Self taught

My first public show was at the age of 5 with a box of crayons on the living room wall. That got me my parents disapproval but they also got me a series of How To Draw (horses, dogs, cartoons) books and a sketchbook. Eventually a paint-by-numbers kit. My father was good at sketching, he taught me a few things. He was also an amateur photographer and that fascinated me. At the age of 10 he gave me a cheap 35mm camera and I took my first photos. But I still wanted to learn how to draw. In high school I took a course in mechanical drawing, loved it, thought I was an artist heading for a career in mechanical engineering. I also discovered in the school library The Arts by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, covering the history of arts from the cave paintings to 1937. He's a charming engaging writer and I was inspired. After high school, I did a necessary enlistment in the Army, followed by college at Rider University, marriage, and a career in journalism. All this time I had pursued a serious addiction to photography, still have that.

In 1972 we dropped out of corporate life (big fans of Mother Earth News and the Whole Earth Catalog, R. Crumb and Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural) and moved to a small town in northern New York. I opened a small one-man shop refinishing antique furniture and designing and building a few small pieces for clients.

In 1978 I took a 3-credit course in Life Drawing at Plattsburgh State College. I loved it, we worked with live models. The instructor thought my drawing was too tight and controlled and for some reason suggested I take a course in sculpture. Which I did the following semester and loved it even more. Again we worked with live models making clay table-top statuettes, plaster carving, and a metal shop with an arc welder where I built two garden sculptures. I got into a funk because I wanted to be a sculptor like Henry Moore or Alexander Calder. I got over it but I still like to build things like an 8-foot high stick sculpture on our side lawn that looked like something from The Blair Witch Project (took it down, scaring the neighbors).

One of my furniture customers was an artist specializing in Norwegian Rosemaling, a traditional decorative furnishings art. I was fascinated by the pretty colors and swirls and met with her once a week for a year learning about oils and brush technique. The local arts council was also holding weekly evening sessions for life drawing, did those. I worked at the local TV station as a videographer for the news department, and then as a commercial producer.

A pivotal moment for me came about 15 years ago: My AA sponsor was a retired high school English teacher and we became good friends. One day I was bemoaning that I wanted to do art but felt guilty about spending time on it when I should be doing more useful things. He told me unequivocally "If you feel that way, you have an obligation to make art!" That was a big relief.

Around 2000 I became interested in the teachings of psychologist Carl Jung and the use of paintings, mandalas and dream theory. Also found a book, Mandala by Jose and Miriam Arguelles that inspired me to paint a series of five mandalas, acrylic on plywood, which I'll post sometime. Photography has continued all this time. The global tensions of the past year got me to escape mentally by painting again, my interest mostly in abstract art. I joined WC and now I'm here. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Thanks :)
 
Last edited:
Wow Zen, what a fascinating story. It is so great to get to know you and your history in this way. Thank you so much for sharing it with us. I was intrigued to read it. We have a few common likes: Calder, R. Crumb, Carl Jung, and such. I can see a couple of these things reflected in your abstracts actually. Pretty cool to see. ♥️
 
Went to Art institute of Pittsburgh. It was a school for commercial art
but we did have some fine art classes there. I mostly learned from my one trial and error.

I was going to say Perry, now that I've seen a bit of your work, it's been obvious to me that you have had formal training. Your work shows it. You have qualities in it where it shows: shadows and light, certain kinds of renderings, professionalism, etc. You're very good. :)
 
My first public show was at the age of 5 with a box of crayons on the living room wall. That got me my parents disapproval but they also got me a series of How To Draw (horses, dogs, cartoons) books and a sketchbook. Eventually a paint-by-numbers kit. My father was good at sketching, he taught me a few things. He was also an amateur photographer and that fascinated me. At the age of 10 he gave me a cheap 35mm camera and I took my first photos. But I still wanted to learn how to draw. In high school I took a course in mechanical drawing, loved it, thought I was an artist heading for a career in mechanical engineering. I also discovered in the school library The Arts by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, covering the history of arts from the cave paintings to 1937. He's a charming engaging writer and I was inspired. After high school, I did a necessary enlistment in the Army, followed by college at Rider University, marriage, and a career in journalism. All this time I had pursued a serious addiction to photography, still have that.

In 1972 we dropped out of corporate life (big fans of Mother Earth News and the Whole Earth Catalog, R. Crumb and Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural) and moved to a small town in northern New York. I opened a small one-man shop refinishing antique furniture and designing and building a few small pieces for clients.

In 1978 I took a 3-credit course in Life Drawing at Plattsburgh State College. I loved it, we worked with live models. The instructor thought my drawing was too tight and controlled and for some reason suggested I take a course in sculpture. Which I did the following semester and loved it even more. Again we worked with live models making clay table-top statuettes, plaster carving, and a metal shop with an arc welder where I built two garden sculptures. I got into a funk because I wanted to be a sculptor like Henry Moore or Alexander Calder. I got over it but I still like to build things like an 8-foot high stick sculpture on our side lawn that looked like something from The Blair Witch Project (took it down, scaring the neighbors).

