Art Classes VS Self Taught

I studied art up to A-level in school, but the syllabus at my school and sixth form (UK early 00s) were so focused on how to become a modern fine artist (ie. how to document your process and develop pieces for exhibition focused on the meaning and novelty of the work and the exploration that went into it over the actual quality of the piece) rather than grounding in the basic principles of art like anatomy, perspective, value, composition etc. I largely consider myself self-taught.

I read a lot of books, practiced, made webcomics and got feedback from peers and industry professionals through uni even though what I was studying in Uni was English Literature and Japanese. When I finished university, I found myself more in demand as an illustrator than a Japanese-speaker, so I just kept going, then saved up and went back to Uni to do an MA in Games Design. There was an artistic component to that degree, but the only tuition was in 3D modelling since I was already a professional-level illustrator (that's how I got onto an MA unrelated to my BA).

Honestly only a minority of pro Illustrators I know have relevent academic qualifications. Most of them just took their hobby very seriously and got really good at it. Art school does sound good for exploration and also for making contacts and learning how to market yourself and manage projects though, those are definitely some things I missed out on and see in friends who did go.

Do both. Any learning is good.
You will find some art teachers limit you. Put you in a box. But you can get access to life drawing and whatnot it's a benefit.
Learning yourself will help you keep your own identity and free to experiment.
I'm in the art should be free expression camp rather than do it this way as the other way is wrong approach.

I was self-taught mostly through trying to draw characters from coloring books & then eventually trying portraits of people. Roughly 6 years. Since I hadn't taken art classes or drawing tutorials prior to college, I went to University for Art. I was used to trial by fire without drawing tutorials (no internet or art books) or classes it felt very easy for me to absorb any structural learning whether it was art history or design fundamentals. I did a similar approach with programming except I only did 1 semester of computing in college.

I always forget, self-taught for many people I talk to makes an exemption for self-teaching through how-to-draw tutorials or drawing tips books. So, I'm not sure how effective my progression would have been if I had indulged in a tutorial or 2 before going to college as opposed to just guessing and using my imagination.

@Lensing It's amusing how we have the same sentiments with exact opposite conclusions. I find creators, who are self-taught, through the means of youtube vids or drawing books, are formally taught by the authors of their tutorials. It's more less a different formality. Though I definitely could see your point had I not gone from extremes.

Mostly self taught...I studied a lot of comics when I was younger then started studying muscle magazines for anatomy as I got older; I then started buying anatomy books, reading articles about the comic production process(when I began to take backgrounds seriously), and got insight from comic professionals that I was introduced to.

The only class that I could say I felt like I gained anything from was a life drawing class session where we did quick charcoal drawings of a model...I felt like I learned to try to draw the body in a more natural pose/state. I also gained a lot from my graphics/design classes- it opened my eyes to design, which I try to use a lot in the creation of my books.

If you think about it we're not really self-taught since people who are get their info from other artists (Either online or via books.) trying to teach, so we're still technically learning from someone who is educating. It's just not in the classical sense.

That being said I'm basically self-taught/self-educated. I've taken a class or two as a kid but I either dropped them or totally flunked. Lmao! Everything I've learned is stuff I've picked up from observing the works of artists I like, looking into the occasional traditional art friendly tutorial, watching a lot of videos on film creation/studies/analysis, reading books on art studies, doing a lot of nude studies and reading a lot of comics.

Besides art classes during compulsory school years, the closest to any formal art education I've had were some oil painting lessons as a teen, and later a few courses on udemy. But other than that I'm self taught.

I'm an aggressive mixture of both. I started drawing when I was old enough to hold a crayon, and took every art class I could get my hands on in school, and a few summer classes here and there through the local parks and recs district. I have had many 'how to draw X' style books throughout the years (and still have many). I majored in fine art in college, and have my degree in it. I worked at an art store for six years, which honestly taught me more about the supplies I was using than college ever did. I've even taught 'how to draw comics' classes to middle schoolers as part of a summer program a few times.

As far as my marker work goes, I'm almost 100% self-taught, meaning I figured out all of my techniques without books, tutorials, videos, or anyone telling me how to use them. I started using alcohol-based markers in high school (mid-to-late 90s), and by the time I even thought to look for tutorials about how to use them, I was already so familiar with them that I could have written most of those tutorials. I even use some techniques I've never seen anyone else talk about/use.

...all that, and I'm still disappointed with my art. I feel like I should be way better than I am.

I’m completely self-taught. I did go to art school at one point but it wasn’t for me.
I learned by looking at other people’s art online, and just constantly drawing until I got to where I’m at today. (Though there is always room for improvement)

I took a lot of art classes in high school to start with. I wanted to enroll into my college's art school, but they wouldn't let me in, so instead I looked up online tutorials, got some how-to books, and read a lot of comics.

I saved a lot of money on art school fees, plus I got pretty good at it.

I only draw occasionally once or twice per year because I have the attention span of a toddler. But each session is kind of intense drawing and if I count the number days I’ve been drawing all my life maybe 3 months max? I have adhd so it’s really hard for me to have a routine. So it’s completely self taught and it shows haha.

Currently enrolled in a bunch of Proko classes and I have a subscription to Croquis Cafe. I'd say mostly self-taught but I enrolled into a bunch of figure-drawing classes before and during Covid.

Haven't reached that stage where I can confidently say that I can start a webcomic though lol.

Which Proko class did you take? Figure drawing?

I always though self taught meant more like you were the one sourcing your learning materials as opposed to a school setting where its all picked out for you and curated.

By the definition in this thread I guess I’m not entirely self taught. I read a lot of books. I also went to an arts high school too but I dropped out over ten years ago and never picked up a formal art education since. I also didn’t learn much that was applicable to what I do now. Or maybe I did but I don’t remember anything of that time in my life!

I flopped literally every opportunity in my life to be taught art (never had a desire to learn in art school when I was very young, and later was really scared that I am not good enough to try and go to an art university since I did not had a desire to learn art at school before, aaand later was too scared when a cool art teacher in China invited me to study at her school, because I just came to the country and didn't know the language), so yeah, I am an idiot, a self-taught idiot

I'd say mostly self-taught..?

So I didn't go to an art school/uni etc. or took any face-to-face class BUT, I DID buy an online class from Udemy (very cheap and useful in my opinion)

LINK2

Aside from this, I got inspired from other artists and actually started drawing by copying their styles
I'd like to believe I'm an okay artist now but.. well

Kind of self taught. There has always been an art school for little kids in our town. I never went to it. Why? It's school. Why would I ever want more school? I went once to two different art clubs, but I got fed up when I couldn't draw what I wanted. That is why I went once and never again...Okay, I forgot I was in one of those clubs and just never went again.

I learned a lot from YouTube videos. I've just been watching art videos from like age 10.

well, tbh I drew stickmen drawing like 3 years ago so I'm pretty much selftaught, eventho I do go to art classes but my art classes started way after I found a comfortable style, art classes just help me learn like what to do with my style and how to use it as benefit