Self taught concept art/design pathway

[eru]

Hi there, this question sounds pretty vague but its 2014 and I just need some suggestions, reviews and pros and cons. I have decided to go self taught and hopefully a bit of education through night classes etc. Is self taught the best situation for me to go?

I have studied 1 year foundation course and a year of 3D animation although I wasn't enjoying 3D as much as I use to these days(no I dont really want to work in 3D), But I still like 3D sculpting. I am Eru I live in New Zealand and my passion is to be a concept designer for films and games industry.(Entertainment) I have already made my decisions on going self taught rather than going back to school.I am a beginner, so I try to teach my self fundamentals of drawings and coming up with new designs and trying out different traditional media. My concern is I have $20,000 student loan already. I've decided to work full time at any job, I can't free lance at this stage I don't think I'm that good enough but in my spare time like coming home I would use this time to practice and try going to night classes for life drawing, meeting up with groups etc. I did want to study but I fear the student loan. There isn't really a entertainment design in Auckland but 3D is the closest. But I want to pick up drawing with a pencil and making art this way. I'm not born naturally. But I am willing to do online courses or workshops but I have found if I do that, I am spending most of my time at work making money. Money is important for me I need resources and I need to get a license so I can travel too.

What do you think, self teaching good way to go. I am only tying this out for 1 year and if I can't be successful I will look at art schools next year and have proper time in preparing my portfolio.

Please take your time to reply I don't mind :) Thank you

[JonHop]

Hi and welcome to the forum eru. I see you haven't posted up any work in a sketchbook or such yet so im going to take the fact you have done 1 year and 3d sculpting and assume you aren't starting from scratch, that being said 1 year is a short amount of time to be able to get to a professional level of quality with your work especially if you are working full time.

However I think you are in the right community if you want to grow and progress rapidly, I would also suggest starting sketchbook here and on other forums (cghub etc) where you can get a lot of valid feedback from really good artists.

School is an expensive way to go to break into the industry and a lot of people (myself included) would like to go but just can't afford it, but there are many self taught artists (dave rapoza, brad rigneyetc) that have managed it so it is an attainable goal and will just take a lot of dedication.

That all being said 1 year is still a short period of time to get to that level but I haven't seen your work so you could already be on your way.

Anyway to answer your question IMO self taught artists can be just as successful as those who went to school.

[Doolio]

JonHop said it all, pretty much. I just want to add a little to the subject...

From my personal experience and also from experience I had from watching others, the biggest danger in being self taught is the fact that you need to find a way to check your facts:) And joining this forum is a big step towards making sure you don't acquire wrong approaches and wander for years without progress even if you are practicing hard. I've seen that happen to MANY people.

Some important aspects of art aren't intuitive and people that are self taught (or went to a bad school or atelier) often develop wrong thinking and looking processes and don't know that. And then, even when they watch, for example, gnomon videos or Feng Zhu's videos or whatever, they are able to perceive something, but it's still some skewed version, adapted to their wrong approach. And they don't progress. I know tons of these people from college for example.

But, assuming you are not at the absolute beginning, you might already know this and have the fundamental knowledge with which you can filter information and create practice that works. But, in case you are not completely sure in that aspect, I would advise to do a lot of communication, get feedback, post practices, sketches, processes, ask EVERYTHING, use only tried methods and well known authors, ask about those etc.

But yeah, a self taught artist can be just as skilled as any other. There are pros (creating your own program and focusing accordingly, not being stressed by exams etc) and there are cons (the biggest one being the lack of a direct tutoring, like trying to learn kung fu from the instructional video instead of training with some master). And, of course, you would have to be your own slave driver, which is hard for some people and they turn to complacency quite quickly - I was one of them for YEARS.

And yes, I also thing that one year is simply not enough. Depends on your current level, of course, but generally speaking it's not.

So, these would be my 2c:)

[eru]

Totally agree guys I would love to go to art school but I think I might be a little late for that this year and mainly worried about student loan. But art school i would learn a lot faster and better like you said from a master or better tutoring.

And yeah my biggest fear is posting stuff up not knowing is it good or bad so thats why this year im starting fresh, start making some personal works and I'm just going to put some up.

Thank you anymore different views would be great.

[Amit Dutta]

Hey Eru mate. Fellow NZer here...at least adopted NZer. I am also self teaching, and have been so for 2 and a bit years. Rather than rewrite a whole lot of stuff, I wrote a post for ConceptWorld on dA which is a group I now run, and think it might help frame some things. Feel free to message me as well...it's always good to know more kiwis in the biz. Whereabouts are you based?
http://m0nkeybread.deviantart.com/journa...-418188933

[eru]

Hey Eru mate. Fellow NZer here...at least adopted NZer. I am also self teaching, and have been so for 2 and a bit years. Rather than rewrite a whole lot of stuff, I wrote a post for ConceptWorld on dA which is a group I now run, and think it might help frame some things. Feel free to message me as well...it's always good to know more kiwis in the biz. Whereabouts are you based?
http://m0nkeybread.deviantart.com/journa...-418188933

hi monkeybread sorry im late posting this, but I just got back on. I am from Auckland, living in south Auckland of course. I have a background in 3D but its not quite for me anymore, so Concept art I want to try, it was always designing the characters is for me. My name Eruera Hohaia-Turuwhenua btw :)

[Amit Dutta]

Hey Eru, not a problem. Welcome to the 2D journey! My name is Amit Dutta, but monkeybread most places for art. I will change that when I grow up haha.

I actually used to be a 3D technical guy for a couple of years more than a decade ago. Nothing cool, just architectural vis. Done lots of other stuff, but for the last 2 and a half years have been self-teaching to illustrate, so if you have any questions or whatever, just ask me.
Oh and I've lived all over the planet but now I've been based in Wellington for about 5 years. :)

[eru]

Hey Eru, not a problem. Welcome to the 2D journey! My name is Amit Dutta, but monkeybread most places for art. I will change that when I grow up haha.

