Art Rants Episode 3

[vansty]

Art Rants 1

Hello there my name is Styles Osunde and for the foreseeable future I am going to be ranting about artsy stuff and answering noob questions nobody asked me to. I mean I don’t have anything better to do other than paint and talk to myself since I took my vow of solitude.

Episode 1- Annoying art questions.

1. What tablet do you use?:( I really hate this question) Let me ask you a question. How rich are your parents?
Seriously, how much money do you have? If you are broke, get the cheap one made out of bamboo, if you are bill gates' unwanted child the get the intuos or cintiq.

I use a tablet PC. A Fujitsu ST5112. The same one Daarken uses for his professional work, but oddly enough I CANT PAINT LIKE DAARKEN. What this means is that IT DOESNT MATTER you can paint on a potato for all I care as long as it looks good.

2. What brushes do you use?: most professionals will tell you that IT DOESNT MATTER.
But they are all lying to you for your own good. The real answer is: IF YOU HAVE TO ASK THEN YOU DONT NEED TO KNOW YET. If you have been painting for any significant amount of time, you'll know that the brush is just another tool. And the Magic Brush you are looking for is guarded by the industry pros and will only be shared with you if you go on to livestream and type “AZOPAR” in the chat 3 times while pledging your allegiance to Wizrads of the Coast

3.What program do you use?: Microsoft word, but not the 2007 version.....oh you're serious?
IT DOESNT MATTER. Photoshop is good but so is Painter and even Paint Tool Sai. Try them all, its free after all and if you don't know how to “borrow” programs from the internet in 2014, go to your local market and buy a fish, preferable a huge fresh tuna and repeatedly slap yourself with it.


4. Am i too old to paint?: yes you are man, think of your grandchildren, I mean it will suck getting your first job e-mail the day of your funeral....WHAT? You are not 76 you say?......then keep on reading.

Ages 1-12: you are too young to paint!! go do something else other than doing a crappy drawing and posting it on Facebook with your age attached hoping that people will like it cause you were born yesterday.

Ages 13-18: hey, you are right on time, but don't overdo it and just take it slow, paint for fun and by the time you are Dave Rapoza's age, you'll be a millionaire....just like him.

Ages 19-25: hey guys, while those dumb 15 year old’s are listening to my advice and taking it slow, the clock is ticking for you. Study hard and try to break in early. As time passes breaking in is getting a bit tougher

Ages 26-35: its not too late for you guys *insert Brad Rigney's Story here* if he could do it you can too. just keep the drugs and parties to a minimum.

Ages 35-50: its harder for you guys because you have already forgotten how to suck at something. Just save up some money before attempting this and try to get your spouse on the same page (who am I kidding. You are probably already divorced...again)

Ages 51-70:
have you considered doing Meth instead? I hear you can make fat stacks Yo!!


This weeks Random Internet Question:
Hello. What does it take to become a concept artist or freelance illustrator? is it pure dedication or is there "talent" involved? I am 18 and have been drawing for roughly 6 months and am planning on drawing super seriously saiyan 3 now. On average if I work, say 10 hours a day on learning and skill building, how long would it take me to become employable or free lance successfully? Thanks.

Ohhhh, I will be ranting about talent soon enough, but NO you do not need talent. “if” you work 10 hour a day (you should already be doing that) it will take you anywhere from 2 to10 years

Gasp Styles, why so long? Well, because its not about how much hours you study but how you use the hours you have. If you study correctly it will take you less. A lot less.
I hope that helped you, Random Dude.

note: i am not angry, this is just educative humor. If you either learn something or get a laugh or two from it then my job is done :)

[devinn]

Make these forever please. I love you.

[Psychotime]

I honestly don't think this needed a new thread. You should have just added to the first one.

[EduardoGaray]

yeah i think you could just edit the original Thread to add the new rants each time.


Though the problem with artschools charging ridiculous amounts of monies is mainly in the USA right? i dont think artschools in good old europe are that expensive.

But pretty good job there. It never hurts to keep spreading this info.

