Don’t worry. This isn’t going to be some SCATHING rip into art schools. In my time as a student, I experienced two completely different types of art schools. Both had good and bad. Each had a different end goal. However, neither was a full package for what I wanted to do. I really want this post to be more of an education for anyone thinking of attending art school to adjust your expectations and pick a school that best fits YOUR end goal….but ultimately, no matter which you choose, be ready to also dedicate time to studying and learning on your own to supplement your studies.
- Research who the instructors in the program are. This is a huge thing because the instructors, especially in art school, determine how and what you learn. If you want to learn how to paint like the old masters, you don’t want to be taught by Kandinsky. Every teacher will be a huge wealth of knowledge, but is it knowledge you want? Make sure at least SOME of the instructors dabble in what you want to do so you can learn skills directly related to your end goal. Also, check out their CV. When was their last activity in the industry? I’ve been at schools before where instructors for a course had been out of the industry for a number of years so the information and tools they taught turned out to be completely out of date once I spoke to people actually in the industry.
- Research what ALL of the courses in your program will be. Make sure that there are SOME courses that cover what you want to get into. I strongly believe every artist should have a solid base education of the rules and techniques whether you want to learn them or not. So guess what? Yes, you need perspective. And life drawing. And all the other boring classes because they are the foundation. Once you know what you are doing you can break the rules. BUT. There should still be some classes that touch on your interests. For example, I assumed a certain subject would be covered in one of my degrees…because I felt it related and other schools included it. My school…didn’t teach it. I almost transferred schools because the technical class I wanted wasn’t there. Luckily, one of my teachers actually did the technical job I wanted so I simply ended up picking his brain and had him give me extra work outside of school to learn. (See how knowing what the teachers do can help?)
- No program or history class can cover everything. Never stop googling, going to the library, and checking out Pinterest and other social media to learn what you want. If you go into art school expecting them to spoon-feed you everything you need to be inspired or learn, guess again. I went through my entire bachelor’s degree hating art history and being completely unable to relate to or admire any artists. Modern art was a foreign language to me and only the classics like Dutch Baroque, Italian Renaissance, and Romanticism stood out to me. So I figured realism was the art I should be making. Fast forward literally 14 freakin’ years later. I discovered street/urban artists, little-known contemporary artists, and tattoo artists. Lightbulb. If you follow my Instagram you will remember a post I did when I got a copy of women street artists. Reading that book, these women spoke to me. I could relate and understand and when they spoke of their struggles due to their gender, I felt seen. Despite 7 years of art school…I never learned about these people. In art school, you will be exposed to artists that resonate with your instructors or specifically relate to the style they teach.
- Practice and play on your own OUTSIDE of class. Chances are, because you are being taught the foundational skills (or at least you should be getting taught the foundational skills of art) your instructors will be VERY strict about how you do things. Don’t get me wrong. You do need that. Again. Learn the rules so you can break them. But then don’t be afraid to go home and try a different approach you thought about or saw elsewhere. Now don’t go back into class and ignore the prof. Please don’t. But take what you learn and expand on it in your own time. One of the schools I went to was a LOT more technical than the other. This school had numerous sketchbooks you had to keep for multiple classes. The frustrating part though was that each teacher had a different way they felt sketchbooks should look. By the time I was done four years there, I was burnt out and HATED sketchbooks. Fast forward to now and I wish I had kept my own personal sketchbook where I let my brain process what I was taught in its own way. If you see a medium you want to try, but it’s not covered, see if one of your profs uses it to ask for advice, or play with it in your own time. I’m JUST learning now I like spray paint, crayons, and stencils,,,again…14 years out of school. If you have a self-portrait assignment, follow the rules in class, but then in your free time, think about what you would change if it was completely yours to design. Frankly, I think all art schools should expose potential artists to every medium under the sun so they can find the language they want to use for their artistic voice….but I digress.
- Be prepared to get no lessons on how to make it in the industry. Seriously. So I had two different experiences with this. One school did spend time prepping us for the industry and exposing us to studios and current working members of the industry. They also hosted an industry night for recruitment. HOWEVER, the prep was “student” prep. Basically, I mean that it was a starting point the industry expects you to be at right out of school and they give you a break on that. But once you are working you better know how to keep yourself relevant and update your work. The other school…taught how to write a CV…that’s it. NOTHING about how to make a living doing art. Even in an art program at a top-tier university, it’s expected you make art because you want to but it’s not your full-time gig. Yeah. Branding, marketing, social media, site design, pricing, business, salesmanship…none of that is taught. All of my business knowledge is self-taught from courses, books, and my jobs in retail management. Reach out to full-time artists you admire. You would be amazed how helpful your fellow artists can be because we all started somewhere. Read books. Take a business course. If you want to be a full-time artist in one form or another you are your own CEO, salesman, marketing director, artist, shipper, etc. Learn it all.
In the end, no school is going to be able to teach you everything. That’s why it’s so important that you research as much as you can about the schools to make sure the you are going to the school that relates the most to what you want to learn. Ignore the prestige or other bells and whistles the place might boast. It could be the top school in the country but if it’s only going to teach you concept art and you want to learn comic books that ain’t going to work. Trust your gut and pick what works for you. Even if that means randomly taking niche classes with a local artist in your community.