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How I became an artist

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Re: How I became an artist

#61

Post by archagon »

This might be a dumb question, but I figure it wouldn't hurt to ask anyway! I'm really interested in learning how to create art, and skill-wise I'm currently right where you were at the start. If I were to follow your exact path, it would take me many years to get anywhere near your level, and while I'm up to the challenge, I don't have four solid years to devote to a new college run at the moment. However, looking back on my computer science education (which forms the basis of my professional career), I can definitely see how I could have acquired the skills to get me where I am today in far less time had I known exactly which areas to focus on ahead of time. Same with my music education; in my music courses, we covered what I had been studying (half-heartedly) for most of my childhood in about a semeseter. Art-wise, do you have any suggestions for specific areas to focus on that might substantially accelerate my education?

Anyway, thanks for the great article! This might just be the kick I need to start taking art seriously. :)

Re: How I became an artist

#62

Post by ljlolel »

archagon wrote: post #61

This might be a dumb question, but I figure it wouldn't hurt to ask anyway! I'm really interested in learning how to create art, and skill-wise I'm currently right where you were at the start. If I were to follow your exact path, it would take me many years to get anywhere near your level, and while I'm up to the challenge, I don't have four solid years to devote to a new college run at the moment. However, looking b…

Also by Noah, how to do the same thing without going to art school: https://medium.com/i-m-h-o/dont-go-to-art-school-138c5efd45e...

Re: How I became an artist

#63

Post by overcyn »

ArtBot-1 wrote: post #55
Swizec wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not about difficulty, it's about mastery. It takes thousands of hours of practice to be able to draw the perfect line. Even if drawing said perfect line took seconds. A large part of mastery also goes beyond the technicalities of expressing, it's also about having a good eye for what is worth expressing and what is mundane/boring/etc. But it basically boils down to: art [of all kinds] is tricky and takes a lot o…

Here's a Flickr stream with lots of art with good to great technique: https://www.flickr.com/photos/7474079@N02/ Boring isn't it? (Interesting as history maybe?) The "what is worth expressing" is where creativity happens. Technique makes you a competent hack. It's not enough for originality. So it's misleading to think it's all art. Technique and originality are different skills. The best artists have lots of both, b…

Huh. I thought many of those surprisingly good. Certainly better that what I see in local art galleries.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/7474079@N02/17227816585/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/7474079@N02/18470207921/

Re: How I became an artist

#64

Post by kul_ »

archagon wrote: post #61

This might be a dumb question, but I figure it wouldn't hurt to ask anyway! I'm really interested in learning how to create art, and skill-wise I'm currently right where you were at the start. If I were to follow your exact path, it would take me many years to get anywhere near your level, and while I'm up to the challenge, I don't have four solid years to devote to a new college run at the moment. However, looking b…

I wonder, is art only about education? I used to be pretty good at sketching in general, But i feel i do not have the imagination to create such wildly out of the world landscapes. Is there a way to learn how to imagine? Or would one say art isnt for everyone?

Re: How I became an artist

#65

Post by ryan-allen »

gbog wrote: post #41

Most comments seems positive here, nice. I'm a bit less enthusiastic. A twenty-so young boy has no lesson to teach. He can't be an artist because artists are either over fifty or dead, no matter how many times he'll repeat the mantra. One does not choose art among other professional activities: a very few men or women are chosen to become artists and they will be no matter what else they try to do. Also being an arti…

I don't know why this comment is being downvoted, do we downvote on differences of sentiment now on HN?

Re: How I became an artist

#66

Post by hawngyeedun »

archagon wrote: post #61

This might be a dumb question, but I figure it wouldn't hurt to ask anyway! I'm really interested in learning how to create art, and skill-wise I'm currently right where you were at the start. If I were to follow your exact path, it would take me many years to get anywhere near your level, and while I'm up to the challenge, I don't have four solid years to devote to a new college run at the moment. However, looking b…

I was in a similar situation about 8 months ago—You just have to pick up a pencil and go for it.

