Are you school trained or self taught?

[vongcw]

totally self taught. Really wish I had some formal training

[Jewe11s]

Both. I took a lot of art classes in High School but I felt like I was learning more by doodling in other classes.
Then I took a full degree program at a local fine art university. I learned a lot there but I feel like I've learned so much more by exploring on my own and making comics in the few years since I finished than I ever did while getting my degree.
There's something to be said about exposing yourself to the classroom setting. Having a class discussion about your homework was a great way to learn how to get the most out of critiques both good and bad. (And how to separate yourself emotionally from your work.) It also showed me many different ways of making art that I wouldn't have thought of that help me even today. (Making sculptures of creatures/settings/items as references for my comics for example!)
I still feel like I've progressed much further by learning on my own. Being unrestricted by assignments and trying to please various professors' odd tastes has its merits.

[monotone_ink]

I'm internet taught - I literally started by copying pictures off of the internet.
Mind you, there are a lot of tutorials available as well, so I took advantage of those.

[csimma]

I took one art class in High School and one art class in college. All the time in between , I just practice, so I'm mostly self taught. I really wish I went to an art college and gotten a more refined curriculum.

[Fox_Den7]

I'm self taught but theres a few things I lear from school.

[El_Psy_Congroo]

I haven't taken an art class since freshman year of high school like 8 years ago (damn I'm old). I just always liked art. My practice would come from doodling in my notebooks (instead of taking actual notes). It wasn't until I started this comic of mine that I formally started teaching myself things like color theory and anatomy and such. I was pretty lazy before but comic making pushed me to learn properly =]

[benedikthummel]

I started out self taught, doing tons of comics, animated films and videogames, but kind of late got accepted to a film school, where I now study animation and game design.

[haleymewsome]

Definitely started out as internet taught, learning Photoshop and Paint Tool Sai from watching speed paints on Youtube over and over. I never took art classes in high school because back then I thought drawing from life was cheating haha. Then I started studying at Alberta College of Art and Design and learned some of the formal stuff, but overall I was mostly taught through admiration and sometimes competition between me and other artists online and offline. I was also mentored by a local children's book illustrator during a high school independent study, his encouragement really gave me the confidence to pursue this as a career. c:

[Izanyan]

I mostly self-taught . I remember that I started drawing since kindergarten . I got the influence mostly from my elder sister . And then I just keep drawing and drawing . When I reached 12 years old , I started to draw my own comic but a crappy one . I got my tablet when I was 18 and trained myself to get used to it .

[navyzerimar]

I am mostly self though...
I did had friends that gave me some useful tips has well has some excellent internet tutorials.

[Doubtcent]

I was taught a bit by my dad, who has experience as a professional web designer and illustrator, and yes, as an art teacher. He taught me basic perspective and... well that's pretty much it.
I really wasn't into art all that much growing up. (In fact I detested the very artform because I had no skill in it) But around highschool I stumbled upon manga and anime, then I became a bit of a doodler.
Eventually, these doodles got gradually better, so then I suddenly got serious about creating and really began learning on my own. Now I create stuff and can draw a lot of stuff. I still have problems making whatever I want, but I've only been serious for around 4 years.

[Tieback]

I think a little bit of both... I was drawing and painting since I could hold a crayon. I had a natural understanding of color and shape. I would copy and practice constantly. However, I did learn many useful things in school as well. I learned tricks and techniques that I likely wouldn't have figured out on my own. Often art teachers would just let me be, because I was already "good." But luckily, there were a few art teachers that actually pushed me, and I'm so grateful to them. When it comes to comics specifically, I am mostly self taught. I would read comics and learn from them.

[kencoon7]

After reading all of this I have determined that what I need is practice,practice, practice. The rest will come.
I did order a larger tablet.

[ConradComics]

After reading all of this I have determined that what I need is practice,practice, practice. The rest will come.

I've always felt the system that worked best for me was to receive instruction on a core concept from someone that knew what they were doing, say 'thankyouverymuchgoodbye' to that person, practice that core concept for several months, then come back to that person to learn the next core concept.

Not surprisingly, many schools didn't teach that way, lol.

[hisameartwork]

Haha congratz on learning by yourself. I think a lot of people here are self trained. I have degrees from film school and Marketing so I worked in advertising. But I guess I'm self trained for comics.