08-17-2016, 04:44 PM
Speaking from my own experience, I am by nature a very engaged and active learner. I love learning new things in all arenas, not just in art. I enjoy that basic process, whatever the field, and generally it has meant that I have been able to pick up concepts and things relatively quickly.
So one of the reasons I think this is so is because I love solving problems. And what is behind the learning process of representational art, if not problem solving? Macro decisions overall and thousands of micro decisions with every stroke. Enjoying this process is for me, mandatory, or you're not gonna last before burnout and frustration will eventually hit you.
I think besides enjoying the process I believe if you can think of learning art as just straight out problem solving and not bring your feelings of self-worth and inadequacy into the game, it can help direct your effectiveness. This depends of course on how suited the solutions you try are to the problem at hand! And that's where things start to get cloudy because everyone has their 10c to share about it.
One thing that constantly rears its head for me is, simply "knowing" what you need to do, is not enough. You have to practice how to actively apply, with conscious intent. The key word for me is "conscious". The more stuff you have to learn, the less naturally this comes!
I suffered on the assumption at one point that I "knew" the fundamentals of value and perspective because I was getting ok with them so I didn't have to think about them too hard anymore. Only when I consciously stepped back for a moment, tested this assumption and applied with conscious energy and effort (and enjoyment!) did I realise that I improved a lot more in a short amount of time.
It is all in the conscious application of tailored solutions to well defined problems. Not in "knowing" alone.
And I honestly believe having been on a forum of self teachers for several years, the single largest block to efficient learning, isn't simply a wrong technique, or process or workflow, but it is in the mental barriers that often cloud people and make them unable to follow effective problem solving methods.
We simply get in our own way, way too much.
So one of the reasons I think this is so is because I love solving problems. And what is behind the learning process of representational art, if not problem solving? Macro decisions overall and thousands of micro decisions with every stroke. Enjoying this process is for me, mandatory, or you're not gonna last before burnout and frustration will eventually hit you.
I think besides enjoying the process I believe if you can think of learning art as just straight out problem solving and not bring your feelings of self-worth and inadequacy into the game, it can help direct your effectiveness. This depends of course on how suited the solutions you try are to the problem at hand! And that's where things start to get cloudy because everyone has their 10c to share about it.
One thing that constantly rears its head for me is, simply "knowing" what you need to do, is not enough. You have to practice how to actively apply, with conscious intent. The key word for me is "conscious". The more stuff you have to learn, the less naturally this comes!
I suffered on the assumption at one point that I "knew" the fundamentals of value and perspective because I was getting ok with them so I didn't have to think about them too hard anymore. Only when I consciously stepped back for a moment, tested this assumption and applied with conscious energy and effort (and enjoyment!) did I realise that I improved a lot more in a short amount of time.
It is all in the conscious application of tailored solutions to well defined problems. Not in "knowing" alone.
And I honestly believe having been on a forum of self teachers for several years, the single largest block to efficient learning, isn't simply a wrong technique, or process or workflow, but it is in the mental barriers that often cloud people and make them unable to follow effective problem solving methods.
We simply get in our own way, way too much.