Is anyone here NOT interested in art school?

[DokiDokiTsuna]

Like, not that you just aren't able to go or are too nervous to go, but that you genuinely don't want to?

I've had a particularly bad experience with art education in the past...somehow, I still enjoyed the class (it'll take a lot to ruin art for me) but upon reflection, being heavily judged for refusing to create the typical photorealistic-surrealism is not an experience that I would like to repeat.
And I KNOW that it's not like that everywhere. But what I've heard from those who actually go to art school doesn't sound like that much fun to me. And then there's this person I've seen posting sketches from their classes: three years and you STILL haven't learned basic anatomy proportions? What's the point, then??

Furthermore, I'm not interested in a professional art career. I've always been heavily attached to my creative work, and the idea of making something original and just handing it off to some client feels like giving away a child. Like, are you going to take care of it? Or are you gonna just toss it out on the street in ten years?? HOW CAN I TRUST YOU WITH MY BABY?!
Case in point: shows and games getting suddenly cancelled/discontinued. Like, how do you feel as an artist, watching all that stuff you worked so hard on get thrown in the trash without even a proper goodbye? How can you detach yourself enough so that it doesn't affect you? I wouldn't know how.

...So, I decided to be a scientist. To be honest, the comic book industry could probably use more actual scientists. XD I recognize that I'm probably in a tiny minority, but I'm just wondering how many others are in it with me. Any lawyer/mangakas out there? Chef/character designers? Medical engineer/background artists??

[AmeliaFaulkner]

For people who DO want to study art further, I thoroughly recommend Noah Bradley's Art Camp, where you can receive further education without the extortionate art school price tags.

https://artcamp.com/

Noah has a couple of full length previews here:

https://noahbradley.com/blogs/blog

He also has an excellent post on how to give yourself a better-than-art-school education in art for $10k, rather than $200+k:

Don't Go to Art School

[Shanny8]

MEEEEE!!! But then again, I've already went to an "art" school...LOL.

[joannekwan]

Colleges meant specifically for visual and performing arts seem HIGHLY competitive to me with intense course-work. The thought of going to one only briefly passed over my mind in high school, but I knew that to apply one had to seriously be invested in their artistic endeavors, which I wasn't back then. In the end I was more comfortable getting my art degree at the regular liberal arts college I was already enrolled at when I decided to switch over from the pre-pharmacy program.

I mean I think I would have been fine getting a non-art degree but I was in a tight spot. Pharmacy was not working out, so I was like "shit, what's the next best thing I'm good at? Art." and switched to graphic design. In retrospect I probably should have gone the computer science route, but I never had a strong technological background and did not even consider plunging head-first into a new area.

[rmdooley]

I already got two steaming piles of B.S. Don't need a Bachelor of Arts or any other certificate on top of that.

The only school I'm henceforth attending is the school of hard knocks.

[Kura]

Me. I never been interested in going to school for art because I hated school and I didn't want to hate art like I hated school.

My school experience was absolutely horrible, the teachers hated me, they would deduct marks from me for reasons like 'Not smiling enough in gym' or give me detentions because they 'couldn't see my hands at one point during the class and couldn't trust that I didn't have a knife or a gun' The teachers would also joke about my mom being a whore because all her kids 'obviously all have different fathers' (we all have the same dad, we're just mixed, mixed kids turn out all kinds of different looking from one another) if I got in trouble I would get locked in a room (that was pretty much a closet with a desk in it) for the entire day, with no one coming to talk to me or tell me what was going on. I wasn't allowed out for lunch or bathroom breaks (unless I suck out to pee) when I asked other students if they ever got punishment like that they never knew what I was talking about, cause it never happened to them, and speaking of other students, the staff would tell the parents of the other students to not let their kids hang out with me because I was a bad influence and my parents were shady, so usually any friendship I was on the verge of making in school ended with 'My mom/dad says I'm not allowed to talk to you anymore.'

Concerning art in school, for the mandatory art classes they made you go to I would never get over a 50% score for anything I worked on or handed in because, to quote the teacher (but not directly quote because I can't remember exactly how she said it) ''You are above average at art, it would be unfair to the other students for me to give you a good grade."

I liked drawing and art, school made art or anything that I liked miserable, it made me miserable. I didn't want art to be a miserable thing for me, so when I hit the point where you can actually choose to go to art classes I never selected them. Then the idea of PAYING to go to MORE school after high school was a huge "FUK NO" from me, with the FUK and the NO becoming louder if someone said "but you should go for arts"

[LittleMissDevil]

Honestly, I'm not interested in going to an art school right now. I see how it would help me grow a lot quicker, but I would need to concentrate on a lot of art, that I don't care to much about and probably would have less time to spend on my comic. A lot of art schools are also somewhat elitist in their approach to what constitutes "art" anyways. I'd be willing to learn outside my interests of course, but I can't stand the snobby attitude of some artists. Most artists on the internet are way nicer than those I met in real life, haha.

