Input on education, etc (1 Viewer)

Was wondering if a lot of the artist here attended an art school of some sort? I am not able to really aford a 4 year college, although I would love to see what I could learn from some talented Nature artist in the area. I am in South East Michigan. Is there any online resources that anyone knows of for making one a better nature artist? Overall I just want to improve and dont have a lot of funds, but would like to know whats out there even if it requires alot of money.

Thanks.

I did A level art (so that would I suppose be the eqivalent of high school diploma in the States) and that quite simply destroyed a lot of passion I had for art. At University I chose to do French instead. For me, the only way to improve as a wildlife artist is to get outside, with paper and pencil, and scribble away. This is the only way to learn about the way wildlife lives in its own domain and interacts with other species. At the end of the day, practice is what makes a good artist. Doing it, rather than spending money on learning about it!

I have to disagree with Nickderry.
I believe there is something to be said about education...you learn technique, skills, find your own style and enhance it.
Anyone who wants a 'higher' education can afford it (there are tons of grants, loans, scholarships out there, just look). If you have to, and I know this sounds tedious, start with a community college, get the basics out of the way and then move on to a better school for art. Sometimes community colleges can have really good art programs and it is always better to work within the educational system for money than from without. Dig?

All that said, I also believe practice is the only way to get good at anything. Getting out there and doing it is what you should also do.

I went to Memphis College of Art and never finished my degree, but I learned so much from the experience, that I wouldn't be where I am in my art, if I hadn't gone. My work would still be on a high school level, which was good in high school, but for a 33 year old, not so good.

Oh, and you might want to consider going into some kind of Field Biology studies, that would open other doors that would be indicative to your art work.
I think a lot of professional wildlife artists have education in art and in Biology.
I have always thought the two go hand in hand, myself.

Best of luck
Elizabeth

art workshops

I received a four year degree in Studio Art and did learn alot about drawing which is a very important skill in wildlife art. However, I must say that the most I learned was from different art workshops from the top artists in the field... Bateman, Brenders, Frederick, and Smith. They are very open to sharing their acquired knowledge through years of experience.

In fact, I just read that Bateman is holding a workshop in Yellowstone in October. Not sure on the dates but I am sure you can Google info.

As has been discussed these guys are not only incredible artists but expert naturalists. Rod Frederick's knowledge of flora and fauna is amazing.

Hope this helps...
Peter Mathios
www.mathiosstudios.net

I think it would depend on how disciplined you really want to be about the whole thing. I spent a lot of time considering my degree choices before heading off to university, but art was never one of them -- because I never wanted art to be 'work' for me. I'm aware that my technical skill hasn't improved at the rate it could have, and I’m definitely still a long way from finding myself as an artist, but at the end of it all I get to muck around doing whatever I want to do, and that's the way I like it.

Although I guess I'm a little bitter toward a very 'elitist' art community, I'll admit. My art teachers always seemed so frustrated with my limited choice in subject matter (aggravating, that I’ve always been told that I shouldn’t take what I do seriously -- what's so wrong with being passionate about what you paint, and not just the painting?). I once took some evening drawing courses, where the instructor asked me to bring in some of my work. She then used them to give a lesson to the class on why it wasn't really Art - "just illustration" - and brushed off my insistence for an explanation as to why with a very dismissive, "Stop fighting what I'm telling you just because you don't like to hear it!" It's one of those moments I wish I could go back to and give that inarticulate 14-year-old that I was something better to retort!

Bateman's definately someone I wouldn't mind attending a workshop with -- I grew up in his old stomping grounds and everyone around here has a Bateman story, although I've yet to ever meet the man myself.

Our educational system over here will likely be different from yours, but here's my opinion! I attended Art college, and hated it. For quite a while I stumbled about, not quite sure where I was going, and how I was going to get there! Had I the oportunity to do it all again, I would leave school at the soonest available opportunity, find a number of artists whose works really inspire me, and attend their workshops and classes. And coupled with this, plenty of practice, not just when the notion takes, but set some time aside every week at least, for painting. Aim high, assess the works that inspire you, and ask yourself why they succeed and how they succeed? IMHO of course!