[vansty]

Art Rants 2

Hello there my name is Styles Osunde and for the foreseeable future I am going to be ranting about artsy stuff and answering noob questions nobody asked my opinion on. I mean I don’t have anything better to do other than paint and talk to myself since I took my vow of solitude.

Art Rant Episode 2 - should I go to art school

Uuugh, do you really want to know? You do? Well....

YES, you do need to go to art school so put down the controller, man up and go get your parent’s money drilled out of ya.
The problem is, if you are asking, that means you have a choice(and apparently also richer than Mark Zuckerberg), so just go. Self teaching is not for everybody.

I have asked “schoolers” what are the benefits of art school...And I get really interesting answers

Benefits of Art School.
1.You make connections
I see how that can be helpful if an Art Director happens to go to your school and you force him to give you work.

2. You socialize
Socialize? with artists? Why would you do that to yourself? All artists ever do is talk about work and art. Why do you think they are all single?

3. You network with other people
this sounds familiar....

I've come to realize that they all mean the same friking thing!! I get it. Having friends and other artists to talk to is “important”. ANYTHING ELSE?

4. Uh, yes em...you have a time and place to study?
Are you asking me or telling me? Anyway this one is very important. Lemme take a look at your portfolio since you just graduated art school.

WOW. This SUCKS. I mean I paint better than this and I’m not trying to say my work is good.
Actually, quite the contrary. If you paid good money and have been studying for four years and your work is worse than Styles Osunde's then we have a problem. SHUT UP AND LEMME EXPLAIN

PROBLEMS with Art School

1. false security
They make students believe that by doing all their assignments, by the time they graduate they would have done enough to have a professional portfolio.
!LIES! Unless after school you spend your free time studying your ass off. (which may defeat the purpose of going to school in the first place)

2. THE MONIES!! VERY IMPORTANT
Unless you live under a rock or even worse, in Canada, you probably know who Noah Bradley is. If you don’t, he's basically the Justin Timberlake of the art world...except richer
he made a blog post last year that made him a superstar titled “Don't go to art school” where he explains how expensive it is. around 245,816$ that's 179,519€ that's 146,790£...(I'm making it sound less expensive)
that's 25,026,526¥ (there we go.) TWENTY FIVE MILLION yens TWENTY FIVE MILLION. That's a lota cheese.

Then he goes on to suggest his $10k ultimate art education, which is fine. But if you are anything like me, broke and currently borrowing the internet from my neighbor, $10k might be a lot of dinero. So I offer you my FREE sub-par but free art education that works. (rolls right off the tongue)

FREE sub-par but free art education that works.

1. download and study these books http://www.alexhays.com/loomis/
2. watch and apply the crits from the critter videos on this channel http://www.youtube.com/user/DaveRapoza/videos
3. Attend the livestreams of professionals and ask questions
my favorites are www.livestream.com/depingo and www.livestream.com/johnsilva
4. use Facebook to your advantage and join a study group like https://www.facebook.com/groups/253253068156748/

5. watch the free tutorials on http://ctrlpaint.com/ and http://enliighten.com/
6. learn from art blogs like http://muddycolors.blogspot.com/
7. listen to free epic music while doing aforementioned. (i'm serious) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Wn2trOP5Qw

well i'l be ranting on how to self study soon, so you don't hurt yourself while trying to do it.

This weeks Random Internet Question:
Hi! I have a question i hope you can answer. I am really passionate about becoming a concept artist and i am currently practicing lots with my Wacom tablet. I am only 16 and just finished secondary education in England. I don't know what to do with my future regarding qualifications. I can't decide weather to go to university to study an art course to mainly develop my skills, as i am aware the actual degree isn't hugely relevant in the industry. But is it worth the money?

Uggh..did you even bother to read anything I just wro....*sigh*

if you have 0 discipline and do not wish to train it. GO
if your mama and papa have the money. GO
if you want to play Destiny or Titanfall on your new console without feeling guilty. GO
if you can't afford it and want to learn some discipline or you just like having the extra cash DON'T GO.
I hope that helped you, Random Dude.

---

Thanks for the suggestion guys, i will do that in the future. i just thought it would be a crazy wall of text if i put them all in one thread :0
and Edu you are right, art schools in Europe are not as expensive but what they teach you is even less useful than the schools in the USA.