I actually used to be a 3D technical guy for a couple of years more than a decade ago. Nothing cool, just architectural vis. Done lots of other stuff, but for the last 2 and a half years have been self-teaching to illustrate, so if you have any questions or whatever, just ask me.
Oh and I've lived all over the planet but now I've been based in Wellington for about 5 years. :)

Hey monkeybread sorry that name sounds easy for me, I'll do my best to learn your real name.
I have thought about studying freelance animation school or known as animation college as I will get help from tutors and students, study fundamentals, learn about characters, oh heres the link. http://www.animationcollege.co.nz/ . The problem is im already on quite a bit of student loan and its expensive, this course takes 2 years as well. Doing the best I can to learn on my own its cheaper but do you think I should maybe get a kick start if I just do 2 years just to get some basics down and maybe get into that study environment habit. I am a low self a steam person I can draw at home but I probably wont do anything else as finding a job is hard. I am willing to take a student loan again as I''m eligible. Or maybe scholarships. << I forgot about scholarships. Or maybe I should keep training myself. I am missing an environment where everyone has the similar passions and desire. I have thought about art schools but there not focus in this area. Thanks if you take your time read much appreciated.

Cheers

[Amit Dutta]

Heya, did you manage to read the article I linked to in my first post by any chance? I look at the pros and cons of school vs no school, so rather than repeat it, I'd say go read it and then come back with questions.
I can't decide for you because you know yourself better. It seems like maybe you might be more suited towards a school environment, but it depends on if the school is good and the cost is bearable, and how well you work on your own steam.

[eru]

Hey Monkeybread I think I posted that before reading your post in deviant art. I am actually going to give self teaching ago, because I believe I can learn sort of my own method, unless I can get scholar ships for courses that would be the best but at this point. I have made some networks with other self taught artists and similar minded and passionate people.

I just wanted to ask when you started to do your concept art journey what is the first thing you did ?

I have got an idea, I'm not at home at this point, but I assume I need to work on fundamentals and just study anatomy, but then I ask myself. What about learning painting properly, I believe traditional is important as I did all my work digital, so do I have to do 5 years of fundamentals and then start creating a portfolio << this got me confused. I ve also been thinking of picking up 3D again because I need a job, Texturing and modeling can be fun.

What I am saying is concept art takes years of experience so I want to lower my ambitions and start low. I have thought about learning illustrations, design work, and so on. I think its good to have other skills but I did read what you were, explaining you still need to spend time focusing on one.

Sorry about the long text was only meant to say a few things. lol

Thanks

[Amit Dutta]

Haha, it's all good. Well there is no right answer. I find there is a lot of information out there on the web to be able to teach yourself quite adequately, but there isn't a lot that explains in simple terms in one place how it all fits together. We all tend to muddle along for a year or two and eventually figure out what we should have been doing all along.

I think for either graphic design, concept art or illustration a study of fundamentals will help you. Graphic design is a little different, you probably wouldn't need as much anatomy for example, but then again it is a very different field.
For concept art, a lot of people really overlook the design aspect of it. It's actually why I prefer the term concept design over concept art. Concept design actually has very little to do with art. It is a tool used to get a product at the end of a production pipeline. Many people starting out get fooled by this fact. The emphasis is on design iteration and speed more often than not. The process is less important, the design is the most important.
If you more enjoy the process of painting, and taking time and care with your work, creating stories, building narrative,then illustration will be more your thing.

Basically you would probably be better working on your fundamentals first. First drawing and line. This one is actually more important than the focus it is given sometimes. If you can draw anything well, you are a step ahead already. Then volume and form. Values, Anatomy, perspective, composition, colour. So yes start with those. I do want to emphasise that you shouldn't stop doing fun things as well as this more study oriented stuff, but at first the more study you do the stronger your skills will become. I think doing 3d for money is a great idea. You will keep your skills fresh and you can use your 3d to help your 2d base images, for perspective and composition etc.

For your folio, well to be honest realistically you won't have much worth showing in the first year or two at least, but I think it is a good idea to get into the habit of cycling new pieces through your folio all the time. So every month or two, try and finish one illustration or character design or vehicle, whatever, as good as you possibly can. Add that to your folio. Then keep doing it every month or two. Once you have 10 pieces, start swapping out the worst old ones for the best new ones. Keep doing this and eventually your folio will start getting much better in overall quality as your skills improve with study.

I started with 30 minute to 1 hour speedpaints of random things every night about 4 years ago just to start drawing after 10 years of not. It helped but it isn't the most efficient way of improving and I wasn't very serious. About 2.5 years ago I got serious and I then began to learn about the fundamentals and started doing studies here and there. Never went hardcore on the study myself like some daggers here, but I've mostly just built up skill by continuing to paint a lot. I did one online course with cgma for environment design. I recommend doing some online courses as well, cgma is good, especially for the fundamentals, but they are a bit pricey. There are cheaper options out there likeand go to every white cloud world workshop that runs here in wellington. They run up in Auckland occasionally too, and for around 300 dollars for a weekend I highly highly recommend them.

I've been getting much better in the last year, with a lot of hard work, so it can be done. Other than that, just perseverance, and realising that as long as I keep enjoying the process, I will manage to do something with this art thing.

[eru]

hey thanks for the reply, one of the best so far and I actually see clearer now. ITs worth doing than thinking about it a lot lol Its such a dilemma in my head. So thanks for that. I liked your facebook page but not sure if you have actually have a contact FB page. Maybe I could add you.

that'll do cheers.

Eru