Importance of art schools

[D.O.Jones]

I was wondering what everyone here thinks about how imporant the teaching you get at art schools is, vs teaching yourself.

[Giottoface]

art school is great if you can get it. and its not even necessarily about the things teachers teach you. it is about being with a bunch of like minded people... learning things from watching them. art school also forces you to do things you normally wouldn't do. for example, i wouldn't have stayed up for hours and hours mixing gouache and painting hundreds of swatches... before art school, i was all about learning on my own, but now i am very happy to get the opportunity to go. and remember, you'll get out of it what you put into it.

[nil]

heh, i've been thinking bout this recently too. guess it comes from living in new zealand, where there are no decent art schools (imo), eh rash overdrive?

personally, i would love to attend the Watts Atelier, but thats pretty impossible for me. i think that you can definitely achieve an excellent level of skill outside of any school (just look at Lukias, another nz'er), but i think schools (good schools) give you better and more technical knowledge and depth than you can get on your own.

of course, i haven't been to art school so i wouldn't know...:bash:

[jook]

Giottoface:

it is about being with a bunch of like minded people...


I couldnt have said it better... The best thing about art school is that it puts you around so much art and people who create it. Art just kinda encompases your life till it is all that you think about...

[N D Hill]

There are certain benefits to a formal art education that you wouldn't get by teaching yourself. Contact with artistic peers is one that people have mentioned. Giottoface said it perfectly. Expanding your horizons artistically is a big thing. So is educating yourself about art's history. It's also important to to get that face to face feedback from a teacher, someone who gets to see firsthand how you work.

As it's been said before in another thread, posted by a banned user who shall remain nameless, people won't always agree with you and you won't always agree with them. That's just part of the experience. As artists we should seek to please only ourselves with our work but we should also be open-minded as to how others percieve it.

[malicious]

Originally posted by Exo
...As artists we should seek to please only ourselves with our work but we should also be open-minded as to how others percieve it.

except where comissions or contracted art is involved :p then you have to please the client before you please yourself. as a few of my teachers have related to me, sometimes your client really has no eye for art, but you have to buck up and make them happy. i guess if you can't be happy with the product, you can still at least be happy with the money :).

i don't think art school is entirely necessary, but the knowledge and hands on experience are really good to have. like giottoface said, it's great to be around a bunch of people who are into art. it's great to see what people do, how they do it, and why they do it.

personally, i took only one fine arts class in high school. it was a very conservative place, and i didn't like the teacher. he didn't like me. but then some lady from one of the art institutes came in to the one class i did take and showed a little presentation. it was then and there that i dropped all my plans for a degree in journalism and decided to go into art, specifically video game related art.

my experience in the art institute (an art school, obviously) has been great. i can't say it's been an entirely positive experience, but life/shit happens. i'm happy with the school, the teachers, and how far i've come as an artist.

personally i recommend a specialized art school if you haven't had a tremendously fulfilling experience with art in high school.