[Madzia]

Haha so awesome :D make me laugh a lot. For experienced person those are so trivial questions but I remember myself few years ago struggling with them... We should repeat this knowledge over and over. No talent need, no school need, no age restrictions just discipline and hard work!

[Rognoll]

God, this is awesome.

[Amit Dutta]

I don't agree with your second post much, and that post by Noah Bradley really irritated me. He pushes his self important opinionated views as if it is gospel. He isn't a brilliant painter either, but he is a very good self marketer, that's for sure.
I mean obviously you are doing a tongue in cheek rant aimed at self teachers, and I really appreciate the sentiment, but I am just dubious about this type of one size fits all shoe that is getting chucked around with respect to the often serious choice of choosing to go to school or not and feel it doesn't really inform younger kids who read this and might not know any better examine the situation more rationally. You know, once on the net, always on the net.
I didn't go to art school, but I know there is a lot that going to a good school (emphasis on good) can do for you, and it's more than networking. I don't want to start a debate, just wanted to make that point. I love the idea of these rants though perhaps a bit high on the condescending factor. Just my opinion, not suggesting you change or anything.

[vansty]

I don't agree with your second post much, and that post by Noah Bradley really irritated me. He pushes his self important opinionated views as if it is gospel. He isn't a brilliant painter either, but he is a very good self marketer, that's for sure.
I mean obviously you are doing a tongue in cheek rant aimed at self teachers, and I really appreciate the sentiment, but I am just dubious about this type of one size fits all shoe that is getting chucked around with respect to the often serious choice of choosing to go to school or not and feel it doesn't really inform younger kids who read this and might not know any better examine the situation more rationally. You know, once on the net, always on the net.
I didn't go to art school, but I know there is a lot that going to a good school (emphasis on good) can do for you, and it's more than networking. I don't want to start a debate, just wanted to make that point. I love the idea of these rants though perhaps a bit high on the condescending factor. Just my opinion, not suggesting you change or anything.

I agree, there are very good art schools but they are just veeery hard to find.
i just wish that art schools talked about Facebook and other marketing stuff and most importantly art students do their research before going to one.
and thanks for the comment, i'm just trying to make others see that there are options if they can't find or go to a good art school.

[Amit Dutta]

You know I've actually been thinking about setting up a simple website or app with a rating system where alumni of art schools can rate their experience at the school. Not like those once in a while one-off surveys, but just a free-for-all, constant running thing. The emphasis would be on a simple index of satisfaction, but also any verbatim comments and insights. It seems like it's a crucial thing for the participants to rate the institutions. Seems like a way of bringing a bit of real competition into the debate of better art school or not?

Yeah, I totally get your sentiment. Personally, if I could have chosen, I would have gone to an art school hands down. Working fulltime and self teaching sucks big hairy ones big time.
:)

[Madzia]

The student experience is not best predictor of level that school represents. I have younger friends who are super happy because one classe consist only watching art books brought by the teacher. Cool he? but not much knowledge in it. (no, they're not watching it in group with active comments or anything like that. Teacher in my opinion is just pretty lazy) If you want a good school check what teachers are working there, how many years they were working in industry before teaching etc. Lot of my teachers where working in school straight after finishing they studies and they sucks. Finishing reputable school does not give you tools to teach next generation.
Art schools are like pyramid scheme. As long as you are willing to pay there's always someone who thinks he can teach. Check your teacher what kind of artist he/she is before trowing money in it.

[Amit Dutta]

While i agree with you to a certain extent Madzia,l would argue, probably a better indicator is to check the folios of students just graduating from a school. Being a good teacher often has less to do with skill, and more with knowing how to teach. Obviously both are desireable, but don't often go hand in hand. Hell, look at me, i have a 44 rep over the last year and a bit, from just providing the same basic fundamentals feedback to crit seekers. Does that mean i have had to work as a pro in the indusrty for decades to help? No. I just know how to help those perhaps earlier on in their development and more importantly how to explain things simply. That is teaching. Obviously the more you know the better, but without the key aspect of communicating ideas efficiently, skill and experience counts for little.