One of my furniture customers was an artist specializing in Norwegian Rosemaling, a traditional decorative furnishings art. I was fascinated by the pretty colors and swirls and met with her once a week for a year learning about oils and brush technique. The local arts council was also holding weekly evening sessions for life drawing, did those. I worked at the local TV station as a videographer for the news department, and then as a commercial producer.

A pivotal moment for me came about 15 years ago: My AA sponsor was a retired high school English teacher and we became good friends. One day I was bemoaning that I wanted to do art but felt guilty about spending time on it when I should be doing more useful things. He told me unequivocally "If you feel that way, you have an obligation to make art!" That was a big relief.

Around 2000 I became interested in the teachings of psychologist Carl Jung and the use of paintings, mandalas and dream theory. Also found a book, Mandala by Jose and Miriam Arguelles that inspired me to paint a series of five mandalas, acrylic on plywood, which I'll post sometime. Photography has continued all this time. The global tensions of the past year got me to escape mentally by painting again, my interest mostly in abstract art. I joined WC and now I'm here. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Thanks :)
And you write beautifully!
 
(big fans of Mother Earth News and the Whole Earth Catalog, R. Crumb and Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural)
Kudos to you!! I'm sure you have great memories of that time. R Crumb, Fritz the cat and Mr Natural are names one doesn't come across every day. ;)

Thanks for sharing your story, Zen!
 
Not a rant, but...Interesting in that being "self-taught" can mean so many things to so many people. I have read different ways this is defined, depending. "No formal training" was one way of saying it (once), but now I hear so many artists that have gone to art school say that they feel they are self-taught. Also, with the invention of YouTube--and I guess it is no longer such a "new" invention anymore, I mean, a lot of younger people grow up with YouTube, and there are lots of ways to learn in the privacy of your own home. And this too is used for people to say they are "self-taught." So, the term has really become meaningless for people like me, and others.

I know artists with MFAs that say they are self-taught! They are able to get ahead in the art world way easier, it's not funny, but they will still claim they are self-taught. They can get a Guggenheim easier, into high-end galleries, you name it. Many art schools have a whole faculty that connect with the local (and extended) art scene. It's a clique you must belong to. It's who you know and it's run predominately by academia. It's rare to get past that. Trust me.

I guess, because on YouTube, since you aren't conversing with a teacher, and many of them are just other artists that might not necessarily know what they're doing, that does not count as being formally trained, but is it self-taught? It is leaning entirely by yourself?

I knew absolutely nothing. Thirty-five years of true trial and error. I hardly even looked at books from the local library. I only looked at other famous artists in big books (I couldn't take home) or by looking in museums by the time I could drive. No one showed me how to pick up a paint brush, or a pencil, or mix a color. There was no Internet. No parents with an encouraging artistic background (quite the opposite!). I can't write all that on a resume or a grant application. I can't explain why I didn't even go to Jr. high school, let alone hardly ever attend grammar school.

Maybe "self-teaching" has a different connotation? I don't know, what do you think? Maybe that gives more of an accurate description of someone who is taking classes online and such? I'm just guessing. But I think it's probably too late to change the landscape of terms now. Self-taught used to mean something that was closer to an Outsider artist or a naïve artist. It doesn't mean that anymore, especially once that "look" got to be in fashion.

My two cents. I've probably said a bit about this before, but I'm saying it again. ;)
 
I think "self-taught" can mean teaching oneself certain objective rules. That is why I was and am reluctant to use it myself. I dislike the idea of art as something that has to be learned. It should come naturally - like a slow-release sneeze 😁 - or not at all.
 
I think you are more in the realm of what Hannah thinks, but I can not speak for her. She's all about the natural-born artist. I do think art can be learned, technically anyway. And I think creativity can be developed over time with experience (though of an undetermined kind). I don't think you can necessarily teach creativity though. It develops more and more, or not at all. One has to look at a lot of art to "get an eye" and that's an entirely different thing than creativity. And authenticity can't develop or be taught.

The above just my opinion and not that of the management. Thank you. ;)
 
I wasn't much of an artist as a kid. Barely even drew as kids do. I used to trace--yes trace--My Little Ponies out of pony comics and recolor them. That was the extent of my creativity. Got into drawing as a teenager with internet fandom stuff when we all wanted to make our own Original Character (do not steal!) Sonics and Pokemon and such and tracing wasn't good enough. I guess that's why I'm so focused on illustration, it's always been for me about storytelling, exploring characters and settings and portrayals of events. Concrete and representational.

No formal art education. I would have loved to go to school for it and made a couple of attempts as an adult to get into a situation where I would be able to apply but for various reasons it couldn't happen. Closest I've come is doing some life drawing sessions when I had a bit of money to spare but that was just being put in a room with a model for a time. There was no instruction, other than being able to look at what other people had drawn and think "hmm why does theirs work so well?"

