Figure drawing classes improved my skills emensely and there are some things that one probably wouldn't even think of without proper instruction like different types of shadows/highlights, field color, perspective, proportion and on and on. An in depth understanding of color theory can really make a big difference. A lot of this stuff comes fairly naturally to some people, but without a solid understanding of the fundamentals and how/why they are implemented I think there is just a lot that can't be learned by trial and error.
-------------------- I've got dungeon trolls sucking on my genius!!!!
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Sep 24 2008, 11:56 AM
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#9
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sorry for draggin up an old thread but im an art student....Btec national diploma in fine art
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Sep 24 2008, 01:40 PM
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#10
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I also took the BTEC (way back in '89-91) and feel that maybe it's a better route to degree than a Foundation, as you get the general year with a grounding in everything before picking a specialism (mine was also Fine Art). I went straight on to do a Fine Art BA, specialising in Sculpture, graduating at 21, back in '94 (oh so long ago now
). In hindsight I think I was 2 young and didn't appreciate the opportunity, I also just went with all that because it seemed the obvious and expected choice to make, rather than being a passion, as you do at that age, age 4-21 is tooooo long to be in education and keep a perspective of the value, coulda benefitted from some time out and realworld experience but thought I mightn't go back if I did, hell at least I stuck it out (more'n a lot of friends did) and got through the system when there were still grants, else it wouldn't have even been possible! I often feel like I actual got better teaching and more out of my BTEC but then I think I was just losing my way a little without the structure on a degree course, there's definately something to be said for being a mature student. Similarly to Noz, I didn't do much with it for a number of years, the funny thing is most of the money I've made from art, has come more through my Graffiti associations (not something ya learn in college  ) so my opinions are mixed. I think if you already have skills, vision and motivation it's not always necessary.
-------------------- "He who reads Yesterday's Papers" AKA SlowStorm
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Sep 26 2008, 05:58 AM
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#11
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QUOTE (Anchors down @ Aug 30 2008, 05:44 PM) i've never understood the point of art class. it doesn't have much relevance to what we do, or maybe what i do. if you've got the skills all you actually need are references and you can do anything. for some people i guess it would help with like anatomy and realistic renderings, and it might open your mind more, but i think that's achievable by reference books and closer study of other artists. after all, canvas and paper are not the same as working on skin.. i went to two years of art classes in college and i'll say that very relevant to what i do. i agree 100% with you that it's not necessary and that with good references, you can do anything. however, art classes helped to sharpen my skills and helped me understand why certain things are done. i feel that once i understood the basic "rules" of art, i was able to explore it outside the box and create things that are more interesting. i guess above all, it helped me to progress at a more steady/rapid rate. furthermore, it forced me to explore other mediums that i was either not comfortable with or mediums that i just never care to participate in. this particularly assists me when i'm called on to do a tattoo that is outside of my comfort zone. on a completely different tangent, i get many clients asking if i had to go to school to become a tattoo artist. i always answer "no, i was apprenticed, but i did go to college for art" and this impresses them. |
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Oct 3 2008, 11:30 AM
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#12
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It's not college art classes that matters but the college you go to. I go to a very expensive one Academy of art San Francisco but it has an amazing Illustration program. All the instructors are the top in their field and it does make a difference if you have a top notch instructor. They give you an idea of techniques and industry standard.
These are some of my Instructors some I have mentioned before David Ball Stephen Player Terryl Whitlatch Creature designer for Jar Jar binks Sheldon Greenburg Henry Yan Best figure drawing and portrait artist around buy his book no joke Theres more these are some of my favorites -------------------- |
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Oct 4 2008, 09:14 PM
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#13
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Take Life Drawing.
Nothing can excel your art better than understanding Real life shadow, composition and anatomy. Once you master real life, you can make cartoons. Thats how them Disney guys do it. |
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