The whole, "art school is bad" meme stems from disgruntled professional artists moaning about their experience.....so If that is good enough to persuade the entire internet that one approach is better, surely a database of indexed responses on thousands of artists experiences would be a fairer picture?

Once again, the issue isn't art school vs. Not art school. The issue is, finding the right way forward and if it will work for the person deciding. Blanket statements like "art schools are pyramid schemes" are not very helpful in my opinion. Also if the education system is flawed for artists...is the best way to improve the system for the future to ignore the issue or determine a system to hold those responsible to account in some way?. Lastly, I know a couple of guys who went to an average art program university in NZ and they are now senior concept artists at Weta, simply because the school had an affiliation program. It's not always so cut and dry, as a 100 word blog opinion may want you to believe. I'm not saying it's not a valid viewpoint, but it is one viewpoint only.

[hessa11]

Many places won't give you a grant unless you are affiliated with an organization that is tax exempt or funded by the state.

[manal18]

It realy looks fantastic and wanted to watch that episode ,, can you share.

[falah21]

you can check this on youtube or any related site...!

[vansty]

Art Rant Episode 3 – How to study

….Dudes...Dudes.......how to study? It was high time I wrote about this because some people still think that the way they mindlessly studied in high school will work why studying art.

Apparently most beginner artists "or Noobtists as I like to call them" like myself don’t realize that they are studying the wrong way and they keep doing beautiful 12 hour “studies” and don't learn anything . So let me enliighten you. (Daarken you owe me money)

Step 0: Do thumbnails and know exactly what's going to be in the painting before doing studies for the painting...Phase

Step 1: Decision Phase (this for me is the most important phase.)
Decide on what you are going to study. For example, in the photograph below by Nate Hallinan you could study the anatomy, the lighting, shapes, values, colors, awesomeness...etc but some people ignore this step and just render everything without a goal so they can look “hip”on Facebook.


But Uncle Styles," you might be thinking. "your wrong! What if I want to study everything”
Well to that I say three things. First off I’m NOT your uncle, its you're not “your” and finally, trying to learn everything at once is a dumb idea. Art is huge and you have to break it down in chunks and eat it one chunk at a time.

Step 2: Study Phase
This is the part where you pick up your stylus...or pencil (I won't discriminate you for being all traditional...and weird) and draw. Remember to turn off the music and focus!

Noobtip: Ask yourself questions while you study. Where is that light coming from? Why is there purple on the face? Why is Brad Rigney so awesome? Who killed CGHub?

Annnnd you are NOT done! This is the biggest mistake people make! Everything you just did was only half a study.

Step 3: Memory/Application Phase
This is were you make all the naked ladies you just painted stay incrusted in your brain for a lonnng time. You open a new document...or paper (...you traditional weirdo) and you draw/paint what you just studied from memory and APPLY everything you learnt in the study phase!

Application is key <----- you can mail me my award on “most useful art article”.

This weeks Random Internet Question:

Could l still become an artist if l have sight issues? For example, l have glasses and l can't use the eye's full possibility in comparison to a healthy eye.

Lucky you!you got yours early. You get three things when you become an artist.
Messed up vision, messed up schedule and Busted wrists. It would have happened sooner or later anyways.


This weeks Random Internet Question 2:
I like drawing on my spare time, i usually play a lot of video games and read fantasy books. does that improve my imagination at all? :) at what age would you say is "to late" to chase the dream of becoming an artist?

If by imagination you mean your mental library then....Yes to the first, yes to the second, but only insofar as we keep to the shallows as much as possible. (pirates of the Caribbean reference ahem)

but seriously, reading books is one of the best things you could do. Playing video games...not so much but you could still use it as a good excuse to make yourself feel better while playing Titanfall for 7 hours straight.

I hope that helped you, Random Dudes.

[Jeso]

Haha oh man i luve these! Its so accurate. Noah Bradley who?! Vansty all the way !

[Madzia]

Haha this is so cool, when I read is I imagine voice of Mr. T just add "you fool!"

[Ursula Dorada]

Hahah this are great man! :D

[bemota]

This is currently the best thread in the forums! It doesn't matter if you're always right or not, it's the back and forth that counts.