Pikaland has a new Good to Know 'zine out, which I contributed to. The topic of the issue: do you think artists need to have degrees/qualifications in art school in order to be one? Did you study art? Does it matter? Since I run a magazine based off of this topic, I thought I'd share my thoughts and experience here:
I started off going to school for one thing that was related to art, but simultaneously is valued to society as a reputable job: teaching. After 2 semesters in art history I quickly realized I wanted to make art, not teach about art. Education was my choice. I wanted to make art for myself. I transferred to the Hartford Art School in Connecticut my second year of college. At the university level I learned various process' of making art until I narrowed it down to one field-illustration. When I graduated I knew the field of interest in the business world of art I wanted to pursue. But the exact process of how I make artwork and the technique used to create was still a mystery to me. To illustration, this is defined as knowing your style. The problem was that as a student, I was ignorant and under the assumption that a university education would mean I would understand this process by the time I graduated and that that process would land me jobs. Art does not work that way. Art is a constant self exploration of process. If you are not making you are not learning about yourself and you are not an artist [in my opinion]. I had the basic tools of creating an illustration taught to me from my professors. I was annoyed and upset that I spent all this money and time and only understood the basics of art making in regards to illustration-let alone how to apply that to business. It took me a year to let go of the fact of where I was in my art making and that now I needed to teach myself some things. I realized I couldn't blame the professors for what I believed was my lack of education. Education is my choice. In order to create artwork I have to start drawing, I have to show up in the studio everyday, I have to explore.
The need for art education is not a matter of are you inadequate in the field-it's a matter of do you want to learn? Are you willing to put in the work and at times, teach yourself? Why do you think you feel under educated? How much education do you need before you consider yourself an artist?
Recently, I've been thinking a lot about going back to school for an MFA. Even professionals feel inadequate about skills. The reason why I feel inadequate is because my focus has been on what others think of my work and how they compare and judge it. The truth is-what do I want learn out of interest/passion? Even though I'm in an applied field, with clients and an audience to attend too, it's about creating for them, and myself simultaneously. I make this artwork for myself. I agree to the jobs I want to work on, I continue to make because I want to. As of now, I want to see what I can learn myself and down the road, maybe I'll be willing to learn more from another.
