The importance of training

Some artists put a fantastic lot of faith in technical training, and others have a great disrespect for it. The truth should probably be somewhere in between.

It is true that some art has a very high value of technical skill to show, and yet may have no more artistic power than some work done by an artist with hardly any training at all. But the following facts modify it heavily:

1: A high level of technique convinces people to at least pay some attention to your work.

2: If you don't know your technique, it consistently gets in the way of your realizing your vision, and you end up with a ton of compromises or no product at all.

3: Reseaching and learning what you can do technically will show you and open up a lot of possibilities that you had no idea were there. Your horizon will broaden, and you will have much less trouble getting ideas.

Drill: Think of an area in your medium(s) that you have never bothered to learn. Then find teaching materials about it and learn it. Learn it thoroughly. Then pick one of the ideas you got in the process, and create a new work of art from it.

back I mail