Going to an art school would also mean to loose my financial stability and I really don't want that. Being in education with little money was fine for a while, but I've gotten used to a normal day job and being able to afford food without thinking twice about it.

I want to improve and learn. That's for sure, but for now I want to do it in my own pace. Maybe I'll consider going to an art school later in life, maybe after I finish my first comic. I actually like the idea of studying in general and just never thought I was good enough. But right now I am a little too comfortable with my living situation to change it.

[DokiDokiTsuna]

I sympathize with you on so many levels...although, this is just my guess, but I don't think higher education would have been as much of a torment for you as the hellhole you were in when you experienced all that. The world of mandatory public education can be a toxic place. But in higher ed, the teachers and students have a much larger element of choice in what they do there, so there's generally less hostility.

Me. I never been interested in going to school for art because I hated school and I didn't want to hate art like I hated school.

I totally get that! School is pretty awful, even though I chose this route for myself. I can't imagine experiencing these levels of stress and frustration over art, something I actually LIKE.

Then the idea of PAYING to go to MORE school after high school was a huge "FUK NO" from me, with the FUK and the NO becoming louder if someone said "but you should go for arts"

This too, so much! If I could make a decent living off of my webcomic stuff, I would drop out of college before you could blink. I don't like paying for this torture...but coming from a family of immigrants, higher education isn't really an "option", especially for someone like me who's made good grades for most of her academic life. ^^; That doesn't mean I have to enjoy it, though.

Everyone around me is going for grad school and internships and whatnot, but when people ask me what I'm doing after I get my bachelors', my answer is NOTHING. I'm going to get a job and finally have some time to myself for a change. You couldn't pay me enough to keep doing this 'education' nonsense...

[spicy_sweets]

Tbh I don't think I can, mostly because I don't know of any colleges purely for writing. So atm I'm in a private school majoring in english.

[lynestjules]

You can create and do your own personal art without going to art school. Personally, I suggest it only to people who want to work in that field and are so passionate about it, they can't think of any kind of profession other than something in art.
I do have friends who still draw on their personal time and do many different types of careers, they didn't feel like they wanted to spend their life jumping from job to job, deal with the high competition and they also didn't have the need to create 24/7.
I'm the opposite though, I need to create like I need oxygen. I graduated in Art Fundamental, in Animation and in Web Design & Progamming. The web design school I went to was the pits, but the rest of my studies were amazing, they were terrific schools. I've been working as an artist for over a decade and I don't regret my decision. But, it's really not for everybody. For someone who enjoys to create but doesn't have the need to do it all the time, I'd definitely suggest I different career path, but that doesn't mean you can't draw on your own time as well. Plenty of people do it.

[shazzbaa]

A lot of comic creators I look up to are in a similar boat!! Off the top of my head, Jordan Witt works for the government but makes comics about alien entities and punching ghosts and occasionally overwatch cowboys on the side because she loves it, Coni Yovaniniz is going into astronomy but still finds time to create some of my favourite heartfelt slice-of-life comics, Lucas Landherr (aka Dante Shepherd) is a professor using his love of comics and science to collaborate with other artists on making STEM comics, and then there's probably the most famous cartoonist-scientist, Katie Tiedrich, whose day job is Literal Rocket Scientist but is more well known for getting five thousand emails every time a new Smash character is announced her video game comics.

[DokiDokiTsuna]

For someone who enjoys to create but doesn't have the need to do it all the time, I'd definitely suggest I different career path, but that doesn't mean you can't draw on your own time as well. Plenty of people do it.

For me it wasn't so much not having a need to create all the time, but wanting the freedom to create just for myself.
Would I rather be a biochemical engineer or a published author? To be honest, I'd MUCH rather be the author. But being a biochemical engineer will feed me until I can make that happen. ^^

I'm one of the most constantly creative people I know...but my need is for ALL of it to belong to me. No clients, no restrictions. No one tells J.K. Rowling what to do...well, not in a particularly significant way.

[craftymarten]

I would have liked to have gone to art school I think but I enjoyed my science degree at the time and I got a few years work before realising it wasn't what I wanted to do.
I think it's a bit late now honestly, I have my own art business and I've been self employed for about 2 years now so I kind of feel like there's no point in art school. I can study by myself and maybe art school would have helped me learn more quickly but maybe it would just push me in a direction I didn't want to go. I'm not interested any more, in this country your first 5 years of higher education is free so if I went back now I'd just have to pay tuition fees and the only thing I'd get out of it is maybe some more professional contacts.