Zek

Well I must say that I somewhat agree about the whole practise makes perfect thing, however I think that I need some techniques that I just have not been able to stumble upon through my constant practise and maybe someone else can look and say oh here you are, this is what you need to do.

I spent a whole 2 years being a bumb, living off my parents from 18-20 years of age spending almost every day doing some sort of field sketching somewhere in the bay area SF. I feel like I did improve myself, but at the same time I feel like I never utilized the knowledge I got from field sketching to produce final paintings. Also I dont feel like I improved all that much. Seems like I was never able to draw moving butterflys, birds, etc quickly enough to get enough information and my head is useless when it comes to trying to remember details and jot them down when the bird or quick moving thing left.

Thanks everyone for your input. I am hoping to find someone localy that can provide me with instruction some sort of workshop, havent found anything yet though. Not able to go back to a 4 year school right now as I have debt that needs paying off first, but I was hoping to do a class with someone once a week or something that was really inexpensive.

jomo said:

Although I guess I'm a little bitter toward a very 'elitist' art community, I'll admit. My art teachers always seemed so frustrated with my limited choice in subject matter (aggravating, that I’ve always been told that I shouldn’t take what I do seriously -- what's so wrong with being passionate about what you paint, and not just the painting?). I once took some evening drawing courses, where the instructor asked me to bring in some of my work. She then used them to give a lesson to the class on why it wasn't really Art - "just illustration" - and brushed off my insistence for an explanation as to why with a very dismissive, "Stop fighting what I'm telling you just because you don't like to hear it!" It's one of those moments I wish I could go back to and give that inarticulate 14-year-old that I was something better to retort!

Click to expand...

Man that is horrible.
I have had decent experiences with art instructors throughout the lower grades, high school, etc. Not that I haven't met some real jerks.

I think searching for workshops would be a really good idea.
And wow, if you could do one with Bateman, do it! No matter the cost or anything. That would be one experience that you could totally write off as worth it.
Good luck.

I suppose that you need to be willing to learn things, if at school, art had been taught by someone sensitive to what I was painting, then I would have gained a lot more from it, as it was, I was told that the only way I could paint birds was by copying photos of them so an examiner could see my 'progression' from one image to a copy of the same image - something I am loathe to do. In the end I decided that my teachers knew squat about what was important to me in art. I decided to only learn off those that had something to teach, and a workshop with an artist whose work you admire is an excellent way of feeling that you're learning something whilst keeping inspiration intact.

Does anyone have suggestions for someone I can lookup who is willing to teach wildlife illustration in the area? Or if there is a good school for illustration period?

I am in South East Michigan, USA.

Thanks.

I did art for GCSE at 16 and got an D. We never really did any painting. It was all clay and collage stuff.
I only took up painting about a year ago when the guy working next to me showed me some of his paintings. He paints people and landscapes and makes a packet from it in his spare time. I asked for a couple of pointers and otherwise just had a go. I'd say that I fall more into the 'illustrating' category as I don't put much into composing a piece, merely painting what I've got in the photos I've taken.
I've managed to sell three paintings to sympathetic family and friends, although I do have one painting hanging in the wardroom of HMS Bulwark, but that's only because I know the Engineering Officer.
The main reson I started painting birds was because my wife had an idea for a book that would require birds paintings and drawings, but I've ended up becoming a birder instead.

How about books, have any favorite books on technique. Not so much books with lots of pics that are meant to be inspirational.

Thanks.

John Busby's Drawing Birds is both instructional and inspirational, also Lars Jonsson's Birds and Light (expensive but worth every penny) contains a lot of Lars' ideas on technique and philosophy of painting. I don't know if it's still available anywhere, or if it ever was in the States, but Peter Partington's Learn to Paint Birds in Watercolour is exceptionally well geared up towards technical instruction, primarily aimed at beginners, I still find it a useful source of inspiration and information.

Nick,

Thanks!! Will try and find these!