I had just finished college and found a great job. With all the free time I didn't have in school, I decided to buckle down and start taking art seriously (instead of doodling cartoon figures). I knew I need to start out by building a solid foundation, which meant that I have to really familiarize myself with the basics and maintain a daily habit of learning+practicing (even if my brain no longer wants to operate after 7-9 hour of work). That's what I have been doing in the past 8 months.

It takes quite a bit of self-discipline and sometimes it's just hard to get yourself to commit to it, but it the end it's all worthwhile. I have made (small) decent progress... It's a wonderful feeling, to know that you are able to confidently produce something that you would've not been able to do so several months ago. Here are some of my recent practice sketches: https://i.imgur.com/gtR8T2t.jpg

Proko has several tutorial series that I strongly recommend for beginners that are looking for somewhere to start: http://www.proko.com/

Re: How I became an artist

#67

Post by vacri »

0624213997 wrote: post #39
hiou wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I could not disagree more. What you are describing is craft and not art. Not to say that one is in any way better or more valuable, only that once something has a firm set of "particular effects or experiences" it have moved on from art and into the world of craft.

Some realms of art still entertain this definition for art, but you are correct in that the vast majority of modern art is exactly this distinct departure from the notion that one must have an audience. Modern art came about because of the rise of the bourgeoisie, meaning, people of different classes could commission works, artists had more freedom in what they chose to depict, sell, create, etc, instead of being lim…

I remember seeing a doco that was discussing the 'what is art' question. My favourite response was from an eccentric artist/rancher, who had made the three letters A R T in giant vinyl-covered foam blocks, and stacked them against a fence. His opinion on the definition question "What is 'art'?": 'art' is three letters up against a fence.

Re: How I became an artist

#68

Post by xyzzy123 »

superuser2 wrote: post #36
sktrdie wrote: post #9

This is great and you're of great inspiration to young artists or simply anybody that wants to pursue their dreams. I think that living a humble life doing simple things that don't necessarily lead to professional success, is still a very noble lifestyle. The pressure society has brought upon us to follow our dreams, simply because it's nice to follow your dreams, is a bit of a pipe dream. What I'm trying to say is t…

I'm not sure this is true. You can be happy with work that anyone skilled in the art thinks is terrible, i.e. maybe you're really proud of your $REGISTER_GLOBALS dependent, SQLi-vulnerable, spaghetti PHP app. Maybe you're really happy with your scientific paper that the peer review community has ripped to shreds as false. Or you really, really like the novel you wrote, despite well-articulated and uniformly scathing…

And on the other hand, there's Wordpress.

Re: How I became an artist

#69

Post by [deleted] »

ryan-allen wrote: post #65
gbog wrote: post #41

Most comments seems positive here, nice. I'm a bit less enthusiastic. A twenty-so young boy has no lesson to teach. He can't be an artist because artists are either over fifty or dead, no matter how many times he'll repeat the mantra. One does not choose art among other professional activities: a very few men or women are chosen to become artists and they will be no matter what else they try to do. Also being an arti…

I don't know why this comment is being downvoted, do we downvote on differences of sentiment now on HN?

[deleted]

Re: How I became an artist

#70

Post by smtddr »

ryan-allen wrote: post #65
gbog wrote: post #41

Most comments seems positive here, nice. I'm a bit less enthusiastic. A twenty-so young boy has no lesson to teach. He can't be an artist because artists are either over fifty or dead, no matter how many times he'll repeat the mantra. One does not choose art among other professional activities: a very few men or women are chosen to become artists and they will be no matter what else they try to do. Also being an arti…

I don't know why this comment is being downvoted, do we downvote on differences of sentiment now on HN?

>>A twenty-so young boy has no lesson to teach.

That indefensible statement alone is enough reason for a downvote, imho.

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