[DokiDokiTsuna]

in this country your first 5 years of higher education is free

Oh sure, rub it in

XD Seriously, though, congrats on your success!

[DokiDokiTsuna]

Well, dang. The only guy I knew was Randall Munroe. XD And I'm not a physicist or a programmer, so half his jokes go straight over my head regardless...

[craftymarten]

It comes wi the doonside ae every other nationality hinkin they ken yer accent when they dinnae

Thank you! I'm really lucky mostly, if I hadn't been living with my partner and had savings from my last job I'd have struggled a lot more. A lot of it is just perseverance and forcing yourself to do things you don't really want to (like any job really! I've taken on some really boring commissions because I needed the money).

[SamuelCharcot]

I really wanted to go to an art school when I was in high school, but in the country where I come from are very little chances to live fully from art, so I'm in college to get a BBA

[DiegoPalacios]

While i am interested in learning how to draw better and improve my art skills, i think i can learn better by asking other artists for advice, reading books and letting my own curiosity be the drive for improvement.

My approach for university is a more pragmatic one. I am studying advertising to learn how to sell whatever crazy thing i want to do. I didnt want the "this doesnt sell" excuse to stop me telling the story i want. Everything sells if you know how to sell it, Also my brothers studied business, so i can ask them about the financial aspect of whatever i want to do, like comics or videogames.

Of course it can be tiring not studying the thing you want to do, but it is a favor to my future self and personally helped me a lot.

[lil-sea-salt]

medicine/web-novelist/comic artist.

My story is more so that I left art for five years and now that I'm winding down with my training I do this on the side. I did seriously look at art schools and I think for the most part found a lot of people did either online schools and physical schools or part time thing and a bit of that. The main thing I noticed was the people at the top of art industry are the people with the biggest portfolios who work like 10 hours at a art job and then 4-6 hours dedicated at home on personal projects. I have that work ethic thru my healthcare program, for me it's just I would never feel fulfilled working for a corporation and I also noticed that after I finish something I move to the next thing like I don't really feel like writing short stories anymore as I know I can do it. I want bigger projects, I want to explore art in different ways. Being stuck in a crew with deadlines and doing same thing over and over again whether it be background paintings and concept art . . . you can only create so much before it becomes redundant and boring.

I would much rather create at my own pace and if my hobbies change and I want to explore something else I have the freedom to do that. Eventually want to make a stop motion animation, and a short film when I'm done writing web novels and making web comics. You know but it's not like this is my full passion either, as in after I achieve those things, I'll probably take a hiatus from art again from a while and immerse myself in research or more physical pursuits like traveling and exercise.

A degree in that sense in an art related field is pretty useless. This isn't a career for me in a professional capacity. It's cool and fun, but it's not my rent that getting paid out of this.

[Rhonder]

I do have friends who still draw on their personal time and do many different types of careers, they didn't feel like they wanted to spend their life jumping from job to job, deal with the high competition and they also didn't have the need to create 24/7.

This summarized my pre-college (and even mid-college but pre-major decision) experience to a T xD Drawing's always been one of my favorite hobbies, but I in no way shape or form ever saw myself like... freelancing for a living. And I wasn't really knowledgable about other career paths for artists back when I was in Highschool, so Art School just never crossed my mind.

I went to a University with (I think) an okay art program, but I knew from the get go I didn't want to major in art. So I spent Freshman year derping around sampling different majors (because i legit had no idea what I actually wanted to do). Math, Physics, Computer Programming, Literature/Writing Classes, etc. All fun (except physics, guh that was a painful quarter) but nothing really clicked. The Creative writing class was fun because I've always been interested in writing stories for fun, but not something I could see myself pursuing full stop.

Finally I stumbled up Architecture in the summer between freshman and sophomore year. I desperately wanted to pursue something design-based, but that had a solidly defined career path. Started out a little rough in the pre-requisite classes because unlike many of the people I was competing with to get into the major (it was competitive entry) I didn't really know anything about/care about architecture prior to then... but I fell in love quickly xD Feel 100% that I made the correct choice for myself, now that I'm a few years out of college and working in the field. I have a day job that I consider fun and rewarding, and am able to pursue comics and drawing on the side in a not "do or die" kind of manner.

In short yeah, you have to be really brave and confident to put everything on the line for art school, I feel xD I'm sure it's a lot of fun, and for a lot of people just being an artist is living the dream but... it's not easy. Wasn't a gamble I was willing to take, anyways.