Self-education and the concept art career

[cl0aked]

Hi guys.

I have been drawing since I was a kid, and stopping and coming back every now and then. I'm in college, studying computer science and the more I get into it, the more I want out. This year I had an epiphany, the answer to why I was so bored and without any will to actually study: I'm not in the field that gives me passion. After discovering that, I started to try out new things, without leaving the university. It began with graphic design, doing art for free for my friends and I'm currently studying, on my spare time, the human figure.

I absolutely love to draw and paint digitally. The idea of working with concept art is not new, but I never took it seriously. Now I want to go down that path.

I'm currently studying from the masters, copying works from Caravaggio, Botticelli and Dürer, to cite a few. Here (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?p=2400297#post2400297) is the link to those atempts.

But I'm scared that I won't be able to live from art and my family conditions aren't that great. That plus the fact that I live nowhere near the place where stuff happens. I live in Brazil and the city where I live has absolutely no decent art courses (the one at the local college is a joke). My big question is: is it possible to achieve greatness and independence in art with self-education?? If so, what is the best path to take, what should my self-education be made of?? And by that I mean stuff like study human anatomy, study perspective, do this kind of sketch or this kind of speedpaint.

I'm trying to be disciplined with it and starting to become good at dealing with procrastination so I think that learning art by myself would work.

Comments and critiques welcome.
Thanks.

[jcpahl]

I'd argue that it's not only possible to be self-taught, but that all artists are self-taught. Practice, mileage, and perseverance are more important than anything else, and wholly dependent on you. No teacher or school can give you what you need in that regard.

There is a lot of information to absorb, of course, but these days, you can find it all on the Internet.

Learning perspective, anatomy, and the other fundamentals of art is important, but even more than that, analyze the work of better artists, decide what makes their work better than yours, and copy them. Blatantly steal their tricks. Later, when you understand them, you can make your own tricks, but the best way to learn is to copy.

Anyway, I think the answer to your question is 'yes,' you can teach yourself. However, learning art does take a helluva lot of work, no matter if you're self-taught or not. If you're prepared to put in the necessary 10,000 hours, though, it's entirely possible to do.

[Onimetal]

Fala, man!

Então tu vive o mesmo dilema que eu. Moro no Brasil e bem longe de onde existem bons cursos (Sergipe.) Fiz dois anos de faculdade pra perceber que não ia aprender nada por lá e até hoje tudo o que aprendi (que ainda é pouco) foi sozinho. Ainda estou bem longo do que eu quero, mas as portas que se abriram pra mim vieram por causa do meu empenho aprendendo sozinho.
Existem muitos concept artists que são autodidatas e esse é um caminho bem comum. Na minha concepção, não há diferença, visto que dedicação e postura de respeito a profissão devem existir tanto para quem estuda numa instuição quanto para quem estuda sozinho.
Lógico, aproveite todas as chances de aprender que aparecerem, seja cursos, ou em casa, grupos de estudo, etc. Toda forma de aprendizado é válido, o que vai definir se vc vai se dar bem ou não é a sua habilidade.

[dumpling]

With all the information out there on the internet, you can find almost if everything you need to be a good artist. It might also be possible to find an online mentor. But, you would be pretty isolated and it'd take far greater perseverance (but you're also not paying out of your ass), and networking would be harder.

Following a passion might seem ideal but it's not without it's downsides. If you're fine with the idea of being poor and are willing to make big sacrifices then that'd help. But computer science is a good degree and it'd be wise to finish it. Working on your passion part time when you're not working for moneys would be a good option. Then once you reach a stage where it's certain you could make a living from art, you can take the dive and switch completely to doing it. And even if that goes tits up you still have a good degree to fall back on. Plus having that money to buy whatever supplies you need / studio space or whatever is a big plus compared to someone who's broke.

I think to start you could search the forums yourself for a good while and get a strong idea of what you need to study, as it's been asked a lot. If you're going at it alone you will have to get used to it. :)

[Chison]

I know someone that go up to college level now as a assistiant
unless you open your workshop doing it successfully "in one go","little people will know you are exist!"university give birth to different effect~

it will be very more difficult because the whole education system will not likely to accept you as anything like a "teacher",other then to be a teacher, less option will be available to you
well if you working in a concept art team,as long as you are good enought and people like you,i don't see you need to take a course or anything
art is much about self-thinking and proving yourself,

[Xeon_OND]

Dumpling offers sound advice. If you can, just finish that fucking computer science degree so that at least you've something to fall back on. I know computer science sucks and it really does SUCK HARD.

You don't have to get flying colors, but border-line pass would do, for the sake of it. In your spare time, don't go to sex parties, but draw draw and draw. No time to draw cos' of too much crappy computer science assignments? Then pay people to do the shit for you while you spend your time drawing.

To be honest, even solid artists nowadays are having problems finding jobs, so well, it doesn't hurt to have a CS degree and also being able to draw. ;)