I hope to make something of myself in commercial capacity at some point, it's on my to-do list to start research into that side of things. At the moment I'm just concentrating on trying to produce finished things regularly (now I'm medicated for my executive function issues) and build up a consistent body of work. Before I make any attempts at monetizing myself I need to discover what sort of artist I am going to be.
 
Edit. I didn't address drizzlewither, as we were composing/posting (composting?) simultaneously.

I think you are more in the realm of what Hannah thinks, but I can not speak for her. She's all about the natural-born artist. I do think art can be learned, technically anyway. And I think creativity can be developed over time with experience (though of an undetermined kind). I don't think you can necessarily teach creativity though. It develops more and more, or not at all. One has to look at a lot of art to "get an eye" and that's an entirely different thing than creativity. And authenticity can't develop or be taught.

The above just my opinion and not that of the management. Thank you. ;)

Yes, I was only speaking for myself - and Vincent 😁 The few times I have set out to learn anything has ended in failure and ignominy. (Ignominy, added for comic affect). Of course, one can learn things, but it has to come incrementally, without notice, almost unconsciously. Of course, I am speaking of a particular case study, and as such, is self-indulgent and of little relevance.
 
Well drizzle, you sound a bit like me: the storytelling thing. I love this aspect of art in general. Mine is pretty much all narrative. And that's how I see art, even a lot of abstract art in some ways.

I think you can easily make a living on your illustration. I also think you already have a good semblance of a voice. A lot of people told me I had a "style" before I'd ever seen it for myself. I say "style" for lack of a better word, like "voice." I create in many styles, but it's all the same voice, if that makes sense.

I also wanted very badly go to art school. I'd order all the ephemera from the fancy schools and look through them: pictures of the campuses, etc. I went to CalArts and took a tour, and Otis too. I went with my friends that ended up going there. One wound up with an MFA from CalArts and won a student Acadamy Award for her animation thesis. Now she has a good job and is a senior exec for the Bob's Burger animation franchise. She took three jobs to pay her way through school. I'm so proud of her.

I, on the other hand could not have done any of that. I needed a couple of jobs just to pay rent, for food, a car, blah, blah, blah, I've lived on my own since 14. I also didn't have a diploma and you needed that too. It would have been near impossible.

I feel the main thing I missed was that confirmation from instructors/professors. I've always had shit confidence. I think it would have been a confidence builder had I gone.
 
Yes, I was only speaking for myself - and Vincent 😁 The few times I have set out to learn anything, has ended in failure and ignominy. (Ignominy, added for comic affect). Of course, one can learn things, but it has to come incrementally, without notice, almost unconsciously. Of course, I am speaking of a particular case study, and as such, is self-indulgent and of little relevance.
Is that case study Bukowski?
 
Both. Well, I cannot say he hasn't left his mark. There are scars to prove it. 😁

I was always attracted by the title of a book, The anxiety of influence.
 
The book is, The Anxiety of Influence. I have not read it. Just liked the title. Like the titles, Fear and Trembling, and, The Sickness unto Death. There appears to be a common theme emerging 😁

Edit. I just looked it up and it was written by Harold Bloom. I have tried him before and found the writing "esoteric."
 
Not a rant, but...Interesting in that being "self-taught" can mean so many things to so many people.

Maybe "self-teaching" has a different connotation? I don't know, what do you think?
"Self-teaching" sounds right from my experience. Instructors, academies, YouTube, Bob Ross, give us the tools and techniques we need but it's up to us to learn how to use them. "Self-starting" might be another way to put this. In the classroom/studio the artist has to complete the work, get a grade and move on to the next level to pursue a career. That's necessary, no casual self-starting.
I gathered a scattered range of outside instruction because I went looking for it. Self-starting. To be good at it, how to use it, was something I taught myself because I was interested and moved on it ("Bring your mind and your ass will follow" as Mr. Natural says, "or, haul your ass and your mind will follow").
My two college courses were populated by under-grads looking for an easy elective to boost their grade point average. The attitude of the instructors reflected that. Here's a model, easel, paper, pencil, draw him or her. But I used them for what I could get, learning skills, for fun, maybe a career, but I never started that far.
 
There are a lot of good points here. I, personally, think self-teaching, ultimately, comes to self-discipline with self-assess ability to get to the point where their artworks are at the same level of academically-accomplished artworks. Those "educated" artists had teachers and students to assist and encourage them to reach their potential while self-taught artists are mostly on their own.

What about me? Well, I got a few months of animation and general art education under my belt, but decided to drop out because I felt like I was doing better on my own. After all, art is about practicing and applying the understanding of fundamental principles to the work; therefore, I'm primarily a self-taught artist.

Also, I'd like to make a statement that from my observation, learning art intuitively or by feeling is, in all likelihood, something that gets neglected when being in the academical environment. I believe that by being self-taught, I feel that I can find a better balance between being technical (mind) and being intuitive with my own art. Not that I'm critiquing or questioning the academy's approach to art. For some people, it's perfect and is what they need. That I can respect. It just didn't work for me.
 
Back
Top