So how many of you guys here are self taught?

[L4213]

it is actually very rare for an artist to be mentored. i actually want to hear from someone who learned directly from someone and is making it big.

as for me, i've been learning techniques all by myself for as long as i could remember. its only recently that im starting to learn stuff from art school since im an animation major at the moment. but even then i'd still rather learn on my own because studying stuff at your own pace just feels better.

[TristanJensen]

I've been teaching myself art on an off since I was 8 or 9 and am currently working on learning digital art (thats in the "sh*thouse" phase right now...)

[kanisgir]

I'm self taught it took 2 years to get use to digital art

[bluefairy]

I am self taught. The passion and love for comics made me constantly draw and try to improve. It was never enough good in my eyes and I am still the same now. I draw with much more ease now and get a temporary satisfaction easier, but I still see how much better it can get when I see some really amazing art and strive to get better! And the first time I got a tablet, I thought I will never learn to use it with the ease I use the pencil... Good thing that I didn't give up. The digital art really opens up a really large amount of fields of expressing oneself and the effects one can use are limitless! Now traditional got difficult for me. The example is from about 12 years ago hehe... and now!

[brunoharm3]

I learned from Jim Davis. I've studied his work since the third grade. I dropped out of art school due to a lack of money. But I've been drawing forever. The whole Photoshop thing is new to me, and what little I have learned on that came from forums like these. No matter where you learn, it's all about the practice. I started doing my comic out of a random challenge to myself to draw everyday. I was just scribbling at first, then the ideas started creeping in. next thing you know I'm online, learning things the hard way, trial and error. It's been 5 months now, and I've grown more in that time as an artist than I have in the last 5 years.

[BitStrange]

Completely self taught, before I taught myself how to draw I couldn't even make stick figures look good and now my figures actually resemble human beings =D

[asheskyler]

I'm self-taught. Never been to a workshop or seminar either. Classrooms are simply one of my worst learning environments because nobody will shut up and let me concentrate. But I have hung around a few tutorials here and there. Mostly on fine art websites, not that it really shows in my comic.

[malwdark]

I'm self-taught too, but I did go to a comic class for one year and I learned a lot there. Also, I had requested critiques to friends who are professionals, so it's more friend-taught xD.

[Peej]

Yep, self taught here too.
I started drawing cartoon characters when I was about 7. When I was 18 or so, I did a distance learning course in cartooning. It was a bit of a waste of time, if I'm honest, as I'd figured out pretty much everything that the teacher had just by trial and error.
I dug out some stuff I'd done ten years ago recently and thought "Oooh, that's rough" so I'm still learning all the time.

[kidkross109]

I Know I am Late But this post caught my eye, I'm self taught, and Never attended any school Nore classes besides high School Art classes which I Never paid attention in yet always did far above average (That's one thing im Proud of when it comes to my art lol) I started drawing and writing My own comics at age 12 till 17 (Mostly anime influence at the time) then I quit drawing almost all together for some years Because I started doing Music then I picked it back up at the age of 21 realizing my skills had Wavered I Practiced on and off but almost quit, then decided this is what I Love So im'a Keep trying and Now my style is what it is today and still Growing, and I draw everyday Now. im still Not awesome but I have developed Somewhat my own Style by combining Manga Art and American Comic Art and I still constantly find new Methods of doing things incorporating them into everything I do, I also was never good and still am Not very good at backgrounds but im practicing and have realized im Quickly getting better the More I do it. ill be 24 in a few days so I was hoping to be more advanced by this age but stopping for so many years really threw me off so I gotta put in that extra work to catch up to where I should be. I know I can do it though.

[GouFigg]

I'm completely self-taught and constantly learning!

[scottwuming]

I'm self-taught. I learned basically from reading a lot of BL manga. There, I observed some techniques in paneling and formatting pages.

[Iceixient]

I guess I would be somewhat self taught. I have had a few art classes in highschool; Art 1 and 2, Graphics Design, and even two animation classes. However, I haven't exactly been taught how to make a comic. So right now I'm just stumbling through, trying to figure out the best way to go about this whole comic making business.

[Helera]

Hi! Me, i' totally self taught! I've never done art school

[SandraMJ]

Self taught here, never ever went to art school (I finished high school two years ago, anyway) and I started making webcomics all the way back in 2009 when I was 13, but let's just say both the art quality and the writing style were... dubious, at best, or at least it was so at first.

Nowadays I work professionally as a colorist and an illustrator, and I've made a few scripts for diverse things as well, so I'm rather confident in my abilities.

[goenn]

I'm self taught! (But it would be nice to go to artschool though. I need a lot of help at some parts of my work....)

[SandraMJ]

Sorry to irrupt like this, but nice seeing you in the forum! I've been a fan of your work ever since Dragon Heroes!

[scullpanda]

self teaching still learning

[decisiveorigin]

I think it has more to do with webcomics being online longer, so many have some years of practice.
here's my first comic posted online 2007:

and my current stuff (after I had a 3 year pause for school):

For comics I'm self taught though I went to school for illustration and figure drawing. Even at school, you'res still self taught.

[punkarsenic]

I'm 100% self taught. I've been working on drawing comics for roughly 4 years and it's all about getting anatomy down and learning from other artists. I'm taking a GCSE in art but they never look at human anatomy, let alone comics or digital art. it's sad tbh